Partners from both education and industry joined the Indiana Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC) at the organization’s headquarters in Purdue Research Park last week. The purpose of this visit was to address and improve on the success of both the Pathways workforce development program, and IN-MaC’s Design and Innovation Studio system which had its fifth anniversary.
In both cases, partners as varied as school corporations, Endress + Hauser, and Toyota came together to discuss next steps for these endeavors. The Pathways system has introduced students in several states to careers in manufacturing and engineering that would have been nearly invisible otherwise, and the Design and Innovation Studios which effectively teach STEM skills to children as early as kindergarten have just established over 100 locations across Indiana.
“Our goal has always been to give people access to a set of teaching tools they wouldn’t have otherwise had,” Sascha Harrell, IN-MaC’s director of education and workforce, said.
“This goes for all of our programs. The 4T Academy at Toyota is an amazing example of how a great partner can make students ready for new careers within the Pathways system, and so many of our schools here today can attest that they have first and second graders doing fifth and sixth-grade STEM activities in the Design and Innovation Studios.”
The Pathways system itself has continued to grow rapidly since it was last reported that Toyota had expanded its 4T Academy (a program implementation of IN-MaC’s Pathways design and done in partnership) into West Virginia, circa April 2023.
“The goal of the Pathways system is to introduce these kids who might not fit into a traditional mold for education to good career paths that are economically important and in-demand,” said Lisa Deck, the education workforce program manager at IN-MaC who administers the Pathways system alongside partnered institutions.
“There are so many students out there who want to enter the workforce right out of school, and it’s a shame if their talents are left behind just because no one tells them about these opportunities to learn and become manufacturing professionals with the right training and on-the-job learning experiences.”
IN-MaC supports a variety of STEM-type, skilled trades, degree (associates and undergraduate) and certificate programs. The institution leverages its resources, networks and partnerships with industry, local communities, educators and interested stakeholders to provide a variety of formal courses and informal activities that embolden the present and future manufacturing workforce.
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