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Women engineers and technicians can make a big impact on middle and high school girls via in-class and career day presentations and by mentoring students. Industry partners can help meet this need by connecting with school partners. Targeting the softer side of STEM careers like those that require creativity, focus on sustainability and green aspects, or focus on helping people, can be a very effective recruitment technique. Feature young women prominently in recruitment materials, and seek out opportunities to meet female technicians on the job during plant tours. Targeting the Future Workforce (K-12) It is essential to provide youngsters with an accurate picture of the manufacturing world early on, before their image of it becomes “muddied” by misconceptions and other people’s misinformed views of the industry. Starting young is an important component in the partnership arena. It’s important to get kids involved in STEM curriculum at an early age and to keep them interested all the way through high school and beyond. Manufacturing is a perfect example of a fully integrated STEM business sector. Manufac- turing integrates science, technology, engineering and math in most aspects of the com- pany. In research and product development, science and math might dominate. On the production floor, technology and engineering might be the focus. Ultimately, science, technology, engineering and math have to be integrated to get products made efficiently. Middle school is the typical starting point, but elementary school is not too soon. In either target environment, the most important thing to remember is to deliver an age-appropriate message. A presentation targeted for high school won’t work well with middle or elementary school children. Please navigate to the educator pages of www.madeinflorida.org, to find information and links to FLATE’s Industry- connected curriculum materials. Robotics competitions are all the rage, and the new “sport” has trickled down from high school to middle and elementary schools using age-appropriate robots. Robots provide a “hook” that gets kids interested in advanced manufacturing and other advanced technologies. Camp and club involvement often leads to robot competitions, but student teams need adult tech- nical advisors and/or mentors. Industry partners can financial- ly support a robotics summer camp, after-school club or competitive robotic team. You can also participate as team technical advisors, or as com- petition judges. These early experiences foster real interest in STEM education and tech- nical career pathways. 15