HCC has unveiled a new program called “Operation Success”, an intensive 90 day program consisting of activities to help veterans in their pathway to a smoother transition. The objective of the program is to encourage veterans to use their transition time effectively by:  matching transferable skills, reinforcing skills with new training, and exposing the veteran to the right manufacturing facility increasing their marketability.  “Operation Success” consists of three stages: “Meet Your Employer” tours, the Engineering Technology Support Specialist training and employability support.

•  Engineering Technology Support Specialist
• Certified Production Technician credential from the Manufacturing Skills council
• OSHA 30 general industry certification
• Auto Cad certification

market the participant’s resume to partner manufacturers as well as distributed throughout the local manufacturing associations.  One of the program’s goals is to place as many participants as possible within the local industry matching skills with local manufacturing needs.  Participant’s resume will also be marketed to Florida Trade consortium members throughout Florida as well as entered in the Employ Florida Market place system where employers can search for skilled, qualified candidates.

to keep track of all of the amazing technical advancements. For classroom instructors it can be very difficult to keep instruction and laboratories up to date and ready to produce the workforce needed to compete in a global market. One of the best resources for teachers is other teachers who are passionate about technology and the industry they know best. The Florida Association for Industrial and Technical Educators (FAITE formerly FATIE) is a non-profit professional organization, which works collectively toward the advancement and enhancement of technical and industrial education throughout Florida.

Florida Association for Career and Technical Educators (FACTE). Division members are instructors at the secondary and postsecondary levels, as well as university professors who prepare students for careers in a variety of trades, including carpentry, masonry, electrical and construction management; automotive technology; heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; computer-aided drafting and manufacturing; and cosmetology. FAITE’s mission is to support classroom teachers by promoting best practices, offering continuing education credit, industry tours, and informative articles and resources on the FAITE website.

•    Architecture and Construction
•    Arts, A/V Technology and Communications  

publication on the FAITE website www.faite.us. Visit the site for the latest news and best practices from your fellow professionals. Learn what is new and trending in our industries and how to implement these techniques in the classroom. If you want to share your classroom knowledge and best practices please submit your ideas to be included in the resource pages. On the websites are links to several organizations that support classroom instruction including the career and technical student organization SkillsUSA. Participation in SkillUSA is great way for students and teachers to connect with industry and compete in the SkillsUSA Championships at the local, state and national levels.

For more information on FAITE and/or technical and industrial education throughout Florida visit the FAITE website, or contact Alan Lynch, president of FAITE at alan.lynch@ocps.net/407.251.6000 ext.7022652. 

the classroom this Fall. We have many FLATERS in house who are currently enrolled in school and working part and/or full time. Natasha Crissien, FLATE project assistant is pursuing an A.S degree in business administration and management. She is currently working full-time at T-Mobile as a bi-lingual financial care specialist, and also enrolled as a part-time student at Hillsborough Community College. Natasha who was previously working with T-Mobile returned to FLATE, after a brief hiatus earlier this year. Her expected graduation date is Spring 2016 after which she plans to transfer to the University of South Florida where she will be pursuing a Bachelors degree in Finance with a minor in management. Besides assisting staff in creating and designing graphics for FLATE collaterals, Natasha plays a leading role in coordinating the joint exhibits for the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Centers. Working with FLATE is not only building her real-world professional skills, but as she says helps her focus on her classes and dedicate time to her family as well.

demeanor is also his strength as he seamlessly wears many hats, assisting FLATE staff in their day-to-day projects. Pedro is currently enrolled full-time at HCC and is working on completing an A.S. degree in computer information systems/general networking. Upon graduation in 2015 he hopes to work full-time, and we are confident he will excel in his professional career.

Lourdes is currently taking six credits while interning at the Hillsborough District Sherriff Department where she works for 10 hours. Her expected graduation date is May 2015 upon which she plans to pursue a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. Outside her educational and professional aspirations, Lourdes is also the founder and CEO of Helpland Solutions, a nonprofit organization committed to helping the “poorest of the poor” in Haiti. She founded the organization shortly after the devastating earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. Lourdes is also a frontrunner at her church leading several church-led initiatives. You can read about her by revisiting an archived article of the August edition of the FLATE Focus. 

not going to school this semester, she is still in the classroom. This HCC alumnus teaches one section of her favorite HCC class, Public Speaking, each Fall and Spring semester.  In fact, FLATE staff member, Lourdes Fleurima was enrolled in Dr. Boyette’s Public Speaking class in 2013. Dr. Boyette has been teaching at HCC for approximately six years. “Working with students allows me to keep in touch with ways in which students interact with an increasingly high tech world,” she says, “ I have learned so much about so many diverse topics in this class, and, I get to keep in touch HCC students.”

Exchange (HI-TEC) conference. Seed funding from NSF in 2009 and a grand vision to provide a premiere professional development event focused all aspects of technician education for advanced and emerging technologies, inspired us to pursue this effort. Six years later, and nearly 600 enthusiastic attendees last month at HI-TEC 2014, says we have arrived. We have “a history,” have overcome obstacles and best of all, we feel like we have met our goal – providing an awesomely strong program at a great venue. FLATE is proud to be a part of the HI-TEC leadership.

consortia and projects. Sharing NSF ATE’s 21 years of rich experience and proven practices in building capacity, collaborations, and commitments in community college advanced technological education programs with the DOL grant projects will provide opportunities for synergistic activities and leveraged efforts.  HI-TEC 2014 provided a neutral and unthreatening platform for learning about each other, defining areas of overlap, meeting potential partners and better defining our common ground—community college workforce education, supporting our industry partners, and preparing student for the workforce. Phil Centonze, FLATE’s external evaluator, is also the evaluator of the DOL FL TRADE Consortia focused his presentation on differences and similarities of the two funding agencies reporting requirements and overall evaluation approaches, providing an opportunity for all of us to learn from each other.

Amazingly, they brought several identical messages from different points of view to our conference attendees. In short, they both emphasized the importance of “coding”, learning to code, and understanding mathematics needed to support such programming. Both speakers strongly stressed the importance of “thinking outside the box,” mixing new, old and unlikely technologies, and reminding us that the future workforce will be different beyond our wildest dreams. And, that that future is not far away. “Become computationally literate” and learn for the “next job” because they are not far off in time, stated Chad Jenkins.

so much data of so many kinds available to everyone and that it has so many stories to tell and use for better understanding of our world, that future “research” will involve analyzing existing and old data. Insatiable quests for understanding could keep the new “data scientists” busy for decades. Lastly, they both talked about the paradigm shift of how humans and machines interacted with each other from autonomous robots, artificial intelligence, to machines that everyone now has easy access to do so many unfathomable tasks.

Association (SFMA) hosted the Young Manufacturers Academy (YMA) at Miami Lakes Education Center. The initiative was funded through the National Partnership grant through the Motorola Solutions Foundation Innovation Generation program. The program is aimed at engaging youth in STEM and represents an extension of Motorola’s “Supporting a Manufacturing Renaissance” efforts. The camp also aligns closely with FLATE’s own summer robotics camp initiative said Executive Director of FLATE, Dr. Marilyn Barger.

needed to prepare students for today’s high-tech workplace. During the camp students learned about latest manufacturing concepts, CNC manufacturing, and got an overview of high-tech, high-paying jobs in Florida. Participants also engaged in a mock career fair capstone event, and went on industry tours featuring on-site interaction with manufacturers and get a first-hand view of high-tech manufacturing operations. Phil Centonze, SFMA member and FLATE’s external evaluator also attended the tour and talked to campers about manufacturing in the Miami area.

Motorola who volunteered to serve as a guest speaker. “His visit early in the week introduced the girls to jobs, products, and ideas they didn’t know existed” said Fernandez. Following his speech, campers were able to make connections between what they were doing to the real-world. A noteworthy aspect of the camp, according to Melissa, was to observe how students adapted to the “vocabulary” and were able to discuss CNC operators/programmers, engage in manufacturing processes and then operate a make-believe manufacturing factory.

manufacturing industry. The Academy is part of the “Dream It! Do It!” initiative, a national career awareness and outreach campaign designed to promote a positive image of manufacturing that is sponsored by the Manufacturing Institute in Washington, D.C. The primary goal of the program is to grow and develop the manufacturing workforce pipeline in the middle grades, a critical juncture in need of particular attention, with an emphasis on addressing girls and minorities from underserved districts with underachieving students. “Florida has a diverse manufacturing industry, and FLATE is excited to offer a student summer manufacturing experience in south Florida” said Dr. Marilyn Barger, executive director of FLATE.

Determination) Excel program, many who are first generation, college-bound students. “For our student body, this is one of the best programs to help them in building their language skills” said Susan Alamillo who teaches Spanish for the AVID Excel Program at Turkey Creek Middle School. “They loved this experience, especially the hands-on activities which makes them willing to work on their language skills and boosts their confidence building commonalities with other students” said Alamillo.

solar cookers, worked in solar power-based experiments to power a movie theatre in a make-believe town. They also got a look at windmill generators and hydrogen fuel cars. “I learned how you can save energy through conservation and how conserving energy can also help you save money” said Jacquelyn an 8^th grader at Beth Shields Middle School.

plant in Ruskin, FL, where Timothy Conway, senior consulting engineer showed students and teachers turbines, generators and transformers used in industrial settings to create and/or conserve energy. “Before when I was in science class I thought energy was just turning the switch on or, off, but now I know there is much more technology involved” that goes behind the scenes, said Paulino Ramirez, a 7^th grader from Turkey Creek Middle School.  Through it all, teachers at all three schools hope the camp will help develop scientific, critical thinking skills, but more importantly “students will learn how to deconstruct a task and use analytical skills to derive a solution.”

energy camp” said Simon. “They love it and spread the word among their friends. It’s a program that is needed, is making a difference, and I expect it to grow in the coming academic year.” Susan Alamillo and Sevigny Ball, teachers at Turkey Creek Middle School say the program not only benefits AVID Excel students, but they can implement some of the learning strategies with other students as well. “I hope the Governor will see the benefits of the program and will continue to support the program.”

FLATE, partnered with the National STEM Guitar Project to host its first Guitar Building workshop for middle, high school and post-secondary educators at Erwin Technical Institute in Tampa and Hillsborough Community College in Brandon. The workshop was held Aug. 4-8 and was keyed in to present and teach participants hands-on, applied learning techniques designed to engage and spark interest and excitement for STEM. The National STEM Guitar Project, in partnership with NSF Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Centers with funding provided through a grant from NSF, hosts innovative Guitar Building Institutes around the United States.  The workshop was the ONLY site in the Southeast to host this intense and innovative electric guitar design/build project.

to rebuild the nation’s STEM workforce — beginning with teachers.” The goal of the STEM Guitar Building Institute is to showcase a new way to present learning for students with applied methods. “The Guitar STEM workshop taught teachers how to incorporate math and science skills into their classrooms using a hands-on practical model” said Desh Bagley, outreach manager for FLATE. Physics principles such as harmonics and tension were clearly demonstrated while assembling the guitar. Additionally teachers used algebraic and logarithmic equations to calculate distances of the fret dot on the fret board of a guitar and for an in-depth “understanding of what is required in a manufacturing environment.” Jim Cavanaugh, president of Cavanaugh Company in Sarasota, FL, also addressed the teachers about some of the technologies and science involved in making world class guitars/strings at his high-tech manufacturing facility in Sarasota.

newly built, customized guitars were showcased and the educators celebrated. At the end of five day workshop, teachers will be equipped to pass on energy, interest and new concepts to their students further motivating their students to learn about the STEM behind the music, technology, manufacturing and design. “Participants left this weeklong experience with their custom-made guitars, curriculum modules with short term assessments that can be immediately integrated into the faculty team school curriculum” said Danielly Orozco, FLATE’s curriculum coordinator. 

Guitar Building Institutes. They begin with an online webinar two months prior to their workshop so they can arrive ready to start working.  After completion, all workshop attendees developed project based STEM lessons to deliver in their own classes and share with others. “Teachers were enlightened about the skills needed for technicians, machinists, and quality control engineers in manufacturing industries. The skills taught during the workshop correlate with statewide manufacturers’ needs” said Bagley.