(Courtesy Manufacturers Resource Center)
The statewide contest aims to raise awareness of manufacturing careers
The annual What’s So Cool About Manufacturing® video contest returns this spring to excite Pennsylvania students to explore cool manufacturing careers and produce profiles of companies in their local communities. Judges in each regional contest bestow awards and each contest features an online vote for its Viewers Choice Award.
The PA Dream Team – Philadelphia Region is presented and managed by the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center. The team represents the promise and future of advanced manufacturing in the greater Philadelphia area. Dream Team members – who are among the best and brightest young professionals in the industry – make classroom presentations that encourage students to explore manufacturing careers.
This year's PA Dream Team features employees from Greene, Tweed & Co., Colorcon, Southco, Bracalente Manufacturing Group, Johnson Matthey, Leonardo Company, Globus Medical, Ameriscend, Polysciences Inc., PDC Machines, and LavAzza.
Created by the Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) in Allentown, PA in 2013, the What’s So Cool About Manufacturing® contest’s objective is to change students’ perceptions about manufacturing careers. The teams of students and teacher coaches receive camera equipment, software, and professional guidance as they learn to script, record, and edit their video stories.
The contest allows seventh and eighth grade students to develop, shoot, edit and produce a “cool” video that showcases their experiences partnering with local manufacturers.
The What’s So Cool About Manufacturing® contests are supported regionally by their sponsors and partners. Production support is provided for several Pennsylvania contests by eMediaWorks in Center Valley, PA, and additional support for Pennsylvania contests is provided by Sahl Communications and EmpowerStar Enterprises.
Funds to develop the contests were provided in 2013 by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development’s “Discovered in PA, Developed in PA” program for an MRC project called Lehigh Valley Skill-Up. Original Skill-Up project partners were the MRC, Lehigh Career and Technical Institute (LCTI), the Lehigh Valley Workforce Development Board, and the Da Vinci Science Center.
