IMTS Trip Goal = Identifying the purpose for the work/skills taught in the classroom.

We’ve all experienced or witnessed the “why do I need to know this” student question. I guarantee this question was answered on our trip. The day started with the Smartforce Student Summit, where our students were able to participate in hands on experiences learning the workflow through the entire manufacturing process: design, 3D printing/rapid prototyping/additive manufacturing, machine and tool monitoring, automation, robotics, measurement, data acquisition and analytics, and the Cloud.

We then progressed to the actual IMTS trade show to see the “Real World” version of the student summit, and did I mention that this thing is huge!...2,400 company exhibits, 115,600 attendees, 1,370,256 square feet of exhibit space.

Moving past the size of this show, let’s focus on the student experience. It was just awesome for our kids to see the connections (the purpose) behind their coursework and how it directly related to the manufacturing industry, and ultimately a career path. Again, as a lifelong educator, I couldn’t tell you what most of the machines I was looking at did, but I could tell you the excitement and engagement our students had at IMTS. They immediately made connections between their classroom and the exhibit floor. If any of our students attending were looking to pursue a career path in manufacturing, they clearly could see why the work they are doing in the classroom is relevant and purposeful. This visual "aha" moment was easy to see and very powerful.

"We need to show our students the why, the purpose, in everything we do."