THE AUTOMATION FEDERATION NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Bernard Penney
(919) 990-9291
bpenney@automationfederation.org
The Automation Federation and Piedmont Triad Partnership Present Technology Career Days
Research Triangle Park, NC (9 April 2009) – The Automation Federation worked with the Piedmont Triad Partnership (PTP) in organizing the first Technology Career Days event for high school students in the twelve counties comprising the Piedmont Triad region, which took place 24 -25 March.
Guilford Technical Community College in Greensboro, North Carolina, was the site for this inaugural Technology Career Days event. Hundreds of high school students from sixteen high schools took part in this two-day event, visiting thirty-five exhibits that highlighted automation and technology and provided hands-on learning activities. The students had the opportunity to discuss design, manufacturing, and logistics careers in fields from product design to automation to transportation. At each exhibit, students were offered information to help them better understand the importance of Math and Science in automation profession and technology fields.
Organizers hailed Technology Career Days a success. Bob Crigler, Automation Federation director for the PTP contract, said, "The Automation Federation is pleased to be working with the Piedmont Triad Partnership in the creation of successful events like the Technology Career Days. We look forward to working with the PTP on future innovative programs."
The Automation Federation recognizes that reaching out to students early, when they are exploring career paths, is vital to its workforce development initiatives. Programs like Technology Career Days are essential to the Federation's goal of building the "Next Generation of Automation Professionals."
Kim Miller Dunn, Automation Federation president, said, "Students represent the greatest resource and assets for the future of manufacturing, not only in the Piedmont Triad, but throughout our country. I am pleased that the Automation Federation took part in organizing a very successful event with the Piedmont Triad Partnership. The earlier and more often we introduce automation and technology to young scholars, the better we will be able to help these students start out on the road to achieving a rewarding career in automation profession and technology fields."
More information about the Automation Federation's Workforce Development efforts can be found at www.automationfederation.org.
About the Piedmont Triad Partnership
The Piedmont Triad Partnership (PTP), one of seven regional economic development partnerships in North Carolina, is the economic development organization representing the 12-county Piedmont Triad region. The PTP is the lead organization for the U.S. Department of Labor-funded Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative, which supports the development of an integrated regional economic development and workforce development strategy for the Piedmont Triad. The Piedmont Triad, the nation's 37th-largest metro region with more than 1.5 million residents, includes the counties of Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Montgomery, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin.
For more information about the PTP, visit www.piedmonttriadnc.com.
The Automation Federation manages the activities of the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Cluster Roundtable for PTP. The Automation Federation works with PTP to create new, high-skill, high-wage jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector.
About the Automation Federation
The Automation Federation is a global umbrella organization under which member associations and societies engaged in manufacturing and process automation activities can work more effectively to fulfill their missions, advance the science and engineering of automation technologies and applications and develop the workforce needed to capitalize on the benefits of automation. The Automation Federation is working to become the "Voice of Automation." For more information about the Automation Federation, visit www.automationfederation.org.
