Calipers. Micrometers. Programmable Logic Controllers. These and others are just some of the tools and machines introduced to Woodbury Middle School students in an up-close look at the manufacturing industry in Connecticut with a visit from Goodwin University and their mobile learning trailer.

 On Tuesday, September 10 every WMS student participated in a 30-minute hands-on Manufacturing In Motion presentation that included visiting the 44 ft. mobile manufacturing lab and a presentation to introduce students to advanced manufacturing, engineering, STEM, and the career opportunities available. 

Goodwin University Magnet School representative Keith Sevigny gave students a brief overview of advanced manufacturing career opportunities and a brief history of manufacturing in Connecticut and the 4,000+ manufacturers here that produce a wide range of items from Pez candy to the F135 fighter jet engines of Pratt & Whitney.

In the mobile lab, parked out back for the day, students had the chance to see and interact with a variety of high-tech gadgets, tools, and desktop machines including scanners, CNC machines, 3-D printing, laser engraving, as well as a focus on robotics and automation. Students were also able to test their welding skills on a welding simulator.

This is the first of 10 visits from Goodwin University and the mobile lab at WMS under a one-year partnership that will supplement WMS Tech Ed classes with an Advanced Manufacturing element. Goodwin University educators and the MIM mobile unit activities will be embedded into the Tech Ed curriculum with teacher Will Michael. The activities expose students to themes centered around the principles and forces of aerospace. WMS students will attend a field trip up to the Goodwin campus in East Hartford in the spring.

Sevigny said this unique partnership is inspiring middle school students to be part of the next-generation workforce in manufacturing. Bringing information right to the students where they are is a great way to pull back the curtain of manufacturing. “Manufacturing goes hand in glove with engineering and it’s all right here in Connecticut,” he said and added that the companies in the state need skilled workers to fill the jobs.