Program Stories

Jasmine Brown and Samantha Hiller, 18-year-olds from Lake Wales, Florida, are studying machining and engineering at Polk State College in Winter Haven with the help of the SME Education Foundation's Dr. Irving P. McPhail Endowed Scholarship, which they were awarded for the 2024-25 school year. In addition to receiving scholarships, both students took advantage of the SME Bright Minds Mentorship Program, which pairs SME Education Foundation Scholarship winners up with SME mentors.

43 schools receive sustainability awards, 16 schools for first time

Did you know there’s a day dedicated to showcasing modern manufacturing to the public, students, and parents? National Manufacturing (MFG) Day not only aims to inspire interest in manufacturing but also to highlight that these careers are high-tech and innovative.

Stratasys went above and beyond with its preparation of SME PRIME® teachers in August during their 2 ½ day training at Stratasys’ headquarters in Minnesota. “We talk about applications, materials and segments, and then we dive into the equipment itself — and really get these instructors upskilled to talk intelligently about how the technology is used.”

Flowery Branch High School (FBHS), one of 12 Georgia secondary schools to join the SME PRIME® network in 2023, recently participated in the state-level SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition. Not only did FBHS win at the SkillsUSA Georgia state championship in April, it advanced to compete at the SkillsUSA national level in June.

Zack Okun, a 19-year-old manufacturing engineering student at Arizona State University (ASU), opened an email a few months ago to find that he won an F. Brian Holmes Directors Scholarship from SME.

Manufacturing and engineering students at Georgia’s Bryan County High School (BCHS) and Monroe High School (MHS) are reaping the benefits of new, advanced manufacturing technology and training opportunities that have been provided by the SME Education Foundation’s SME PRIME® (Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education) initiative since the Georgia Department of Education partnered with the Foundation in early 2023.

Haimer USA — the Illinois-based U.S. subsidiary of a German company that develops, manufactures and distributes high-precision products for metal cutting — recently invested in the SME Education Foundation with a $25,000 donation to fund two renewing scholarships.

Funded with a nearly seven-figure, transformational gift from the estate of Jerry Wickman, the SME Education Foundation has created the Jerry L. Wickman Scholarship — geared toward providing need-based support to Latina students.

Abraham “Abe” Francis of Sacramento, California, is one of the first SME Education Foundation scholarship recipients to benefit from the SME Bright Minds Student Mentorship Program.