Flowery Branch High School (FBHS), one of 12 Georgia secondary schools to join the SME PRIME® (Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education) 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.
SME PRIME partners private industry with academia to build custom manufacturing and engineering programs in high schools across the country, providing equipment, curriculum, teacher training, student scholarships, and funding for extracurricular activities and program sustainability. Tailored to meet the needs of local manufacturers, SME PRIME is aligned with more than 40 industry-recognized certifications. The program serves 10,000 students in 110 schools across 23 states, and 91% of PRIME seniors pursue manufacturing post-graduation.
In 2013, SME partnered with Stratasys to develop the SkillsUSA additive manufacturing competition, which introduces the next generation of manufacturing students to emerging additive manufacturing technologies while providing them with hands-on, real-world experience they can apply to commercial products.
“We had 12 kids win gold medals at state to qualify for nationals, and then we had a couple others who won bronze,” says FBHS engineering teacher Harmon Tison about the 2023 SkillsUSA competition, where SME gave away 55 3D printers.
According to Tison, FBHS’s participation in the SME PRIME program played a big role in the strong student performance at SkillsUSA. “Without access to some of the equipment and the curriculum that we have now, the kids who came from the engineering program would definitely not have been as successful,” says Tison.
Through the SME PRIME program, FBHS received manufacturing-related equipment, materials, and supplies, research-informed manufacturing-related curriculum and learning resources, professional development for educators and support for student engagement in manufacturing-related activities. New equipment included Stratasys F170 printers and 3D modeling software, a Snap-on Precision Measurement Instrumentation classroom kit, classroom robotics gear, a mechanical drives training system, a hydraulic and pneumatics training system, AC/DC electrical current training systems and a robotic arm.
TFBHS continues to provide the engineering courses it offered before joining the SME PRIME network, but the school is now able to enhance the courses while incorporating the SME PRIME content, adding depth and breadth. “We’re able to focus more on a specific manufacturing task,” says Tison, noting that FBHS received resources in support of four educational pathways: metrology and quality, CAD/CAM, additive manufacturing, and mechatronics and robotics.
Almost 220 students — from freshman through senior years — are enrolled in the SME PRIME program at FBHS. It’s a tremendous value to them, says Tison, because of the opportunities they get for hands-on learning.
To further that learning, the SME Education Foundation hosts Bright Minds Student Summits alongside SME conferences and events. “If they want to learn the fundamental skills of robotics, for example, they can,” says Tison. “And the networking connections are huge, because when you say, ‘I’m from an SME PRIME school for manufacturing,’ they go, ‘We know exactly what SME is.’” For example, says Tison, they know that SME PRIME offers certifications in precision measuring instruments (PMI), CAD, 3D printing and other fields.
“The training that PRIME students have had means a lot,” says Tison “It helps open a lot of doors to those kids.”
Like winning gold medals at SkillsUSA.