Macomb Community College introduces Innovate and Build to capitalize on Manufacturing Day momentum

Macomb Community College (MCC) is introducing a new program that it hopes will capitalize on the excitement high school students develop after experiencing the just-completed Manufacturing Day/Week.

Innovate and Buildwill take place Oct. 24 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Macomb Community College South Campus in the T building (Skilled Trades & Advanced Technology Center). The campus is located at 14500 E. 12 Mile Road in Warren.

The program is tailored to high school students and their parents who are motivated to pursue a career in manufacturing after touring facilities during MFG Week, Sept. 30-Oct. 4. Students with be offered the opportunity to examine two distinct pathways that evening, including:

1. Advanced Manufacturing:Featuring programs like machining, welding, mechatronics, and robotics.
2. Design:Highlighting fields such as product development/CAD, clay modeling, and media and communication arts.

Innovate and Build will replace the evening portion of AutoSTEAM. AutoSTEAM was a two-day event with an evening component, largely sponsored by the MFG Day committee. However, there was a gap between students attending MFG Day in October and participating in AutoSTEAM months later.

"We received significant feedback from our partners on AutoSTEAM, emphasizing the need to focus on a specific target audience, offer more hands-on exhibits, create more opportunities for conversations with employers, and work with smaller groups," said Laura Thero, associate dean, engineering and advanced technology at Macomb. "While we plan to bring back a broader career exploration event in the future, we felt this was the perfect time to test a new event model, which led to the creation of Innovate and Build."

Students who attend Innovate and Build will have the opportunity to hear from a panel of speakers, get questions answered about college and careers, and tour Macomb's Skilled Trades and Advanced Technology building. The event does have free food, and students are entered to win some great prizes.

Thero said one of the key requests from teachers, parents and students has been for the students to tour the facilities where the classes take place. Macomb's newly renovated Skilled Trades & Advanced Technology Building underwent a $45 million upgrade and reopened in August 2023. She said it provides the perfect opportunity for students to tour the labs and envision what it would be like to be a student at the college.

"We felt a responsibility to provide students with opportunities to explore career pathways that build on the exciting experiences they had during MFGDay," Thero added. "Innovate and Build, being held in October, gives students a direct opportunity to explore the educational paths that align with the innovations they were exposed to on MFGDay."

High school students and their families who want to learn more about manufacturing jobs in their own backyard can sign up for Innovate and Buildto discover manufacturing and design career pathways.

Don Gardner is a communications specialist for Macomb County Planning and Economic Development.