SAN BRUNO, CA — Skyline College and Base 11 will host a Manufacturing Day event on Friday, October 7, as part of a national movement to inspire the next generation of makers and manufacturers.
The event will feature a keynote on “Process of Innovation,” a tour of Skyline College’s recently opened Fab Lab, and an opportunity to participate in a hands-on maker activity. This is one of more than 2,000 events scheduled across the country for what’s been dubbed MFG Day.
Designed for high school and college students, the program at Skyline College intends to spark and sustain interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, which are central to the region’s economy. Research shows that hands-on activities help sustain students’ interest in STEM.
“We’re excited to have Skyline College participate in this national celebration of manufacturing and making,” said Raymond Hernandez, Dean of the Science/Technology/Mathematics Division at Skyline College. “This is a fun way to introduce our students and the whole community to the world of possibilities that our Fab Lab makes available, and that epitomize modern technology and engineering education.”
The “Process of Innovation” session will be presented by Terri Wade of the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center. This lesson gives visitors a sneak-peek into the STEM Entrepreneur course offered to Skyline College students for the first time ever this semester. The course is being piloted at the campus, with Wade as the primary instructor, and will be replicated nationally beginning in 2017.
Guests will then tour the Base 11 Innovation Center at Skyline College, which features a Fab Lab – short for fabrication laboratory – where equipment such as 3D printers and laser cutters allow users to design and manufacture almost anything they can imagine. Skyline’s Fab Lab is open not only to students, but the entire community.
In small groups, visitors will also be able to get their hands on different do-it-yourself activities, such as working with small drones or using a circuit board to modify music. These hands-on sessions will be led by Skyline College students who have completed fellowships through Base 11, where they spent the summer at top research universities in California being mentored by graduate students and using state-of-the-art lab equipment.
“Manufacturing Day is all about inspiring the next generation of innovators, which is exactly what we want to do at Base 11,” said Landon Taylor, CEO of Base 11. “We expect students to come out to MFG Day and get excited and inspired not just to pursue STEM degrees, but to become leaders in STEM.”
Both a morning session, 8:30 a.m. – noon, and an afternoon session, 12:30-4 p.m., are available to visitors. Register at www.base11.com/mfgday.
About Skyline College
Skyline College is an accredited, comprehensive California community college serving more than 10,000 students offering over 100 Associate Degree and Certificate programs. Located on a 111-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Skyline College has offered world-class educational opportunities to residents from North San Mateo County and beyond since 1969. Part of the San Mateo Community College District, Skyline College strives to inspire a global and diverse community of learners to achieve intellectual, cultural, social, economic and personal fulfillment.
About Base 11
Base 11 is a non-profit public benefit corporation focused on empowering high-potential, low-resource community college students with hands-on education and training in STEM-related enterprises. Base 11 partners with community colleges and their feeder high schools to provide high-potential, low-resource students with real-world training, experience and mentorship in STEM-related enterprises, delivering to employers a prerecruitment pipeline of well-trained, highly skilled STEM employees and entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit www.Base11.com. Base 11 is a DBA of the Center for Innovations in Education, a non-profit 501(c) 3 – IRS exemption EIN# 26- 4365936.