Keynote Q and A

“Walt Boyes, from CONTROL magazine. This question is for Mr. Nosbusch, since Mr. Taylor has already stated that MBUSI created its own apprenticeship programs. Rockwell is famous for its young engineer development and training programs, but what is the company doing to stimulate the desire in elementary, middle and high schools to undertake careers in manufacturing?”
“Frankly, the pipeline is broken,” Nosbusch replied. “We have swung our whole program around. Now 60% of our charitable giving for education is targeted on grade school and middle school, where we’re helping them learn robotics, manufacturing and the math and science skills.”
Governor Engler noted that his daughter reported seeing a button at school that said: “Be nice to a nerd, you’ll be working for one.”
Bill Taylor said, “We in manufacturing in the US are not well connected with education systems below the college level. We’ve created a ‘high school to work’ program, and we’re still far behind our German associates, where there are formal apprenticeships for many students.”
“One of the biggest problems,” Taylor said, “is that we don’t educate the workforce about the business. This makes them vulnerable to layoffs, etc.”