Policy changes can return US to prominence (Randy Wolken)

To the Editor: 

Manufacturing is getting a lot of attention. President Obama highlighted the importance of manufacturing and its growth as major factors in our nation’s economic recovery during his recent State of the Union address. Thanks to our ability to adapt and compete in the evolving global environment, our New York state manufacturing sector remains successful. It remains essential to the efforts of our state and nation to emerge from our current economic crisis. 

With that, I felt it necessary to respond to last Monday’s editorial questioning the future of our nation’s manufacturing sector. The editorial draws its conclusions from the examples of Kodak and Apple. These companies have very different histories, chose very different paths and today deal with very different challenges. The editorial fails to mention the broader issues and trends affecting advanced manufacturing, in America and worldwide. 

While Kodak and Apple each have success stories, each company also has distinct shortcomings. Kodak’s trouble stems more from its inability to develop the next generation of products and services after film was replaced with digital photography — which it helped create, but failed to develop fully — than its economic model for production. 

Unlike Kodak, which chose to invest, grow and support manufacturing in America, Apple primarily chose to develop its products in America and sell to Americans, but invest in manufacturing elsewhere, primarily China. Therefore, Apple’s production model has primarily benefited China, where over 700,000 jobs were created. Although that economic model has produced handsome profits for the company and its shareholders, it has not been nearly the winner for American workers. 

Apple’s argument that there are not enough skilled workers in America is unfounded. We have a highly-skilled work force that is ready and willing to learn new skills and work under suitable and fair conditions to produce high-quality, well-manufactured products. What America is not willing to do is succumb to poor working conditions or take away the quality of life of its people in order to meet production demands. 

Kodak did not fall short due to the lack of a skilled work force; it fell short due to the inability to stay ahead of its own game. Apple, on the other hand, is ahead in the game of innovation, research and development, but chooses not to invest in American manufacturing and the economic development success of our nation. 

Despite challenges in the manufacturing sector, the United States is still the world leader in manufacturing. Its most successful production today is generally business-to-business production, not consumer products. iPods and iPads are not produced in America — but they could be. To do so would require the help of the United States, state governments and citizens. Asia is the primary producer of consumer products — such as the iPad — today. Many of these nations have tilted the scales in their favor by manipulating currency, imposing trade barriers, stealing intellectual property and value-added taxes. This speaks nothing about the way they treat their workers. 

If we want good-paying, middle-class jobs, we need the support of policymakers to create environments where these jobs thrive. We need to lower the costs of production — and that does not mean wages. These unnecessarily high costs are related to the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world, high energy costs, high costs of frivolous lawsuits and the high costs of many outdated and counterproductive regulations. 

We also need outstanding schools teaching math, science, technology and skills like entrepreneurship and teamwork. We need certificate retraining for out-of-work employees who need additional 21st century, high-tech skills. We need a broadband infrastructure and maintenance of our transportation infrastructure. 

Companies do not compete in a vacuum and they react to the very economic conditions that exist in each country. As a community and nation, we need to value manufacturing and its middle-class jobs more than other places they can locate. When we do so, we will again see the return of many good-paying, advanced manufacturing jobs right here in the United States of America. 

Randy Wolken is president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York.
www.themanufacturersalliance.orgwww.themanufacturersalliance.org

NYS STEM Education Summer Institute needs PRESENTERS

The NYS STEM Education Collaborative is set to hold its 2nd Summer Institute right here at SU's L.C. Smith College of Engineering! JULY 8th ~ 11th How to empower today's students to be prepared to enter the 21st Century STEM Workforce is part of our overarching theme.

Please consider submitting a proposal to present          
or just attend!

The Institute begins with a Sunday evening kickoff Social Networking dinner~ served stations style ~ will be on the 20th floor of the newly renovated Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2 1/2 days of STEM focused modules, a banquet and much more!

Join us in showcasing CNY to the NYS STEM Collaborative.

Flyer: http://www.nysstemeducation.org/STEM_Docs/2012Summer/LCS0020-STEMconferenceSheet%5B1%5D.pdf

Questions? Please contact me!

Gwendolyn L. Maturo-Grasso

glmaturo@syr.edu

NYS ELA Teacher & STE²M Outreach Facilitator

TACNY: Technology of Central NY Board Member

 Lincoln MS 1613 James St. Syracuse, NY13203

Work: 315-435-4450  Fax: 315-435-4455 Cell: 315-247-2517

Canadian Teens bring LEGOS to new heights

Here is a portion of the article about ... two 17-year-old Canadians sent a flag-toting Lego figurine into the sky on a weather balloon, as part of a weekend project that cost less than $500. It's cooler still that they got back some fantastic video of the toy silhouetted against the backdrop of a curving Earth beneath a black sky. But let's not call it putting a "Lego man in space." Even though the balloon ascended to around 80,000 feet, that's only a quarter of the way to the boundary of outer space. 

That distinction doesn't take anything away from the feat that Toronto teens Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad pulled off this month: The high-school students worked during four months' worth of free Saturdays to put together their balloon-borne experimental package, including four cameras, a cell phone with a GPS app, a home-sewn parachute and a Lego "minifig" holding a Canadian flag. Check out the rest of the article and the amazing video that the guys shot!
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10253843-teens-send-toy-above-the-clouds

Tour at C.W. Baker High School ~ Wednesday, February 15th

What: Tour and Awards Presentation to
C.W. Baker Technology Education Department (Program of the Year
& Paul Mizer (Teacher of the Year)

When: Wednesday, February 15th @ 4:00 pm

"Tech Fest" ~ Baker Tech Dept.  

CNC Milling Machine at Baker Tech

Girls in Engineering

TACNY Sweet Lecture "Forensic Science: Real-Life CSI"

When: Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at 5:30 pm
Where: Whitney Applied Technology Center Room 101 at Onondaga Community College

Anita Zannin, owner and forensic consultant at AZ Forensic Associates, will present Forensic Science: Real-Life CSI, a talk about forensic science and bloodstain pattern analysis, as part of the the Technology Alliance of Central New York’s 2011-2012 Sweet Lecture Series. The event is also sponsored by the Syracuse section of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

People interested in learning more about forensic science are invited to attend the free Sweet Lecture presentation on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Room 101 of the Whitney Applied Technology Center on the Onondaga Community College campus. Networking starts at 5:30 p.m., the speaker is introduced at 6 p.m., the presentation is slated to run from 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the event ends at 8 p.m. following questions from the audience. Admission is free and open to the public. Walk-ins are welcome, but we ask that people RSVP by emailing sweet.lecture@tacny.org by Jan. 31, 2012.

Anita Zannin has been an expert witness in state and federal courts, and has worked on criminal and civil cases in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. She recently appeared on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” talking about evidence used in the case of Warren Horinek, a former Fort Worth, Texas, police officer who was found guilty of killing his wife based on the testimony of a bloodstain pattern analysis expert, which others believe to be wrong. Zannin graduated magna cum laude from Buffalo State College with dual bachelors degrees in forensic chemistry and criminal justice. She earned her master’s degree in forensic science from Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, where she currently is an adjunct professor. She is also a visiting professor at Francisco Marroquin Law School in Guatemala. Zannin earned her certification as a competent forensic expert in bloodstain pattern interpretation from the Institute on the Physical Significance of Human Bloodstain Evidence, which only six people worldwide have earned.

Zannin will discuss the science of forensics and bloodstain pattern analysis, topics that have risen to prominence due to the popularity of television shows such as “CSI.” She will talk about how technology has transformed this field of investigation and share her thoughts on the future of forensic science. Zannin will also discuss some the many cases she has worked on.

NYSTEEA needs YOU to PRESENT at the Spring Conference

Attention Central New York Technology Education Teachers! The NYSTEEA Conference planning  (Syracuse University Sheraton, April 18 ~ 20th) is underway and they are counting on our CNY membership to contribute by volunteering to be PRESENTERS!
I sent you all the "Presenter File"  attachment with last week's e-mail, however
If you are interested and have specific questions please contact
the Conference Coordinator, Michael Barbieri or go to the NYSTEEA website for the
application PDF.

CNS Technology Education Tour was awesome... check it out!

Thank you to Jason Fabian and Marty Miner for being such great hosts and
giving the group an excellent tour on Wednesday, January 11th. Marty did a great job giving insight on the Fuel Cell Car project.

“Controversy in Science” Presentation by Damian Gregory Allis, Ph.D ~ Wednesday, January 18 @ 7:00pm

Where: Dewitt Community Library in the Shoppingtown Mall, Dewitt, NY
Event is Free and Open to the Public
Please contact David Harding at 315-416-0036 for more information
“Science advances one funeral at a time.” – Max Planck
The infinite unknown that is our universe is being studied by a finite number of people with finite budgets and a finite number of hours in the day, many of them with real jobs to boot.  Opinion and intuition have served as double-edged swords throughout the practical application of the scientific method, often weighing down now-famous great leaps forward for reasons having nothing to do with science itself.
“We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.” – Anais Nin
Damian will spend his time being both antagonistic and defensive as he discusses some of the history of now-obvious-but-previously-insane truths and facts gleaned from the scientific method, then will briefly describe his own work in the field of molecular manufacturing, an area of research previously seen as profoundly forward, then game-changing, then heretical, then highly suspect, and now increasingly academic, all without strong experimental evidence for or against for most of its history.

Presenter Bio:
Dr. Allis is a research professor in the Department of Chemistry at Syracuse University.  When not applying quantum chemical methods to the study of molecules and molecular solids, he can be found drumming in several local bands and moonlighting as the President of the Syracuse Astronomical Society.  More information can be found at his website, www.somewhereville.com.
Central New York Skeptics (CNY Skeptics) is a community organization dedicated to the promotion of science and reason, the investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims, and the improvement of standards for science education and critical-thinking skills.

2012 STEM Education Institute to be held at Syracuse University (July 8th thru July 11th)

We (NYSTEEA) want you to attend/participate and/or present at the 2012 STEM Education Institute  to be held at Syracuse University (July 8th thru July 11th). In 2010 we held the STEM Institute at SUNY Oswego and it was well received and well represented by technology education, science and math teachers along with some presenters from the engineering field.  The entire approach is right down our alley. This Institute is a great opportunity for our  discipline. We are the T & E in STEM education. If you have a unit, or an activity that incorporates math and/or science and/or engineering  then you should be presenting. The deadline for presentation topics & brief description is  January 31st, but you will have the rest of the year and part of the summer to fine tune your presentation. Any questions please e-mail or call me!! We're working on getting donors that will reduce costs for attendees and presenters. Chuck Goodwin, DTE New York State Technology & Engineering Educators Association (NYSTEEA) NYSTEEA Advisory Council Chair 12 Tudor Drive Endicott, New York 13760-4332 Office: 607-785-1680 Cell: 484-885-0045 E-Mail: cgnystea@stny.rr.com Website: www.nysteea.org

NEXT CNYTEEA Tour: Cicero North Syracuse Technology Education Program

When: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11th @ 4:00 pm

Where: Cicero North Syracuse High School

The Cicero North Syracuse Technology Education Department will demonstrate their efforts to tie in their engineering classes and students with the traditional shop classes. The tour will start in their Engineering Lab and highlight a project that has been ongoing that deals with alternative energy. They will also highlight the engineering classes that are offered at the high school.

Jason Fabian will show highlights of what he is doing in the wood shop. Then the

tour will take the group into their Metals Lab where they do most of the building of the competition vehicles. This year they are building a third vehicle that will be competing in Houston, Texas with the Hydrogen Fuel cell vehicle.

The address of the school is

6002 Route 31, Cicero, NY 13039

Martin Miner ~ Department Chair, Engineering, CAD, & Metals, Engineering Club advisor

Chris Hawkins ~ Automotive, Transportation & Drafting

Jason Fabian ~ Woods, Carpentry & Engineering

Brad Hartstein (.4) ~ Engineering, Welding, Electricity

Luke Morse (.2) ~  Welding

Fayetteville Free Library offering the Fab Lab

Thank you to Karin Dykeman for sharing this information!

The Fayetteville Free Library is excited to offer a new public service the FFL Fab Lab. What exactly is a fab lab? According to Neil Gershenfeld, the Director of MITs Center for Bits and Atoms and author of Fab: the Coming Revolution on Your Desktop-From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication, a fab lab is a collection of commercially available machines and parts linked by software and processes developed for making things (Gershenfeld, 12). At the foundation of the FFL's Fab Lab will be a MakerBot Thing-o-Matic 3D printer, made available to the library through a generous donation from Express Computer Services.

STEM modular program distributed by LJ Create? Does anyone have information to share?

I recently received this e-mail from Tim Brown ~ Pulaski Technology Education Department:

I'm currently using an outdated Scantek modular program in my Middle School Tech lab here in Pulaski. The Superintendent has asked me to research the STEM modular program distributed by LJ Create. Are you aware of any labs in our CNY area that are currently using this program?

Thanks 

Tim Brown

tbrown@pacs.cnyric.org

Current Chevron commercial ~ Not Science ~ It is TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

Recently Chuck Goodwin sent out the link below of the current national commercial from Chevron to the NYSTEEA Executive board. It has really cause a lot of response from the members.... CNYTEEA what say you? Do you think that our discipline has an identity problem with the general public?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpP2mH6jSoI 

A Georgetown University Report on STEM and the Changing Structure of Innovation

This is a great read for STEM educators, recruiters, and people who are just plain proud to be part of the STEM community.

Dr. Jonathan L. Hollander
Founding Fellow
Economy - Energy - Environment (E3) Foundation

 http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/stem-complete.pdf

Making History: The Contributions of Women and Ethnic Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

Saturday, January 21, 9:30-11:00am
Milton J Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology, Syracuse NY

Monica D. Johns, president and CEO of Clarity Management Consulting Inc., will present Making History: The Contributions of Women and Ethnic Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, a talk about the contributions women and minorities have made to the STEM disciplines, as part of TACNY’s 2011-2012 Junior Cafe Scientifique lecture series.

People interested in learning more about their contributions are invited to attend the free Junior Cafe presentation on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in Syracuse’s Armory Square. Walk-ins are welcome, but we ask that people RSVP by emailing jrcafe@tacny.org by Jan. 19, 2012.

Monica D. Johns has over 25 years of technical and business experience, and has worked at General Motors, Corning and General Electric. As president and CEO of Clarity Management Consulting Inc., Johns transforms businesses from the inside out by using process improvement to enable clients’ strategic goals. Johns earned her bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a PMI-certified Project Management Professional and earned her Six Sigma Black Belt from the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

This presentation will uncover the contributions of women and ethnic minorities in science, technology, engineering and math, disciplines that historically were closed to women and people of color. Johns will go beyond the names that are commonly known and highlight the challenges and triumphs of this courageous group of pioneers who did so much to broaden our intellectual and technological horizons.

TACNY Junior Cafe Scientifique, a program for middle-school students, features discussions between scientists and students about topics in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in an informal atmosphere and seeks to encourage students to consider careers in these areas. Students must be accompanied by an adult and can explore the MOST at no cost after the event.

For more information about TACNY, visit www.tacny.org.

TACNY Sweet Lecture "Biomass Applications for Energy and the Environment"

When: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 5:30pm
Where: Whitney Applied Technology Center Room 101 at Onondaga Community College

Chris Campbell, renewables manager at O’Brien & Gere and a consultant to private equity firms for the evaluation of new, innovative biotech/renewable technologies and companies, will present Biomass Applications for Energy and the Environment, a talk about the use and economic viability of renewable biomass in different applications, as part of the the Technology Alliance of Central New York’s 2011-2012 Sweet Lecture Series.

People interested in learning more about biomass applications are invited to attend the free Sweet Lecture presentation on Tuesday, Jan. 10, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Room 101 of the Whitney Applied Technology Center on the Onondaga Community College campus. Networking starts at 5:30 p.m., the speaker is introduced at 6 p.m., the presentation is slated to run from 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the event ends at 8 p.m. following questions from the audience. Admission is free and open to the public. Walk-ins are welcome, but we ask that people RSVP by emailing sweet.lecture@tacny.org by Jan. 3.

Campbell’s current responsibilities at O’Brien & Gere include conceptual engineering design/build and management of innovative renewable solutions to industrial/federal clients in the renewable/biotech areas. He is also the lead consultant to private equity firms for the evaluation of new innovative biotech/renewable technologies and identification of biomass startup companies with economic value.

In his lecture, Campbell will discuss use of woody biomass for energy generation or as a liquid fuel source as well as other biomass that is a non-compete with food sources. He will also discuss the challenges of using algae as biofuel or as an atmospheric carbon dioxide absorbent for greenhouse gases, using specific project examples in these areas.

Technology Alliance of Central New York
Founded in 1903 as the Technology Club of Syracuse, the Technology Alliance of Central New York enhances and
facilitates the development, growth and advancement of education, awareness, and historical appreciation of technology within the Central New York community. Through its programs and support efforts, TACNY seeks be the key link among technical societies in the region and produces programs that serve members, as well as educational groups and institutions with similar missions. For more information about TACNY, visit www.tacny.org.

A Message from NTSTEEA President, Mike Fry

Hello Fellow Tech Ed Teachers,

      Well, our Annual Conference is fast approaching! April 18, 19 & 20 are the dates, so please mark your calendars and send in your registration. Do you have a great lesson, interesting problem-solving activities, methods for integrating STEM or Common Core Standards or something else you believe can benefit teachers, students or our discipline? If so, please consider presenting at the NYSTEEA conference in Syracuse. A Call for Presenters Formis attached and available in the Conference section of our website. 

      At the beginning of the school year, I mentioned that one of our goals is to communicate better with our members and I must admit that I have not been doing that as effectively or as often as I should. But we have not been idle. Members of NYSTEEA have been working hard on many initiatives.  

      We have been working with key decision makers and are moving closer to making NY an Engineering by Design Consortium State. Our goal is not to make this ITEEA-developed, standards-based and regularly updated K-12 program mandatory, but to simply make it, and all of the associated resources, available to all interested districts. If we get our way, initial professional development opportunities could take place as early as this summer and would be largely supported with outside funding. If you have an interest in this program, or simply believe that making it available in NY is a good idea, please send an EbD Support Form (attached) to Chuck Goodwin, or turn one in to a NYSTEEA or local association officer. The forms simply ask for your name, school and signature, yet they provide us with essential data necessary for obtaining funding and other support. 

      Although the key improvements to our website may not yet be obvious, we are currently working behind the scenes to make it far more intuitive and useful. We want to get it right, so the NEW website will take a few more months to complete. However, once unveiled, we will be better able to integrate videos, communicate with members, delete outdated content and do a host of other useful things. Placing a “Video of the Week” or “ Activity of the Week” right on the homepage could be a great feature. We know there are great things going on in Tech Ed rooms throughout the state…so please get your videos and images ready to share with your colleagues! 

      We are also planning to have an area on the website to call for volunteers. We can always use help on small activities that may only take a minimal commitment of time. If we have many individuals chipping in to help in small ways, we can truly accomplish a lot. Of course, we can also use help on larger commitments like contributing to or editing a newsletter and participating on committees. We are also looking for teachers throughout the state to work with faculty at Alfred State College on an initiative to link Tech Ed teachers with leaders in industry. If you would you like to contribute to the Newsletter or help in some other way, please drop me an email.   

      As members of the NYS STEM Education Collaborative, we continue to work with the Math and Science Teacher’s associations, along with the New York State Society of Professional Engineers. In fact, a 2012 STEM Institute is currently planned for July 8-11 in Syracuse, so please consider presenting or attending. NYSTEEA President-Elect, Bob Tufte has been working with the CTE Technical Assistance Center, and the seven other CTE disciplines, to develop a CTE position paper regarding college and career readiness. Upon completion, this paper will be shared with the Board of Regents and others. On Long Island, NTEA will be hosting a meeting and KidWind training at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. I plan on attending this event, which will take place on January 19^th at 4pm. This should be a great evening, so whether you are a current member or not, please support your professional association and plan on attending. NYSTEEA has been working on a host of other initiatives and, as they develop, we will provide our members with updates.  

      I wish you all a very happy and productive new year! 

 

Thank you,

Mike Fry ~ NYSTEEA President

Joe Clayton reflects on Teaching and his Career