The Manufacturing Industry has made impressive advances in recent years, but continued growth hinges on recruiting the next generation of talent. NYC Manufacturing Day 2019 brought together students from across New York City for panels, career fairs, and facility tours in Brooklyn and Queens, to help them learn more about the future of manufacturing and its role in solving some of society’s greatest challenges. Find out which aspects sparked interest in the students and encouraged them to consider a career in manufacturing.
1. Artificial Intelligence
Nathan Exantus, Brooklyn STEAM Center (17)
“What gets me excited is artificial intelligence — seeing robotic arms build things it would take a person weeks to create…One person can build a program that will do the same job as a person. A lot of these factory spaces will not look like they do today. They will be filled with people programming. All of the jobs will be focused on being able to program…or maintain the machine.”
2. Sustainable Technology
Kamar Anderson, JCTS (19)
“Green technology gets me excited. Manufacturing is starting to play a major role in solving for climate issues. As time progresses, so will technology and the things that we can do in manufacturing. The possibilities are endless. The future itself is what excites me.”
3. Job Opportunities
Sefat Hameem, George Westinghouse (17)
“The future of manufacturing will create a lot of jobs. Because of new technologies, manufacturing is getting easier and today requires a higher skill set. Thirty years ago, people used to need to build everything by hand. Today it is all machines. The idea that new fields will create more jobs is exciting.”
4. Creative Solutions
Candace Samuel, George Westinghouse (15)
“More people have more ways to express themselves and their ideas today through manufacturing technology. Technology is making production more accessible and affordable.”
“People are taking different approaches to climate change. Some are expressing it by protest and others are building new technologies and new products to help the cause actively and it is inspiring.”
5. Efficiency
Charlie Calixto, George Westinghouse (17)
“Instead of taking a full day to draw and design a part or a product, now you can use software to accelerate the speed of it. Instead of thinking something, drawing it out, making it… you can feel the final product in your hand in a couple of hours.”
