The SME Member Council was created in the fall of 2003 to lead the member engagement activities of SME’s volunteer networks. The council is responsible for helping SME recognize and meet the membership’s needs in this rapidly changing manufacturing environment. We volunteer to help meet the organization’s strategic goals, strengthen the local chapters, and develop membership recruitment, retention, and engagement recommendations.
While sitting at my desk to write this message, the question came to mind, “But what is SME?”
SME is a professional organization focused on the manufacturing community. It is a rich source of information and knowledge about many manufacturing topics. It provides training and opportunities to network and grow your career. SME promotes manufacturing early to youth to help them understand the industry and choose a career that creates value for society. And SME produces some fantastic conferences that allow manufacturing professionals from around the globe to meet, network, and learn from each other, building friendships and relationships that last a lifetime. These are all things that SME is known for and does, but it does not answer the question: “What is SME?”
SME is its membership base. SME is you and it is me. SME is all the volunteers at the local professional chapters, the student chapters, the provide all the activities and events mentioned above. SME does not exist without YOU!
If you are not a member but would like to be, there are many ways in which you can get involved in the local chapters and committees that keep SME providing the best opportunities for the manufacturing community. I urge you to get involved at all levels of this great organization, and really reap the benefits of belonging to a truly awesome group of professionals.
The Member Council has developed some strategic priorities that, as the 2023 chair of the council, I am very excited about. These include:
Brand—Strengthen the SME membership brand and value proposition.
Growth—Increase membership acquisition with professionals and underrepresented persons.
Engagement—Create an engaging membership community that deepens lifetime value.
The committees of the Member Council function through volunteers working for the good of SME. The committees and task groups with which you can engage are the Chapter Enhancement Committee, the Student Relations Committee, the Technical Communities Committee, and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Group. These committees and task groups have developed smart goals in the priority areas and will develop plans to implement during the year.
There is one more exciting piece of news I would like to share. The pandemic led to the demise of our student chapter here at Auburn University. In February, we filed our paperwork and held our first meeting of the resurrected Auburn University student chapter.
As great as that is, there is more. We have initiated a pilot project in collaboration with our friends just 25 minutes down I-85 at Tuskegee University to create a joint chapter with Auburn and Tuskegee students. The first joint meeting was held March 30 at the Interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (ICAMS) at Auburn University.
About 20 Auburn students and a half dozen Tuskegee students are already signed up. This is exciting as it opens the door for opportunities in many ways. The ultimate goal is for Tuskegee to have its own student chapter and, by then, we will have developed a collaborative operational relationship that will continue through the years.
As someone who is passionate about manufacturing education and workforce development, my role as the director of ICAMS gives me the opportunity to lead a center that has become a huge resource for small-and-medium manufacturers (SMMs) throughout the southeastern U.S. for improving technology adoption, offering demonstration, outreach, training, education, research, and promotion of manufacturing as a career. ICAMS offers equipment, space, and expertise to train and educate students and industry personnel in advanced manufacturing technologies.
Established in 2020 to help SMMs bridge the digital divide that threatens to render 85% of the American industrial base obsolete over the next decade, the center will use a significant portion of its latest and largest award, $8.9 million, from the Department of Defense’s Office of Industrial Policy’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program to leverage its research and outreach efforts promoting advanced manufacturing in SMM operations in the defense industrial base.
If you find this news as exciting as I do, I hope you find ways to get more involved with SME this year, and take the opportunity to connect with myself and other members in manufacturing. The benefits to you, personally and professionally, are well worth it.
Visit sme.org/join to learn more about becoming an SME member and how you can take the first step to become a volunteer and making a difference within the organization.
The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and Georgia Association of Manufacturers (GAM) are partnering with the SME Education Foundation to provide a hands-on manufacturing program to select high school students across the state.
The SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) program was rolled out to Georgia educators at the Georgia CTAE Administrators Winter Conference in February. The initiative is supported by a $4.5 million grant from GaDOE to help ensure a qualified pipeline of talent for the state’s growing manufacturing industry.
Informed by local manufacturers, SME PRIME builds tailored manufacturing and engineering programs in high schools across the country, providing equipment, curriculum, teacher training, and student scholarships, along with funding for manufacturing-focused extracurricular activities and program sustainability. SME PRIME targets seven pathways: additive manufacturing; metrology/quality; CAD/CAM; industrial maintenance; machining & fabrication; mechatronics & robotics; and welding. It is aligned with more than 30 industry-recognized certifications.
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