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Students are exposed to manufacturing career opportunities beginning in the 7th grade, with Vex Robotics summer camps and events at one of nine RAMTEC sites located across Ohio.

I met Chuck Speelman, superintendent of the in Marion, Ohio, during FANUC’s Open House in Oshino, Japan, last April. FANUC is a major partner in the Robotics Advanced Manufacturing Technical Education Collaboration () that Mr. Speelman helped launch. My colleague, Derek Korn, wrote about the program here. Thanks to a grant from the Ohio Department of Education’s “Straight A Fund,” RAMTEC has established nine facilities across the state filled with manufacturing tools from automation and robotics suppliers including Yaskawa Motoman, Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi, Parker Hydraulics and Vex Robotics. Students from 256 school districts are eligible to join educators, manufacturers and OEMs in certified training programs providing firsthand experience with the very equipment they’ll encounter on the job. A recent blog post by Ritch Ramey, RAMTEC coordinator at Tri-Rivers, presents a nice snapshot of the program, its varied offerings, current activities and its expanding efforts to help introduce students—as well as adults seeking new skillsets—to automation and robotics in manufacturing as a solid and rewarding career choice.