CANADIAN MANUFACTURERS AND EXPORTERS DISCOVERY PROGRAM

Abstract

In the news and ever present on the minds of people in the technology and manufacturing sector is Canada’s need to replace nearly four hundred thousand skilled employees who will be progressively retiring over the next several years. To compound this problem, there has been a steady decline in student enrollment in the secondary and post secondary institutions in the science and technology areas (one of the main human resource feeds). Part of the reason for this can be directly related to a lack of awareness, not only to the diverse and exciting career opportunities found in contemporary manufacturing, but also just how important this sector of the economy will be to Canada’s future. This paper explores the success of the CME (Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters) pilot discovery program initiated by Design Engineering from the University of Manitoba. The initiative was directly aimed at secondary students from science, math, business, art, and technology programs. The main objective was to inspire these students by allowing them to experience first hand the many exciting facets of modern-day manufacturing. This was achieved by a hands-on approach to designing, building, and testing a project using their ingenuity to problem solve and the latest type of technology to fabricate their design. The success of this program was at the very least to be aware of a career option they may not of otherwise considered, and at the very most an opportunity to take the first steps to an exciting and rewarding career with the many possibilities that manufacturing has to offer.