SAMPE Journal - November/December 2016 - 5

A Note From the Technical Director

Dr. Scott W. Beckwith, FSAMPE
SAMPE Journal Technical Editor
swbeckwith@aol.com

SAMPE Workforce Development Achievements: Local, National and Global
We have just recently completed two major conferences - SAMPE Europe 2016 in Liege, Belgium and
CAMX 2016 in Anaheim, CA. In addition to holding key workforce events, a number of panel activities
highlighted the accomplishments at both the local government and global levels
at CAMX 2016. In recent columns I have noted the importance of mentoring,
developing workforce programs, and training our future generation to grow in
the STEM, STEAM and other advanced technology areas.
The SAMPE Bridge Building competitions are unique to SAMPE events. In fact
these have become part of several of our global conferences. The reason the
SAMPE Bridge Building Contests are now popular worldwide is they require
students to employ design, analysis, material technology and manufacturing
skills. Now, one can find these contests at SAMPE North America, SAMPE
Japan, SAMPE China and our newest potential region, Brazil. These programs have been very instructional,
very competitive, and numerous levels of educational entities have entered - in very large numbers.
SAMPE North America initiated several years ago its Student Leadership Program. This event lets students
at our Spring conference visit our exhibit hall and attend technical
papers. They are also provided with a "Marketing Overview"
presentation so they can see where the advanced material and
processes industry is headed.
SAMPE Europe's Student Research Competition and SAMPE North
America's Student Research Symposium Competition are two
additional activities to engage our future M&P workforce.
These events, of which all at SAMPE can be proud, do not just happen. SAMPE members play key roles.
The SAMPE Europe program leaders are Adrie Kwakernaak, Christian Weimer, Jim Johnson, Tony Saliba,
Charlotte Salaun, and Phillipe Briant. Roughly 20-25 students picked by regional chapters participate with
the PhD and MS student winners chosen to go to a North America event. The North America Student
Research Competition run by Tony Saliba, Adrie Kwakernaak and Jim Johnson - plus a few other academics
on their committee - run the event at the fall CAMX show.
During the CAMX 2016 show there were a number of excellent panels and activities for young professionals
and on workforce development. The panel, "Workforce Development for Aerospace Markets" featured
several presentations on Utah-based programs (Aerospace Pathways Program,
Davis Applied Technology College, Granite School District for grades 10-12
and teacher training). In addition, the panel covered several SAMPE programs
in depth from its strong tutorial programs (run since 1990), 1-2 day seminars,
local conference events and various training programs. These events were
well attended and indicate strong interest in continuing and expanding training
at various levels globally for various market segments besides aerospace. In
addition, the SAMPE Foundation conducted a "Training the Teacher" workshop
at CAMX in order to assist teachers in conducting classes in composites and
advanced materials technologies.
The bottom line -while there is much to be done to fill the engineering opportunities of the future, SAMPE's
demonstrated history of student activities is a great start.

SAMPE Journal, Volume 52, No. 6, November/December 2016

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