ROAD TRIP!

Last month, Kevin Finan and eight of his machining program seniors form Atlantic Technical College in Broward County took a road trip to USF College of Engineering and the Haas Outlet in Tampa.  Kevin is a firm believer that providing students exposure to various opportunities for his students after graduation is very important.  First hand exposure to various programs and levels of post-secondary education and various workplace settings is extremely helpful for young people when they are trying to identify what they want to do and where they might fit into the future.  Often students know right way after making a visit to a company, college or university that that is a place they want work or, equally important, that it’s NOT a place can see themselves in the future.  The students had a great time, asked a lot of good questions at both “stops” on their “road trip”.  At the Haas Outlet, they of course learned about the latest CNC technologies and about careers in machining.  At USF, they visited several labs including electrical engineering, industrial manufacturing lab, the nanotechnology research and technology center and the student innovation lab space.  They also heard about the engineering college programs from Eva Fernandez and mechanical engineering students and explored the student projects in the innovation lab.  There might be no better way to engage and encourage seniors to start seriously exploring options than field trips.  FLATE would like to thank all their USF partners for supporting the tour request and helping to provide a rich experience for the Atlantic Tech students.  A big shout out to Eva Fernandez, Rob Tufts, Dr. Susana Lai Yuen and the Electrical engineering team for taking time to share their engineering passions with these students.