Ford Motor Company Fund Responds to Need for Engineering Talent with Grant to SME Education Foundation

Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company (Dearborn, MI), has awarded a grant of $90,000 to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation.

An award of $50,000 will support the SME Education Foundation?s Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS) Scholarship. Former Ford PAS students who are applying to college and want to pursue a degree in technology or engineering can apply for this annual $10,000 Ford PAS Scholarship, which can be used at any accredited college or university in the United States.

"It is critical that students in the United States acquire advanced skills in math, science, and technology to maintain our competitiveness on the world stage. We need to be in a position where we can recognize our students for their intellectual and academic achievement,? says Mike Schmidt, Contributions Director for Education, Ford Motor Fund.

The SME Ford PAS Scholarship is awarded to graduating students of Ford?s PAS award-winning educational program, created by Ford as part of its efforts to engage and excite students in science, technology, engineering, and math. Ford PAS is an academically rigorous high school curriculum with high-quality interdisciplinary learning experiences that challenge students academically and develop their problem-solving, critical thinking, innovation, and communications skills through local partnerships with business and higher education.

An award of $40,000 will support the Gateway Academy, a nationwide initiative of the SME Education Foundation designed to introduce middle school students from diverse backgrounds to the fundamentals of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students attending co-ed, one-week summer camps, learn how to brainstorm ideas, solve problems, and build remote-controlled airplanes, robotic vehicles and rockets. This curriculum prepares middle and high school students for pre-engineering coursework offered by Project Lead the Way®.

"Employment needs are growing faster than students graduating with engineering degrees,? says Glen Pearson, president of the SME Education Foundation. ?We appreciate our collaboration with the Ford Motor Company Fund and having their financial support.?

As industry demands on the workforce increase, so must student knowledge of 21st century skills. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employers will be seeking 17,000 industrial and manufacturing engineers, 14,000 mechanical engineers, 14,000 engineering technicians, and 273,000 metal and plastic production workers every year until 2012. These numbers indicate that young people need to learn more about these highly-skilled jobs and how beneficial math and science can be to a successful, well-paying career.

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