Studio at HMIN provides southeast Indiana students with access and exposure to
Industry 4.0 technologies

The Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC) and Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, LLC (HMIN) debuted the latest IN-MaC Design and Innovation Studio™, allowing students from all over southeast Indiana to discover and explore next generation manufacturing.

Located within HMIN facilities in Greensburg, the HMIN Drives Dreams Pathway (HDDP) IN-MaC Design and Innovation Studio™ provides opportunities for middle and high school students to discover new ways to explore design thinking, problem solving, technology and creative skills. The interactive studio provides hands-on experience with additive printers, robotics and coding, as well as engineering and science learning modules. It also includes exposure to virtual reality stations and STEM education.

“IN-MaC in partnership with Honda is looking to provide the highly skilled incumbent workforce at Honda and the future workforce access to Industry 4.0 technology and talent development pathways in the IN-MaC Design and Innovation Studio™ at the Honda facility,” said Sascha Harrell, IN-MaC director of education and workforce.

Students from Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) Region 9 and Greensburg Mayor Josh Marsh were on hand during the debut to test out the many studio activities. Whether simulating a car assembly line with building bricks or trying their hands at virtual reality welding and paint and forklift simulators, students and local officials got a glimpse of next generation manufacturing in action.

“What stands out about this studio is the chance for students to make the connection between what they are learning at school through STEM classes with the manufacturing processes, critical thinking and problem solving our associates use every day to build vehicles for our customers around the world,” said Tim Myers, HMIN senior vice president. “As we continue to build our talent pipeline and future workforce, it is critical for Honda and other companies like ours to tap into the interests of students by providing opportunities like this.”

“The studio provides a unique experience by bringing the digital realm of creating and making, along with authentic connections to industry, specifically with the regionally relevant manufacturing landscape, to the learning environments provided within both schools as well as industry settings. The connection to studios that are located within manufacturing facilities and embedded within their outreach programs offers a truly unique way of bridging the industry-education gap. By doing so, this provides students with relevant and realistic experiences that will help to cultivate technical competencies along with new digital abilities, employability skills, and awareness of career pathways at a young age where career perceptions are formed and new ways of thinking can be fostered,” said Greg Strimel, assistant professor of engineering/technology teacher education in Purdue Polytechnic.

“Seeing the studios come together and students using the technology is rewarding. Having access to a studio within in industry is a great resource that inspires the students who come through to become more interested in manufacturing careers, like atHonda,” said Ty Martorano, product development specialist at STEM Education Works.”

Currently, through a partnership with IN-MaC,Purdue Polytechnic and STEM Education Works, there are ten studios located at elementary schools and industries throughout Indiana. Studios are being implemented across the state to pilot innovative STEM education and work solutions. Additional training and industry studios are scheduled to open in 2020.

The HDDP program is open to students from Indiana schools, homeschools and community-based education organizations that are interested in STEM education, exposure to other careers in manufacturing and to improving career opportunities for Indiana youth.

About IN-MaC:

IN-MaC provides programs and services to enhance the talents and capabilities of Indiana’s present and future workforce by facilitating connections between educators and industry to catalyze the formation of near-term and long-term skills in a highly accessible manner across Indiana. IN-MaC supports a variety of STEM-type, skilled trades, degree (associates and undergraduate) and certificate programs. IN-MaC leverages its resources, networks and partnerships with industry, local communities, educators and interested stakeholders to provide a variety of formal courses and informal activities that embolden pathways to meet the talent needs of the present and future manufacturing workforce.

About Honda in Indiana

HMIN is one of five Honda automobile assembly plants in the U.S. HMIN began production of Civic sedan on October 9, 2008, and now also builds the CR-V Hybrid, CR-V sport utility vehicle and the Insight hybrid vehicle. With employment of more than 2,500 associates and capital investment exceeding $1 billion, HMIN has the capacity to produce 250,000 vehicles annually. In 2018, Honda purchased more than $2.2 billion in parts from 51 suppliers in Indiana. HMIN maintains one of the lowest environmental footprints of any automobile plant in Honda’s global production network.

About STEM Education Works

As part of SDI Innovations family of companies and brands, STEM Education Works combines standards-aligned STEM curriculum with high-quality technology to empower students in grades six to 12 to integrate science and mathematics concepts into design based learning engineering practices. The company’s teacher-designed, industry aligned curriculum delivers authentic learning opportunities to students, bridging the gap between student outcomes and workforce development needs. Learn more at https://stemeducationworks.com.