There’s a simple truth shaping the future of American manufacturing: students can’t become what they’ve never seen. That’s the challenge IACMI – The Composites Institute® tackled head-on and has now delivered a solution: ACE METAL Foundations.
Make It and Take It
With multiple activities for kindergarteners to fifth graders, ACE METAL Foundations STEM kits introduce students to smart manufacturing, materials science, engineering, metrology, foundational physics principles, and basic chemistry through hands-on activities and real-world applications. Each activity comes with all the necessary materials, a compelling instructional video, and a teacher’s guide. No prior knowledge required. All at no cost.
“I’ve talked to hundreds of schools about this program, and they all say the same thing – there’s nothing like this out there,” says Greg Harrell, IACMI’s workforce manager for K-12. “When we showed one teacher the kinetic critters activity, the response was, ‘We just learned about circuitry last week and that would have tied right into my lesson.’ This is coming at the right time.”
ACE METAL Foundations is the first step in a larger, nationally supported effort to inspire and educate kids towards careers in advanced manufacturing. America’s Cutting Edge (ACE) and Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeships & Learning (METAL) are both led by IACMI and supported by the U.S. Department of War’s (DoW) Office of Industrial Base Policy. ACE METAL Foundations offers age-appropriate learning that will broaden into CNC, composites, casting, and forging training in middle, high school, and beyond.