by Lynn Beyer and Denise Rockhill
On April 28th, 40+ NFPA members and guests descended upon the Donaldson Company Global Headquarters in Bloomington, MN to attend the NFPA 2016 Minneapolis Regional Meeting. The event began with a delicious luncheon hosted by Donaldson and a lively round of introductions and business updates from all attendees.
Our featured speaker for the day, Bob Defries, Director of Customized Training & Workforce Development at Alexandria Technical and Community College, was on hand to give us a bird’s-eye view of an exciting program — the Fluid Power and Applied Mechatronics Training and Education Center (FAMTEC). FAMTEC is a national consortium that will be led by technical education and curriculum experts at Alexandria Technical and Community College (ATCC), in Alexandria, Minnesota, with regional hubs throughout the United States. Each regional hub coordinates a high school outreach and teacher professional development program, in collaboration with, and mentored by, an industry partner. This program will leverage these industry partners to create interest and awareness of highly skilled careers in mechatronics and fluid power. The FAMTEC is expected to be a key enabler to creating the next generation of highly skilled workforce candidates for the manufacturing industry.
The meeting concluded with a Donaldson facility tour — including a peek into two of their laboratories. A special thank you to our honorary host, Scott Grossbauer, Donaldson’s Director of Global Hydraulics, the Donaldson tour guides and all of the employees of Donaldson for their gracious hospitality.
Future NFPA Regional Meetings will be held in Milwaukee and Chicago. Watch for details in NFPA News!
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