Manufacturing: What We See When We Look Into our Coffee

By Matthew McMullan
Sep 29 2014 |
Workforce
This cool coffee creation image comes courtesy of Flickr user GoToVan.

Latte art. It’s a booming industry of its own. But the Alliance for American Manufacturing won’t just endorse any lotus flower or smiley face in the foam of your fancy coffee; you’ve got to come correct. Like so:

Yeah. That right there is a celebration of National Coffee Day (which I just found out is a thing) via an image of the Maker Faire robot … a mascot used by the eponymous organization that describes itself thusly:

Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors.

Maker Faire hosts flagship events annually in the Bay Area and New York, as well as dozens of other gatherings worldwide. And we dig the enthusiasm it has for hands-on learning, which is in short supply in American classrooms these days. Don't believe me? Here’s a troubling Manufacturing Fact from Bloomberg News:

The average number of high school credits earned in career and technical education fell 15 percent from 1990 to 2009 at the same time core academic credits in study areas such as English, math and science rose 20 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Education.  

We're well-aware of the dearth of resources our country has placed in creating its next generation of manufacturers, so AAM is glad there are organizations out there like Maker Faire that are hustling to brew interest in making things. Stay tuned this week as we count down to Friday — Manufacturing Day — with a series of Manufacturing Facts.