The TechEd Podcast

Manufacturers are putting more emphasis on diversity efforts than ever before, but are they working?

Executives, if you want to build a more diverse leadership team, then look no further than your frontline workforce.

And if you want to implement diversity practices that truly impact your frontline workers - the ones who stand to gain the most from these efforts - then you need to listen to this episode.

Our host Matt Kirchner combine...

Careers in aerospace are out of this world! And thanks to the work being done by SpaceTEC, the aerospace technicians are being trained and certified for cutting-edge careers all over the U.S.

SpaceTEC was launched as a National Science Foundation center to train aerospace workers. Led by Executive Director Steve Kane, the organization creates curriculum, resources and certifications to help training centers across the country prepar...

Esports (short for electronic sports) is a fast-growing, multi-billion dollar worldwide phenomenon...and the opportunities for our students through esports are astounding.

In this episode, we're talking with former California Teacher of the Year Alan Sitomer, who's now the Founder and CEO of Mastery Coding - an organization that's helping turn gamers into makers.

We're taking a deep dive into the world of esports - wh...

Johnson Controls is on a mission to make buildings smarter and to transform the environments in which we live, work, learn and play.

In this episode, we're talking with Marc Vandiepenbeeck, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of North American Building Solutions at Johnson Controls. It's a fascinating discussion about the digitization of building controls, smart buildings, smart supply chains, and how digitization is ...

"It's fulfilling to be manufacturing the products that people want to get work done, as we say. Our people take pride in the products we produce. It's meaningful work...The Briggs & Stratton brand is a legendary brand....The company is thriving and embracing new technologies and processes. Our team members are going to have a tremendous amount of growth and development opportunities. And let's face it, everybody...

"Today's modern manufacturing, it's not your father or mother, grandfather or grandmother's factories...Industry, 4.0 and the development of all of these technologies that are increasing automation, efficiency, productivity and our manufacturing plants, these create highly skilled job offer opportunities that generally pay very high wages with very strong benefits." - Jeff Oravitz, Seal for Life Industries

Jeff O...

100Kin10 has taken up the bold goal of ending the STEM teacher shortage in the U.S. What started as a call to action from President Obama in 2011 has become a vast national network of educators, employers and nonprofits who are collaborating, innovating and sharing the resources that prepared over 100,000 STEM teachers in the last 10 years.

In 2011, President Obama made a call for the U.S. to prepare 100,000 excellent STEM teaches i...

"If we're going to accelerate implementation and see those results in the near term and the long term...I think it takes visionary leadership and acceptance of being able to take some risks, be bold, be daring. Understand that sometimes if you take on a new initiative, or a new venture, it may not be as wildly successful as you could have imagined...But at the end of the day, it might be the thing that is the game changer f...

"We're in this new world: a disruptive world, a technologically-driven world...individuals at all walks of life need to understand technology and have those technical and digital skill sets. They need to be entrepreneurs and innovators. And they have to have a global perspective...So the idea is to reach 100 million learners over the next 10 years." -Sanjeev Khagram

Arizona State University's Thunderbird School of Gl...

"It's history that was just visible and palpable on the screen for us in 4k...as soon as we saw the the data coming up from the seabed, it was just pure exhilaration." - Tim Jacob

We have a thrilling two-part series for you covering the Endurance22 Expedition to Antarctica...the hunt for the lost shipwreck of Ernest Shackleton.

Our guest is Tim Jacob, Director of the Traveler Program at Reach the World, who was on board t...

We're back for part 2 of our discussion with a panel of thought leaders from iconic manufacturing brands to discuss how Industry 4.0 is transforming their operations, how the workforce is evolving, and how training and certifications can bridge the skills gap.

Catch up on part 1 here: https://techedpodcast.com/manufacturing-leadership-panel/

This week is all about Industry 4.0 Education & Training Efforts with leaders from:

Over the next 2 episodes, we've gathered a panel of industry thought leaders from iconic manufacturing brands to discuss how Industry 4.0 is transforming their operations, how the workforce is evolving, and how training and certifications can bridge the skills gap.

This week is all about Industry 4.0 Technology in Manufacturing with leaders from:

Today's features. Tomorrow's technology. Gentex Corporation is built on a culture of innovation, developing cutting-edge technologies for automotive, aerospace and commercial fire protection industries.

In this episode, we're talking with Gentex President and CEO Steve Downing about what it takes to build a culture of innovation, and the kinds of career opportunities in a technology company.

Would you believe we're 90-95% of the way to solving the self-driving car challenge?! Researchers, like Srikanth Saripalli, are building and testing some of the most complex vehicles, sensor systems and algorithms that are enabling us to advance autonomous vehicle technology faster and faster. 

Dr. Sri Saripalli is the Director of the Center for Autonomous Vehicles and Sensor Systems at Texas A&M University, where his resear...

What skills do today's students need to be successful in tomorrow's advanced manufacturing workforce?

Our host Matt Kirchner was recently a guest on the NSF-funded podcast "Preparing Technicians for the Future of Work," where he sat down with Michael Lesiecki to discuss this very question.

The conversation covers all things relevant to technical education and the industrial workforce. So educators, employers and publ...

David Noyce has spent his entire career researching transportation - in areas like advanced traffic operations, understanding driver behavior, and innovative technology like vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. In this episode, we're talking all about the future of smart transportation and the research being done across the country to bring transportation into the realm of smart cities.

Cutting-Edge Tr...

Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin is known as "The Education Governor." Having spent his career as a school teacher, principal, district  superintendent and Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, Governor Evers has a depth of insight into education that we tapped into on this episode of the podcast.

In this episode...

Connecting the Dots
"What's best for our kids is best for our state" - a motto Governor Ev...