Tech Camp Builds on Manufacturing

ALAN LEÓN | REGISTER STAR
ALAN LEÓN | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR Audrey Pearson, 14, is a participant in the Women of Today’s Manufacturing day camp, held at Techworks in Rockford. Pearson shows her progress on modeling a hammer using computer-aided design software.
By Nate Legue
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR

ROCKFORD — As eight other students clicked away at their computers Wednesday, 14-year-old Audrey Pearson sat waiting, her three-dimensional drawing nearly complete.

One of only two girls in a weeklong Manufacturing Camp at Techworks, the aspiring engineer already knew a little about computer-aided design. Students at the day camp, organized by Women of Today’s Manufacturing trade group, learn about the entire factory process by taking a 7-inch-long brass hammer from concept to finished tool in five days.

For Pearson, a home-schooled teen from Belvidere, the camp was a chance to exercise skills she learned competing on a robot-building team last year. And a chance to revel in the fundamentals of manufacturing.

“I get a part on a piece of paper and know I can make it real,” Pearson said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

The camp immerses eighth- to 10th-graders interested in manufacturing careers in nearly every facet of the industry — engineering, design, milling, turning, assembly and inspection. It was born out of a groundswell effort six years ago to educate students about the field, even as the industry’s fortunes were heading for a major downturn.

Now, as the market rebounds for companies that make things, especially high-tech components and devices, interest in manufacturing careers is rebounding too.

Women of Today’s Manufacturing started the camp and was one of the trade groups that did heavy-duty lobbying to get local educators and business organizations to focus on the Rock River Valley’s largest job sector.

“We get together to discuss what’s new in manufacturing and where it’s going and how we can keep it going,” said former president Judy Pike.

One way the association tackles that is by providing scholarships to college students pursuing manufacturing-related disciplines. Last year, it gave away two $1,500 awards through the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.

“One thing we’re trying to accomplish here is to show there is so many different ways of making a living in manufacturing,” said Russ Kutz, training coordinator at Techworks. “It’s not just machining or assembly. There is design, purchasing, IT support.”

The camp continues today with a visit from John Ratzenberger, who will bring along a movie crew to make a fundraising video to encourage similar camps across the country.

Ratzenberger, who played postal worker Cliff Clavin on the television show “Cheers,” runs a nonprofit organization that encourages youth participation in the applied sciences. He also is the host of the Travel Channel show “Made in America,” which highlights U.S. manufacturing. His production team was in Machesney Park last October to film a segment on Astro-Physics, maker of state-of-the-art telescopes.