If you’ll be in Chicago on May 9, you can get a first-hand update on IMTS from Peter Eelman, VP-Exhibitions & Communications at AMT. Peter will be speaking at the Brinks Innovation Competition Luncheon, the theme of which is “Where Are They Now?” – an update on last year’s competition winners.

Other discussion topics at the luncheon include a panel on trends in clean technology investment.

This luncheon is affiliated with Midwest Clean Tech 2012, which will be held at McCormick Place in conjunction with IMTS. You can learn more about that event at www.midwestcleantech2012.com.

Admission to the luncheon is free. It takes place May 9 from 11:30 am-1 pm at the offices of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, 455 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, NBC Tower Suite 3600, Chicago. RSVP by May 1 to Tracy Rudd at trudd@usebrinks.com.

An article from Wired pointed to a recent phenomenon of classes and schools that teach “maker skills” – hands-on, DIY skills geared toward 9-5 desk jockey-types who are great with, say, a Power Point presentation, but maybe not so much at the skills necessary to make tangible objects.

The schools and programs teach everything from quilting to welding to plasma laser cutting. They’re popping up in major metropolitan areas and small towns alike. And they’re not just in the U.S. – you can find them all over the world.

So it begs the question … is this the beginning of a revolution, where herds of office drones trade their Aeron chairs for welder’s helmets, or a career as a CNC machinist?  It’s too early to say. But as the trend toward DIY takes root — manifesting itself in everything from backyard vegetable gardens to garage-housed 3-D printers — it’s possible that more than a few folks are eager to spend their days getting their hands on something other than a mouse and keyboard.

If nothing else, it appears to be a fantastic opportunity to educate a segment of the population who otherwise would not be aware of the technical know-how necessary for today’s manufacturing industry. It might not be the magic bullet that closes the skills gap, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

IMTS 2012 visitor registration is going full-steam ahead. We’d like to pause to say “thank you” to the man who started it all – Scott MacNaughton, President of Mac-Tech International!

Scott was the first visitor to register for IMTS 2012. His company offers consulting services to the manufacturing industry, as well as placement and recruitment for positions related to lasers, robotics, automation, and others, both domestically and internationally. He’s been to IMTS four times previously.

“We go to the show to meet with a lot of our existing customers, and also gain new customers,” he said. “It’s always a good networking event, but it’s also nice to see a lot of the new technology that’s out there.

“It’s always been a big show in this industry, and it’s nice to see everyone in one spot. You get to see the capital goods, but also the consumables that go along with it. It’s also a great place to find out where the industry is headed as a whole.”

Scott has also done work with students at IMTS to promote careers in manufacturing and educate them about their opportunities and the industry in general.

“There’s such a shortage of talented people in the industry right now,” he said. “I’ve been working with companies and schools and other organizations as to how to get the message out there, to get some of the young people into the industry.

“There are a lot of people in the industry who’ve been in it for a long time, and they’re looking to retire now. Companies are looking to build up the next wave for the future,” he said. “There are all kinds of mixed numbers out there regarding the number of technically skilled jobs that go unfilled, but overall it’s amazing to see how high those numbers can be.”

Scott, we wish you luck at IMTS 2012 … and thanks for kicking things off. See you in Chicago!

The results are in, and they’re not good. According to a survey commissioned by Kennametal (an IMTS exhibitor), only 9 percent of the 1,000 Americans surveyed felt that manufacturing was a “bright spot” on the U.S. economy.

But well known to those in the industry, manufacturing has actually been leading the recovery, in terms of both revenue and job creation.

This speaks to an unfortunate truth that our industry continues to face. Despite advances in mind-blowing technology, despite the good-paying and highly skilled jobs available throughout the industry, despite work to reach out to youth and encouraging them to consider a manufacturing career … a sullied image still pervades American sentiment. According to the survey, 71 percent of respondents would not recommend a career in manufacturing to young people.

So what can we do to change these perceptions? Clearly a walk through the show floor at IMTS would change a lot of minds, but we need to create a larger window of opportunity to truly work on improving the industry’s image. Polls like this show that no matter how far we think we’ve come, we’ve still got a long way to go.

If you could do one thing — anything — to improve the perception of manufacturing, what would it be?