The May IMTSTV show is coming to you from Joe Gibbs Racing in Huntersville, North Carolina. See what it's like behind the scenes at a winning Nascar team.  Joe Gibbs Racing has 450 employees, 10 race teams, 27 CNC machines, 900 parts built, and they can build a race car from start to finish in 3 1/2 weeks. 

Watch the show on Monday, May 21 starting at 12 pm at www.IMTS.com/imtstv

Yes, IMTS is that famous and influential – or really our exhibitors are.  Elon Musk, founder and chief designer of Tesla Motors, appeared on the The Daily Show (April 10, 2012.) 

What has that got to do with the International Manufacturing Technology Show?  This year at IMTS 2012 we will be featuring in the Emerging Technology Center, Additive Manufacturing.  One of the participating companies, The Ex One Company, LLC, provides parts for the Tesla motor and these are created in one of their “3D” printers.  To say Elon Musk is an out of the box thinker is an understatement.   In the ETC we hope to inspire all of you to think beyond traditional design, let your imagination take part and see what amazing things you can create.

Visit the Emerging Technology Center (N-650) at IMTS!

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.