KENTWOOD, Mich. -- Stiles University hosted a Manufacturing Day event at Stiles’ headquarters and Homag Machinery North America.

Manufacturing Day is a nationwide event designed to showcase careers in manufacturing while also helping to shift the perception of the industry.

The event kicked off with a tour of Homag Machinery North America, where students saw how German-engineered flat table CNC machines are built and assembled right here in the United States.

Following the tour of Homag, students visited Stiles Machinery where they had the opportunity to see those same machines in action as members of Stiles’ staff demonstrated how to program and operate them to produce hundreds of wooden cell phone holders. Once the machines had processed the parts, each student had the chance to sand and stain their own cell phone holder which they were able to take home as a memento.

Liz Giem, lead teacher at Kent Innovation High School, explains why she thinks exposing her students to Manufacturing Day is important.

“Our students don’t know that these jobs exist,” she said. “When they think about manufacturing they think of dirty environments and harsh working conditions. We want to expose them to new ideas and technology so when they are ready to look for an internship opportunity, they already have an idea of what a career in manufacturing would look like.”

Thomas Allott, manager of Stiles University, said that the event is mutually beneficial.

“Manufacturing Day is not only beneficial for students, exposing them to high-quality careers made available within the manufacturing industry, but it also serves as a learning opportunity for us, helping us get to know the next generation of employees and understand what they are looking for in a future employer,” he said. See https://www.stilesmachinery.com/