Florida’s Inaugural FAME Chapter Launched at Daytona State College

Program expected to begin this fall

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. (Feb. 6, 2020) – Daytona State College has become home to Florida’s first chapter of FAME (Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education), a collaborative effort between DSC and local manufacturers designed to match students in the AS Engineering Technology program with job opportunities in the community. The first cohort is expected to start classes in the fall of 2020.

FAME is a collaborative group of manufacturers and other employers of technical workers whose purpose is to implement dual-track, work-based learning education that will create a pipeline of the most highly skilled new workers. It currently has more than 25 chapters in 13 states, nearly all of them in conjunction with junior or community college associate degree programs.

Four companies in Flagler and Volusia Counties have joined to create the local FAME chapter and committed to sponsor at least one student each in the first cohort. Those companies are American Radionics in Palm Coast, Boston Whaler, Inc. in Edgewater, Dougherty Manufacturing in Edgewater, and Hudson Technologies in Ormond Beach.

Daytona State will use its AS degree in Engineering Technology, Mechatronics specialization, as the academic home of the FAME program. Industry experts provided input into course selection and sequencing to customize this degree for the workplace. The students will attend class two days a week and work at their sponsoring companies three days a week. The curriculum has a strong focus on professional behavior and lean manufacturing principles following the Toyota model of the original FAME chapters.

Recruiting events will be led by local industry leaders and will take place this spring. Interested students must apply to both DSC and the FAME program before June 1. Applicants will be selected by the employers and a “Signing Day” is scheduled to be held in early July. Employers will have the choice of hiring students before the fall semester begins or waiting until classes officially start in August.

Students finishing the program are well-grounded in both their technical and professional skills, have relevant work experience in their field and often finish with little or no student debt. Additionally, the program at Daytona State will have an aligned articulation to the BS in Engineering Technology offered at DSC and other colleges and universities in Florida, providing access to continued career, personal and professional growth.

For more information about the program, please contact Dante Leon, Associate Vice President, College of Business, Engineering and Technology at Dante.Leon@DaytonaState.edu.

# # #