On July 19th, 35 girls between the ages of 12 and 16 visited ICATT (Industry Consortium for Advanced Technical Training) company Principal Manufacturing to experience real world manufacturing. The ICATT dual apprenticeship training program was established by the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest in 2015. 

This was just one excursion of the two-week summer program known as Camp GADgET (Girls Adventuring in Design, Engineering & Technology). 

Antigone Sharris, coordinator engineering technology at Triton College, organizes the program every year to increase awareness of careers in manufacturing to young girls and their families. She says that "every year we receive more interest from more and more girls. Former participants want to come back and show their friends." 

Julie Snyer, HR manager at Principal Manufacturing Company, added: "Everyone is complaining about the skills gap, but not everyone is willing to work on it. We love to support this program, because those girls are the future of our company and our entire industry." 

Principal Manufacturing Corporation is a TS 16949 and ISO 14001 certified company offering engineered solutions for automotive, industrial and OEM companies worldwide. They are a full service supplier for ready to use parts, offering engineering assistance to reduce cost and speed to market through vast in-house tooling. Other ICATT companies include Felsomat and Wittenstein. 

 

GADgET (at Triton College) is a summer program funded by a grant from the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation of FMA (Fabricator Manufactures Association) designed to introduce female youth between the ages of 12 and 16 to the world of manufacturing through hands-on projects, and site visits to manufacturing facilities. CAD, entrepreneurship skills, academic requirements for 21st century manufacturing careers, as well as teamwork skills are covered.