Presentations, robotics demonstrations and new online information tools were showcased at a special event on October 8th at the Bosch Rexroth Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center at the Olympic Community of Schools in Charlotte, NC. The Center provides valuable opportunities for students from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to learn about manufacturing and engineering careers. 

The event was designed to highlight the efforts by the Olympic Community of Schools and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District to help students at every level appreciate how many fulfilling and satisfying opportunities exist for them to follow as engineers and technical associates working for today’s leading manufacturers, including many in the Greater Charlotte Region. 

The Bosch Rexroth Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center is a key resource for helping expose students to these opportunities. It is the only high school facility of its kind in the region that has a dedicated machine shop and a K-12 business alliance specifically aimed at providing resources and pathways to apprenticeships and engineering careers.

The Center provides Olympic High School students with hands-on experience using state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, including the latest in metal-cutting and finishing technology, multiple lathes, milling machines, saws and grinders, along with metrology and quality-control stations.

Support from businesses and manufacturers from across the Greater Charlotte region have helped make the Center a critical resource in helping the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools address skill gaps at a grassroots level. With 7,500 unfilled manufacturing jobs in the area, according to the regional workforce development board Charlotte Works, and about 85,000 STEM-related unfilled jobs in the region, the Center is part of a timely effort to expand the STEM talent pool, while simultaneously fostering upward economic and social mobility.

To help students understand how their career journey could take them on a rewarding path into engineering and manufacturing professions, Bosch Rexroth recently launched an online resource that helps students to learn about possible roles, their functions, minimum education requirements and average earnings. 

The site also provides information on apprenticeships at Bosch Rexroth and links to the greater STEM and IoT communities in Charlotte.

“Like many manufacturers in the Greater Charlotte region, as well as across the country, we face a constant challenge to fill key technical positions in our manufacturing operations,” said Greg Gumbs, president and CEO of Bosch Rexroth North America, who was the keynote speaker during the event.

“The strategic partnership between Bosch Rexroth and Olympic High School, represented by our ongoing support since the founding of the Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center in 2015, demonstrates the critical importance we place on investing in these kinds of initiatives. A partnership between business and schools fosters economic and social mobility for youth, while simultaneously helping expand the local talent pool.”

In addition to providing annual funding, Bosch Rexroth engineering and manufacturing professionals dedicate personal time to mentor and volunteer in support of local nonprofit STEM and educational institutions, including programs at Olympic High School and their K-8 feeder schools.