Advanced manufacturers face a shortage of skilled workers, a problem exacerbated by the negative image of manufacturing careers. To overcome the outdated view of manufacturing, the National Center for Manufacturing Education (NCME), in conjunction with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation (SME-EF), has developed a website that takes a unique approach by providing an interactive on-line location for students in grades 11-14, their counselors, parents, and teachers to explore careers across the country. The site www.careerME.org provides access to information at national, state, and regional levels on highly technical and lucrative advanced manufacturing careers; educational opportunities; specific companies; state-of-the-art technologies; etc., all presented in a dynamic and interactive way our internet savvy high school and college students would expect. This paper describes the interest and motivation leading to unique implementation of a "web portal" to help improve student's interest to explore about advanced manufacturing and education leading to careers. The site also encourages educators and industry professionals to actively participate as content providers. Finally, influences to adopt social media technologies further drove development of more features that promote collaborative relationships between students, teachers, and industry. Examples of how social media concepts plan to be used used in the careerME.org website called my.careerme, are also explored.
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