Engineering and Manufacturing Career Day

On February 2,  MAGNET partnered up with the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center to have a fun and informative day learning about the different careers in the manufacturing and engineering fields on . This interactive event (held at the CVCC) provided information, resources, and demonstrations from engineering and manufacturing professionals, current students and college representatives.

MAGNET also made a video for the students to watch to give them an inside look at what these fields are all about. Check it out below!

MAGNET Welcomes New Board Members; Thanks Four Departing Members

By Dan Berry, President & CEO, MAGNET

Dan Berry, President & CEO of MAGNET

On February 6, 2013, MAGNET held its Annual Meeting and formally welcomed three new members to its Board of Directors:

• John Brandt, CEO, MPI Group
• Christopher Mapes (effective 7/9/13), President & CEO of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc.
• Alan Woll, President & CEO, Network Polymers

In addition, the organization expressed its appreciation to four board members who are departing the Board this year:

• Peter Accorti, President, Talan Products, Inc.
• Timothy D. Dixon, Ohio Region President, Citizens Bank
• John W. Harley, President, FirstPower Group LLC
• Scott Levin, CFO & Chief Admin. Vice President, GOJO

MAGNET’s Board of Directors sets priorities and guides the work of MAGNET’s professional staff. Their collective deep experience and intimate knowledge of the manufacturing industry is a critical factor in MAGNET’s success helping Northeast Ohio manufacturers innovate and thrive in a global economy.

The full list of MAGNET’s 2013 Board of Directors is available on the MAGNET web site.

New Funding Available to Support Internship/Co-op Programs

MAGNET is partnering with regional educational institutions in two important programs aimed at helping bridge the “skills gap” and prepare young people for technical and manufacturing careers.

In December, the Ohio Board of Regents announced $11 million in new state funding for a new program to help up to 1,500 Ohio employers provide paid and credited internships and co-ops to students at Ohio institutions of higher education.

“These awards are meant to provide Ohio employers with opportunities to benefit from the talents of Ohio’s college and career technical students,” said Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro. “And they’ll provide students with valuable internship or co-op experience.”

MAGNET has partnered with Cleveland State University and Lorain County Community College on projects funded through this Ohio Means Internships and Co-ops program. The projects will help manufacturers identify new internship opportunities in their companies and develop job descriptions for students.  MAGNET will assist in recruiting and preparing companies to successfully engage interns in a variety of positions. The University of Akron, Stark State College, Cuyahoga Community College, Youngstown State and  Kent State University also have been awarded funding for similar projects.

Companies interested in participating in this internship program should contact Kristin Reinard at 216.432.5324.

In a related development, MAGNET is partnering with NorTech’s Speed-to-Market-Accelerator (STMA) on an Internship/Co-op Program for Northeast Ohio manufacturers. STMA is a new collaborative program led by NorTech, JumpStart, Lorain County Community College, and MAGNET to accelerate the speed-to-market for high potential products in Northeast Ohio’s advanced energy and flexible electronics industry clusters.

MAGNET’s Workforce & Talent Development team is preparing to host information sessions for manufacturers who may want to engage an intern to work on specific projects for a defined period of time. MAGNET is seeking manufacturers in the advanced energy or flexible electronics fields who may have an internship project or who would be interested in learning how they could benefit. Companies will be expected to contribute 25% of the internship wages.

The  interns  will be employees of MAGNET, paid through the STMA grant and the 25% company match. They can be housed  at MAGNET or at a client’s facility, depending on project need. Students can come from any two-year, four-year or graduate school in the region.

For more information about participating in MAGNET’s STMA Internship Program, contact Kristin Reinard, 216.432.5324.

CES’s Annual Industrial & Manufacturing Conference Highlights

Cleveland Engineering Society’s annual Industrial & Manufacturing Conference was held Nov. 8 at LaCentre in Westlake. The theme was “Engineering Solutions to Energy & Environmental Challenges.”

Headlining the conference was Roger Saillant, Ph.D., a fuel cell pioneer and former Ford executive who now is the executive director of the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at Case Western Reserve University. His presentation was all about the evolution of automotive painting and emissions standards.

Kristi Tanner, managing director-advanced manufacturing for JobsOhio, was the luncheon keynote speaker. Representatives from RES Polyflow, PwC, MAGNET, The Technology House, OSHA, the Ohio EPA, Entrepreneurship Innovation Institute at Lorain Community College and Chagrin River Consulting also took part in presentations.

This year there were also four schools that had their student built robots on display! The participating schools were: Avon Lake, Max S. Hayes, Beaumont, and Polaris Career Center.  The students did a fantastic job with all the robots, including one that was scooping popcorn and another shooting basketballs!

A big thanks to all that came out to the conference this year and helped in making it such a success!

Entrepreneur Graduates from MAGNET’s Beta Space

Lindsay Sims didn’t always know she was going to be an entrepreneur. In fact, it wasn’t until a few years ago that the thought of owning her own business even crossed her mind. Now Lindsay’s new business is booming! Her company, Renters BOOM, helps property managers build their social media presence and integrate leasing efforts.

Sims did most of the start up work for her company in The Beta Space, a new program within the Incubator at MAGNET. “The Beta Space was that perfect place for me to transition from idea to practice,” she says.

After much assistance Lindsay is now “graduating” from The Beta Space and moving in to her own office!

Meet MAGNET’s New Incubator Tenant, Biolectrics!

Biolectrics LLC is a start-up company that is developing a battery powered device aimed at treating severe gingivitis and other forms of gum disease with less pain and at a lower cost than current therapies. This new dental device is called the OraFlow™. It looks very simialr to a mouth guard but is attached to an electronic controller that uses noninvasive electrical stimulation to kill oral bacteria associated with severe gum disease.

The OraFlow Pro will be sold through dental offices as a take-home treatment for periodontal disease. In most cases, the OraFlow Pro will be used several times a week for less than 20 minutes.

We’re very pleased to have this new tenant of The Incubator at MAGNET. We look forward to seeing what the future has in store for Biolectrics!

Looking Towards 2013

Before we know it 2013 will be upon us. Tell us what challenge your company faces in the coming year.