IMTS Student Summit: The Kids Are All Right (SLIDESHOW)

Sept. 11, 2014

The IMTS Smartforce Student Summit gives thousands of students a firsthand look at how fun and fulfilling a manufacturing career can be.

Pete Fehrenbach

The high school and middle school students keep arriving en masse, wave after wave of chattery energy and enthusiasm gliding down the long escalator from the Grand Concourse to the basement floor to take part in the Smartforce Student Summit, the future-of-our-industry showcase happening this week during the IMTS manufacturing megashow at McCormick Place in Chicago.

The Association For Manufacturing Technology has made its largest-ever investment in this year's student summit, and the venture is paying off well. A record 14,000 students representing 800 schools are expected to tour the exhibition this week, according to Greg Jones, the AMT's vice president of Smartforce Development.

This gallery gives a taste of the goings-on from the first three days of the 2014 IMTS Smartforce Student Summit.

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About the Author

Pete Fehrenbach | Pete Fehrenbach, Associate Editor

Focus: Workforce | Chemical & Energy Industries | IW Manufacturing Hall of Fame

Follow Pete on Twitter: @PFehrenbachIW

Associate editor Pete Fehrenbach covers strategies and best practices in manufacturing workforce, delivering information about compensation strategies, education and training, employee engagement and retention, and teamwork. He writes a blog about workforce issue called Team Play.

Pete also provides news and analysis about successful companies in the chemical and energy industries, including oil and gas, renewable and alternative.

In addition, Pete coordinates the IndustryWeek Manufacturing Hall of Fame, IW’s annual tribute to the most influential executives and thought leaders in U.S. manufacturing history.