NORWOOD, Mass., Nov. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute (NYSE:UTI), the leading provider of post-secondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians, will host the "New England Skills Gap Expo: Solutions Through STEM" on Thursday, November 21, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at its Norwood campus, to help raise awareness about the need for greater collaboration between industry and education in creating curricula that prepare students with the relevant skills needed to achieve employment.
This event will gather business, education and community leaders to discuss ideas to help bridge the gap in New England's skilled labor force, and to visit a hands-on expo area demonstrating how leading industries and innovative organizations are creating opportunities, achieving results and advancing STEM education. This expo provides a unique forum for participants to learn about successful programs and initiatives from across New England and share their own opinions in a town meeting discussion moderated by Ted Reinstein, reporter/producer for WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston.
Keynote speakers Dr. Rod Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education 2001-2005, and Kim McWaters, Chief Executive Officer of Universal Technical Institute, will kick off an open discussion that will feature a panel of thought leaders from education and industry including:
- James Brown, Executive Director of the STEM Education Coalition
- JD Chesloff, Massachusetts Business Roundtable Executive Director and Chair of the Governor's STEM Advisory Council Executive Committee
- Kelly Horton, Director of Membership Marketing and Sales for SkillsUSA
- Peter Koch, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Council for Professional Education
- Lisa Freed, STEM Program Manager for iRobot
- Teri Munson, Stand & Deliver Mentoring Program Coordinator for Raytheon
- Kevin Stamey, Associate Director, Engineering & Technical Management, for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom AFB
"The skills gap issue is affecting industries across the country and challenging our local economies, making the need to connect education to jobs more critical than ever before," said Kim McWaters, CEO of Universal Technical Institute. "UTI felt it was important to create a forum that would allow educators, industries, policy makers and community organizations to share their ideas and innovative solutions."
UTI believes the purpose of education is to fully prepare students for employment. To accomplish this effectively and successfully, educators must work directly with industry to develop curriculum. The school has partnered with more than 30 manufacturers, providing the foundation to create some of the most innovative and sophisticated education programs in the automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle, marine and motorsports industries.
This is the second event UTI has sponsored that brings business leaders together with educators, policy makers and community organizations to discuss the challenges facing industries and the role of education in helping prepare today's workforce for job opportunities. The first-ever Skills Gap Summit was hosted by UTI-Norwood in November 2012. During that summit, Massachusetts leaders shared perspectives on the labor skills gap in a discussion moderated by Shirley Leung of The Boston Globe, and highlighted results of the state's labor market trends in a report produced by The Commonwealth Corporation in partnership with the New England Public Policy Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
"New England Skills Gap Expo: Solutions Through STEM" will take place at the Universal Technical Institute campus at One Upland Drive in Norwood, Massachusetts. The event is free and open to the public. For more information and to register, email norwoodstemexpo@uti.edu or visit http://skillsgapexpo.com. Use the hashtag #utisummit on Twitter to follow social media updates during the event.
About Universal Technical Institute, Inc.:
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) is the leading provider of post-secondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians. With more than 170,000 graduates in its 48-year history, UTI offers undergraduate degree, diploma and certificate programs at 11 campuses across the United States, as well as manufacturer-specific training programs at dedicated training centers. Through its campus-based school system, UTI provides specialized post-secondary education programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech).
To learn more about UTI and its training services, log on to www.uti.edu.
SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc.
