Milpitas celebrates 8th annual Manufacturing Day, highlights student-industry partnerships
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Summary
City officials, school leaders and local manufacturers marked the 8th annual Manufacturing Day in Milpitas, highlighting workforce-development activities that brought 55 students and local employers together and thanking partners including BD Biosciences, Coursera Gaming and Simon Property Group.
Milpitas city officials and school leaders celebrated the city’s 8th annual Manufacturing Day and recognized students and industry partners who took part in October activities designed to introduce high school students to manufacturing careers.
Alex Andrade, director of economic development and strategic initiatives for the City of Milpitas, told the council the Office of Economic Development “is responsible for workforce development programming” and said Manufacturing Day helps students “envision themselves as part of Silicon Valley’s best and brightest.” Economic development coordinator Michael Thomas briefed the council on event details and results.
City staff said the event engaged roughly 90 attendees, including 55 students representing Calaveras Hills High School, Milpitas High School and the Milpitas Unified School District Innovation Campus. City staff surveyed the 55 students and reported 20 responses; a “very strong majority” of respondents said the event influenced their understanding of career opportunities in technology and advanced manufacturing and said they would encourage a friend to attend next year.
Representatives from BD Biosciences, Coursera Gaming and Simon Property Group hosted site visits and demonstrations. Michael Thomas noted site hosts provided tours, hands-on demonstrations and a panel Q&A session, and he thanked Milpitas Unified School District staff—singling out Denise Coleman for coordinating logistics on the district’s behalf.
Thomas also told the council that Simon Property Group underwrote the cost of student and guest lunches for the event and that lunches were provided by Milpitas Business Crust Sourdough.
Council members in attendance praised the program: Vice Mayor Chua and Mayor Montano, and council members Lien and Fan were among city officials listed as having attended. City staff said the program aligns with the council-adopted economic development strategy and implementation action 17.1, which calls for continued support of the annual event to introduce youth to economic mobility opportunities through manufacturing careers.
The presentation closed with a four-minute video produced by Polar Light Productions that captured students’ tours, engineering activities and facility demonstrations. Staff said the event planning involved a range of partners over a 12-week period and that the program supports the city’s workforce development goals.