Manufacturing Engineering Technologists

Learn more about engineering technology by joining your school's science clubs, attending science fairs, and volunteering for local organizations related to manufacturing engineering. Keep up with the news and developments in manufacturing engineering by reading industry publications such as the magazine Manufacturing Engineering (https://www.advancedmanufacturing.org/manufacturing-engineering). A helpful Web site is https://discovere.org/engineering-careers, which offers general information about careers in engineering, as well as profiles of engineers.

Conduct information interviews with manufacturing engineering technologists to learn more about how they got started in their career. Perhaps you could even job-shadow a technologist to learn even more about the field. Ask your school's career services office for help with finding technologists interested in participating in interviews and job-shadowing experiences.

A good way to explore the engineering technology field is by participating in youth associations such as the Technology Student Association (https://tsaweb.org), which is a membership organization for middle and high school students who want to become engineers, scientists, and technologists. The Technology Student Association also offers 40 competitions (https://tsaweb.org/competitions) for high school students, including those in Computer-Aided Design, Engineering; Data Science and Analytics; Engineering Design; Manufacturing Prototype; and Robotics.

The SME, a professional association for manufacturing workers in the U.S. and Canada, offers free membership for high school students (as well as a paid option for college students). Membership benefits include access to the “SME Connect” blog, scholarships, competitions, and a mentorship program, as well as a subscription to Manufacturing Engineering magazine. Learn more at https://www.sme.org/sme-membership/join-sme.