Australian Journal

I’ve just completed a full week in Victoria—a state in southern Australia.  It’s been packed with speaking engagements and meetings and quite successful. I’m now settling into the culture.  I’m starting to learn the local language—a little more complex than I thought. First of all—I’m in Austraaaaaalia, not Australia. A football game is really something [...]

Australian Journal

  I was invited to Australia by the Foundation for Sustainable Economic Development to speak to a mix of associations and organization about the vision, programs and experience of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council.  The Foundation’s Executive Director, Max Ogden, is a veteran trade union leader who has done pathbreaking work in redefining the opportunites [...]

APA Welcomes Atlas Tool and Die

  Bill Vogel welcomes Zach Mottl of Atlas Tool and Die as the newest APA Partner.  Mr. Mottl toured the Manufacturing Technology Center and observed our students studying the CNC Horizontal Lathe and to prepare for the CNC Operator NIMS Credential exam.  Helping Mr. Vogel welcome Mr. Mottl are: Allanta Hudson, Deshawn Hunter, Iking Canavy, [...]

Making Connections: Machine Shop & AP Calculus

By Steve McIlrath, APA Math Teacher Recently Mr. Varela from the Machine Shop teamed up with the Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus class, helping bring to life the idea of rotating volumes around a fixed axis.  The AP Calculus students just finished a unit on finding volumes of solids using integration techniques.  With machining tools located [...]

Junior Job Shadow Day a Success

Trevon Dotson and Marla Sanders spent the day at American Grinding. On March 16, 2011, 35 APA Juniors participated in a job shadow day.  Students had the opportunity to see what they learn in class in action while visiting some of APA’s dedicated partners.  Students began their day with a tour of the facilities and [...]

How economic development is made in Germany

The Renaissance Council has always drawn from international best practices — particularly those of industrialized European countries. A recent article by Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post inspired me to take a new look at Germany. Germany’s economy is as strong as ever — with rising wages, low unemployment, and export rates second only to [...]

Austin Polytech on PBS NewsHour

In October, WTTW’s acclaimed current affairs show Chicago Tonight aired a feature segment about Austin Polytech, spreading the word about our program to viewers across the Chicago area. Last night, audiences throughout the United States learned about Austin Polytech as our local story aired on the acclaimed national news show PBS NewsHour. If you missed [...]

APA Students Participate John Marshall Law School Patent Mock Trial

Ten Austin Polytech Sophomores and Juniors have been participating in a Patent Savvy Workshop facilitated by John Marshall Law School Professor Don Moyer and seven of his law students. The purpose of the workshop is to introduce Austin Polytech’s engineering and manufacturing students to the importance and value of intellectual property rights and patents. The [...]

How The Media Fails Manufacturing

One of the toughest problems facing American manufacturing has nothing to do with taxes, technology or trade policy: it is “messaging”. The message the general public gets about manufacturing is usually unrelentingly bad (and 20 years out-of-date) because the job of telling the rich, complicated and hopeful story of American manufacturing has been given to [...]

Speaking the Language of Transformation

Three decades ago, the political scientist James MacGregor Burns divided styles leadership into these categories: “Transactional“: “…one person takes the initiative in making contact with others for the purpose of an exchange of valued things.” And “Transformational“: “…when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one [...]