The engineering and technology department hosted its second annual Manufacturing Day conference on Friday, October 28 to celebrate the nation’s recognition of an industry critical to the US economy. Four presenters addressed the Vaughn community on the topic of manufacturing innovation in the areas of 3D printing, composites, robotics and automation.

Mr. Jamie Moore, the chairman and president of the Aerospace and Defense Diversification Alliance In Peacetime Transition (ADDAPT), Mr. Manny Santana ’13, a Vaughn alumnus and a quality assurance specialist at Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), Mr. Oliver Scheel, president of US Didactic, and Professor Manuel Jesus, a faculty member in the engineering and technology department, knowledgeable in 3D printing and computer-aided design and manufacturing, shared their insights.

Professor Jesus announced the recent opening of Vaughn’s 3D Prototyping Innovation Center with multiple high quality 3D printers and scanners. He noted that this center, funded by a federal grant, along with Vaughn’s HASS computer numerical control (CNC) machine provides engineering and engineering technology students with the hands-on manufacturing skills.

A live stream panel discussion hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and moderated by Randi Sumner, senior director of IEEE strategy and entrepreneurship featured three Vaughn’s graduates from the engineering and technology department who founded their own start-up companies. Mr. John Pavon ’02, founder and president of Pavon Manufacturing Group, Mr. Cannon Patel ’15, founder, Cannon Technology Group LLC, Mr. Waseem Hussain ’17, co-founder and vice president of engineering, Union Crate. The panelists shared their expertise by providing insights on how to balance their academic career with their start-up dreams as well as discovering how the right support services from both academia and business expertise sources helped them successfully launch their idea.

There was also a hands-on component to the day with Vaughn’s unmanned aerial vehicle and robotics clubs hosting workshops on robotics design and autonomous programming, and on how to build and fly a drone. Participants for the workshops included students from Freeport, Bayside, and Thomas Edison high schools.