By now, our nation has realized that we are failing when it comes to educating our students in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. We have neglected our education system for far too long and we are now beginning to feel the repercussions.

When STEM education is brought up, the conversation often turns to the lack of available funding and qualified teachers. Here at 3D Innovations and 3D Academy, we firmly believe that local businesses and communities have a duty to help fill in the STEM education “gap”. The students of today are the leaders of tomorrow, and we want to send them out into the workforce prepared with the tools to succeed.

The Huffington Post recently published an article, “Leading the STEM Challenge”, which discusses our current STEM challenges; however, the article also goes a step further and reaches out to businesses and communities for support. Imagine if every engineering firm, research facility and technology company in the country sent one individual a day (or month) to a school to help educate students. This influx of support would not only re-energize students’ engagement, but it would give STEM education a major boost. Some companies have already taken this initiative; for example, Microsoft has started to send out computer programmers and engineers into local elementary schools to help fuel the desire to learn about computer science. Having real world professionals come into classrooms to offer a hands-on approach to learning is the best way to pique student interest.

Our 3D Academy division is specifically built around the desire to help educate students and teachers about engineering through interactive lessons taught by real world professionals. If we all decided to set aside a little time to help our schools (whether in the classroom or through after-schools programs) our students would be the ultimate beneficiaries and we would succeed at conquering the STEM education challenge.

To read the full Huffington Post article, please click here.