September 2014 - In This Issue:
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Kylan and his pen pal exchanging gifts in Africa
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CU Aerospace Ventures Day
Sept 22 @ 9am - 5pm
University of Colorado Boulder LASP Space Sciences Building
$75 (includes lunch & parking)
Schedule of events:
9am - 12pm
For senior technologists, scientists, and managers: Meet with faculty researchers from all aerospace-related disciplines.
2pm - 5pm
For corporate recruiters and hiring managers: Meet with undergraduate and graduate students from all aerospace-related disciplines.
Morning Keynote Speaker:
Kathryn G. Tobey
VP/General Manager Special Programs Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
For more information,
contact Diane Dimeff Managing Director, CU-Boulder AeroSpace Ventures
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SOCOM Southern Colorado Manufacturing Expo
Sept 30 - Oct 1
Freedom Financial Services Expo Center in Colorado Springs
Presented by Ent Business Banking, SOCOM will bring the community together to publicize and promote the sector, facilitate new and important relationships, and showcase manufacturing to a prospective future workforce. For more information, please contact Tracy Waters
Event sponsors: register here Exhibitors: register here To attend the conferences, register here
And kick off MFG Day 2014 at...
Beers & Gears
Manufacturing tour of the Bristol Brewery
Sept 29 @ 4-7 pm
Idlewild School in Colorado Springs
For more information, please contact Cindy Nowak at 303.956.6217 or [email protected].
Register here
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NIST-Boulder Technology-Entrepreneurship Showcase
Sponsored by BKD
Oct 9
NIST-Boulder Lab
$26
Are you an inventor, entrepreneur, product developer, angel investor, scientist, engineer or post-doc in search of your future? Is your company looking for technology solutions to improve your products? Spend the day at the NIST Boulder Lab learning about new innovations and the resources available to help build businesses around them.
Register here
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JeffCo Innovation Faire
"A Science, Tech, and Business Fair for All Ages" Sept 12 - 13
Warren Tech Campus, Lakewood
Here's your chance to get your hands and eyes on Central Colorado's newest cutting-edge products and innovative gadgets!
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World Trade Center 27th Annual Member Meeting
Sept 24 @ 3:30pm - 7pm
World Trade Center Denver
Join World Trade Center Chairman Jeff Popiel, President of Geotech, and other WTC members and guests to engage in in-ternational business discussions of interest to you. Manufacturers, come early for the tour of Geotech and learn about our upcoming Advanced Manufacturing Export Series. Members, come learn about new beginnings at your World Trade Center, and discover new ways to plug into our community.
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Loveland's Accelerate Colorado: Advancing Colorado's Ecosystem - Symposium and Showcase
Oct 1 - 3
Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation & Technology in Loveland
Accelerate Colorado provides programming and networking opportunities at no cost to attendees so that all innovators can gain the information and connections needed to continue to bring new ideas to market and advance Colorado's economy.
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CAMA Manufacturing Day Summit
Oct 2
CAMA
The day will begin with keynote speaker Jim Blass, Director of Product Validation and Global Technology for Caterpillar Corporation. Following the the keynote address, there will be two different Break-Out Sessions and a panel discussion on the State of Manufacturing. The day will end with the B2B Lounge for networking and business development.
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The Difference Maker: This is only the beginning...
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by Sumer Sorensen-Bain,
Chief of Programs and Operations
Manufacturer's Edge
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| Sumer and Kylan flying to Africa |
There is a word used in Africa, known throughout the continent, irrespective of the native language spoken: Ubuntu. Ubuntu means human kindness, but the way it was explained to me was even more impactful. It was explained to my son, Kylan, and me as, "I am, because we are." The trip on which we embarked that took us halfway around the world was, mainly, for my son to meet his pen pal. But the real journey was about my son teaching me to become a Difference Maker.
Uganda and Rwanda are such beautiful countries, in both the landscape and the people. I had the great fortune to venture into the jungle and sit silently observing a large family of gorillas, of which there are roughly 700 remaining in the world. We had the opportunity to go on a safari where we saw hippos, giraffes, zebras, and many other amazing animals. When we traveled to remote areas, we were greeted with native song and dance and made to feel welcome and loved. The highlight ofour journey was when, after four years of exchanging letters and pictures, we finally met Haruna, my son's pen pal.
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Haruna's home
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There are nine people in Haruna's family. He has a brother and sister, three cousins who came to live with them when their mother passed away, and a young girl from the community whose mother could not care for her any longer, along with his parents. The nine of them live in a small, 12'x12', one-room home, with dirt floors and a curtain for a front door. When we arrived, they welcomed us inside their home with open arms and provided us a feast for dinner. They presented us with handmade treasures--a soccer ball and dolls made from banana leaves. Haruna and his family took us to his school (pictured above) and showed us around their community. Kylan says the tour of Haruna's school and community was the best part of the entire experience.
The clearest lesson I learned from Kylan through this experience was about human kindness, or Ubuntu. I noticed that the children who surrounded Kylan would touch his skin and hair. Together, they played soccer and Frisbee, and anywhere Kylan went, they would follow. For four hours straight, he sat at the front of our van and waved to kids in villages as we passed. The first thing he said when he came home was, "it changed me mom. I know it changed me."
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How to Get a Million Dollars for the State's Manufacturers, Part II
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by Tom Bugnitz, Manufacturer's Edge CEO
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As a result of the technical assistance received from Manufacturer's Edge, CTD saw $11 million in new sales and brought a new product from concept to market in less than two years.
Last month, we shared with you the opportunity Manufacturer's Edge had been given to bring an additional one million dollars into the State to help manufacturing grow. As the Colorado Manufacturing Extension Partner (MEP) for the Department of Commerce, Manufacturer's Edge volunteered to allow anyone in the State to compete with us to be the MEP; on August 1, the Department of Commerce announced the Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) for the Colorado MEP and invited interested parties to submit bids. We are in the process of putting together a response that will enable us to both expand our programming and continue to offer services such as those provided to Composite Technology Development, Inc. which gave them the ability to define their customer's critical requirements and develop a product that met their customer's needs.
Composite Technology Development, Inc. (CTD) custom designs, manufactures, and tests innovative materials and products for the energy, defense, and aerospace markets. A woman- and minority-owned small business, CTD receives numerous grants focused on developing and commercializing products needed in the government arena. These government programs have also led to commercial R&D and testing contracts. Founded in 1988, CTD is located in Lafayette, Colorado, and has 30 employees.
Through a combination of novel materials and insightful engineering, CTD has developed many new technologies and products that meet true market needs. However, with staff focused primarily on development and innovation, CTD needed help getting products to market quickly and efficiently to capture market share and maximize profits. To address this, CTD approached Manufacturer's Edge for guidance and expertise in product development, commercialization processes and program management methods.
Experts from Manufacturer's Edge led a cross functional team of CTD staff members--including individuals from leadership, engineering, product development, and sales--through a series of trainings, including Rapid Cycle Product Introduction (RCPI), Project Management workshops, and Lean/Six Sigma training. RCPI sparked a fundamental change in how CTD develops new products; all development activities are viewed through the lens of customer needs. Using RCPI methods, CTD collected, analyzed, and implemented customer needs in the product development process like never before.
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Donate a Bike and Make a Kid's Day!
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Help students get bikes and participate in Bike to School Day
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A Denver-area STEM school is looking for generous donors to help them match a grant from the Morgridge Foundation to build and donate bikes to students who want to participate in this year's Bike to School Day!
The bikes cost $100 each and they already have 60 paid for, but are hoping to double that number so that all of the kids who want to participate this year will be able to do so.
So, we need 60 donations of $100...or 6 donations of $1000...or 10 donations of $600...a donation of any size or amount will make a huge difference in the lives of these kids!
Please contact Principal Kellie Lauth at 720-972-5123 or [email protected] if you are able to help!
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Company Week and Manufacturer's Edge Innovative Manufacturer
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Alicia Svaldi, Heidi Hostetter / photo Jonathan Castner
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By Eric Peterson
Arvada, Colorado
Founded: 1981
Privately owned
Employees: 20
With blue-chip clients like Ball Aerospace, Colorado's first production 3D metal printing operation is on the horizon for Faustson's pioneering pair.
Faustson Tool is a contract manufacturer with such blue-chip clients as Ball Aerospace and Woodward. It's stayed ahead of the technological curve for more than 30 years, and has no intention of falling behind anytime soon.
"We continuously try to pioneer a new industry," says Alicia Svaldi, Faustson's founder and president. "We were the first one to master EDM [electrical discharge manufacturing] in the 1990s. In the 2000s, we were one of the first companies to go into five-axis milling. We're now excited to get into 3D metal printing."
Faustson will become the first manufacturer in the state to dive headfirst into 3D metal printing when it buys a pair of million-dollar machines later this year. There's a lot of anticipation, to say the least. "We looked at a machine in Chicago recently," says Svaldi. "It literally gave my machinist chills."
Read the full article
Visit Faustson.com
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Manufacturer's EDGE
STRENGTHENING THE QUANTITY & QUALITY OF MANUFACTURERS IN COLORADO
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