I was having a conversation with an educator at a college in early August about the changing nature of students entering the school’s engineering program. While some students enter with some hands-on skills, developed while working on a lawn mower engine or woodworking, others are strangers to power tools, drill presses, and welding torches. They know engineering concepts, but they come up short in actual real-world experience with fabricating things.
That’s no surprise to metal fabricators, who have regularly encountered job-seekers who struggle to use a tape measure. It’s a product of living in a society where a child is more likely to pick up a video game controller than a toy hammer.
