Manufacturing Technologies Laboratory

The MTL is a unique teaching/learning center, housed in a 36-foot mobile trailer.  The purpose of the MTL is to increase academic performance through project-based "learning by doing," for both college and non-college bound students.  Students integrate manufacturing technology with math, science, writing and research.  In so doing, they become skilled and readily employable.  The program also helps students develop concepts of teamwork and entrepreneurial skills.

More than 2,500 LAUSD students in grades 3-12 go through MTL program each year. The program integrates manufacturing technology with practical and abstract math, science, writing and research, and provides students with hands-on experience in computer-aided drafting (AutoCAD), computer assisted manufacturing (CAM), machine control software (CNC) and Robotics.

MTL RECEIVES UPDATED EQUIPMENT
IBM, through the Asian Business Association, donated 7 refurbished networked computers for the mobile Manufacturing Technologies Laboratory. These computers replace the outdated equipment originally placed in the MTL in 1997.

Kenn Phillips, Director of Education and Workforce Investment for the Economic Alliance noted that, "The MTL revitalizes today's outdated industrial education, which is devastatingly inadequate to meet the technical needs of our students."

With the involvement of many of the area's leading employers, the Economic Alliance is leading education reform efforts throughout the San Fernando Valley, particularly in the K-12 levels.

For more information on the MTL, email Kenn Phillips at kphillips@valleyofthestars.org.