Students
To excite America’s youth about the incredible career pathways that modern manufacturing offers, we must increase awareness and change misperceptions about the industry through exposure to hands-on experiences and engaging content.
The Manufacturing Institute’s student engagement initiatives aim to hone STEM skills, introduce students to career pathways in modern manufacturing and clarify misperceptions about these careers by providing educational tools and experiences to youth, parents and educators.
This work is achieved through several key initiatives: MFG Day, Innovators Quest, youth-facing content focused on manufacturing careers, activities and programs, as well as content and channel partnerships.
Student Engagement Initiatives
MFG Day
Innovators Quest
Youth Engagement
Today’s 5th graders will graduate high school in 2033 and could be your future workforce.
To help, the Manufacturing Institute has developed The Quest for the Crystal of Innovation (Innovators Quest), a gamified experience for grades 4-9. This turnkey solution allows manufacturers to engage students in a fun, challenging and age-appropriate way, either in classrooms or at community events like summer camps, expos, and MFG Day.
What does Innovators Quest do?
The Innovators Quest helps students discover their strengths while encountering tasks that incorporate core manufacturing skills. The activities promote teamwork, communication, and problem-solving while introducing students to key concepts like additive manufacturing, aerospace engineering, electromechanical components, robotics, and quality control.
How does Innovators Quest Work?
- Designed for use by manufacturers with students in grades 4-9 in their local communities
- Intended as a fun introduction to manufacturing concepts, skills and careers
- Manufacturers should facilitate the experience and serve as the connector between Innovators Quest and real-world manufacturing
- Great as a community engagement tool for partner organizations in supporting local manufacturers
- Not intended as a tool for schools to use without in-person manufacturer support
Sponsorship Information
Your organization’s sponsorship supports the MI’s work toward inspiring the next generation of manufacturers and the Innovators Quest initiative.
Innovators Quest kits can be sponsored by manufacturers for individual company use or by community hub organizations (i.e. Chambers, Industry Sector Partners, Workforce Boards, Economic Development Centers, Educational Service Centers, etc.) to be deployed locally in partnership with multiple community manufacturers.
All sponsors will have access to combined virtual training sessions and materials.
Types of Sponsorships
- Standard Sponsorship: Includes delivery of 1 Innovators Quest Standard Kit that engages up to 750 students at $15,000 per kit
- Premium Sponsorship: Includes delivery of 1 Innovators Quest Premium Kit that engages up to 750 students with branded reward package at $19,750 per kit
Sponsorships can be combined to receive a combination of standard and premium kits.
All sponsors supporting 3-4 kits will also have access to one (1) virtual training session tailored specifically to the sponsor’s selected participants.
All sponsors supporting 5 or more kits will have access to one in-person training session tailored specifically to the sponsor’s selected participants.
If you would like to support 10 or more kits, please reach out to Jen White, Director of Student Engagement, at [email protected].
FAQs
- 20 fully assembled realm boxes
- 5 Channel of Unity
- 5 City of Imagination
- 5 Forest of Precision
- 5 Labyrinth of Machines
- 16 sets of Innovator Cards
- 8 sets of 6-9th grade characters
- 8 sets of 4-5th grade characters
- 1 Crystal of Innovation sculpture and light-up turntable
- 1 Bluetooth speaker and mp3 player combo
- 1 USB bulk charging station with cables
- 1 Box of Mysteries rewards box with lock and key (Rewards not included)
- Consumable materials for use with up to 750 students
- Replacement components (full inventory list available)
- 5 rolling travel cases to store and transport the full kit
One full standard kit, as well as an Innovators Quest branded rewards set to fill the Box of Mysteries.
The branded rewards kit includes 250 pencil pouches, each filled with:
- 1 pop keychain
- 2 character stickers
- 4 soothie stickers
- 4 pencils
Yes, you can purchase multiple Innovators Quest kits at one time and confirm your shipping address(es) via a form included in your confirmation email.
Yes, you can combine any number of standard kits with any number of premium kits.
No, shipping and handling are included in the sponsorship total.
Consultations Available
Have questions about how you can leverage Innovators Quest for your own community? Speak with Jen White, Director of Student Engagement, to learn more today.
Contact
To learn more about Innovators Quest or any of the MI’s student engagement work, please contact:
Youth Engagement Resources
The Manufacturing Institute develops resources that manufacturers can use to engage students in their communities. Year-round, we create, promote and distribute youth-focused content about manufacturing careers, activities and programs, and we amplify the most effective work manufacturers across the country are doing to connect students with modern manufacturing.
Internship Toolkits and Case Study Resources
Internships provide employers the opportunity to explore talent, benefit from different and developing skill sets and train candidates for future positions. They also allow students the opportunity to gain experience with manufacturing processes and safety concepts, industrial work environments and professional cultures—all of which help them make more informed decisions about their future career pathway.
The MI has partnered with Toyota Motor North America to widely distribute the High School Internship Toolkit for Manufacturers as a solution for companies to create a sustainable workforce pipeline that benefits employers, students and the community.
MFG Day is Friday, October 2, 2026
Held annually on the first Friday in October with events that continue throughout the month, MFG Day—Manufacturing Day—helps show the reality and future of modern manufacturing careers by encouraging thousands of companies and educational institutions around the nation to open their doors to students, parents, educators and community leaders. As manufacturers seek to fill 3.8 million high-skill, high-tech and high-paying jobs over the next decade, MFG Day empowers manufacturers to come together to address their collective challenges and build excitement about manufacturing careers so they can help their communities and future generations thrive.
The Manufacturing Institute provides a variety of resources and insights to help organizations plan and execute successful MFG Day events across the country. The MI also manages a nationwide database of events that are registered each year. By registering MFG Day events, thousands of event hosts in the United States join together in:
- Raising nationwide awareness of MFG Day and positively changing perceptions of students, educators, parents, influencers and community leaders;
- Demonstrating continuity within the industry to engage actively with local students and educators, creating long-term solutions to the skills gap;
- Spotlighting strength in numbers and the important role manufacturers play in their communities, states and the U.S.; and
- Highlighting the many community partnerships and grassroots efforts that are successful locally but work toward a greater common goal.
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