Flex2Future Launches Silicon Valley Cohort for the Summer of 2020

By Christina Moore, National FlexFactor Project Manager, NextFlex

Flex2Future, NextFlex’ work-based learning program for advanced manufacturing pathways, will recruit a new cohort of interns from De Anza College this summer to work at NextFlex and other companies in the south San Jose area.

Flex2Future is a turnkey work-based learning program designed to make it easy for colleges and companies to coordinate internships, apprenticeships, and similar opportunities. NextFlex developed the program in partnership with community colleges to help them incorporate cutting-edge learning into advanced manufacturing programs. Work-based learning allows colleges to incorporate resources and training opportunities that are virtually impossible for colleges to provide on their own, but which are essential to graduating students who are fully prepared for the workforce.

Working in a professional environment takes foundational knowledge learned in the classroom and allows students to apply it to real-world problems. By incorporating work-based learning into education programming, students get to train on industrial equipment, work with professionals familiar with cutting-edge materials and business processes, and practice critical professional communication and planning skills. Additionally, companies have the chance to recruit and train future talent in a risk-mitigated way.

Art Wall, the Director of Fab Operations at NextFlex, commented that, “Working with an emerging technology is exciting, but recruiting talent and finding graduates with sufficient experience in application-based learning is always a challenge. Finding students on this pathway while they’re still in school allows us to train them in the newest technology available and help them develop the experience, problem solving and critical thinking skills necessary in a high-tech environment.”

To find out more about Flex2Future, visit https://www.nextflex.us/learning-programs/flex2future/.