If you missed our annual event, you missed a lot.
Here's a recap

We were honored to have Jesse Panuccio, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity in attendance. Director Panuccio spoke about the growing Florida economy and commended BAMA on its work with STEM education. Director Panuccio said, "BAMA's focus on supporting students who are interested in the STEM industries will encourage Florida's future workforce to succeed in these high-demand, high-paying sectors. It was an honor to join local manufacturing business leaders, parents, and students at the Annual STEM Scholarship Presentation. I was impressed with the skill set and talent the students displayed and am thankful for BAMA's support of this great program."

STEM Fair winners were honored and their projects were highlighted at the event. Winners were:
Pinellas County
- Samantha Eck / Project: How Could You Improve a Piezoelectric Device
- Sydney Opyrchal / Flight or Light


Hillsborough County
- Colton Copple, Carrollwood Elementary / Troubled Water
- Kevin Avaiya, Lincoln Elementary / Working Together to Make Water Better
- Anabela Ebsworth, Nativity Catholic / Measuring If Refurbished and Ink Cartridges Print the Same Amount of Paper
- Huzefa Johar, Williams High School / Solarized
- Vignesh Bhethanabotla, King High School / Synthesis of Silver Nanocubes for Biosenor and Photocatalytic Applications
- Sophie Wright, Progress Village / "Catching Fire" Does the Price of a Roofing Shingle Affect the Temperature at Which it will Burn?

Reelection of BAMA Board of Directors was voted on and new Board members announced: Dennis Stotts, Jim Long and Dennis Piotrowski. Stotts is an Environmental Attorney with Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A. and will serve as the new STEM chairman. Long is the Vice President of Operations at Sypris Electronics and will be setting up a series of round-table discussions centering on manufacturing. Piotrowski is the Vice President of Quality at BELAC, LLC. Cliff Csulik was reelected as President and Rick Concotelli was elected as Vice President.

This year, BAMA recognized some of its own; those who have gone above and beyond in their efforts to contribute to BAMA success. Those honored were:
- Rick Concotelli, Lockheed Martin-Aeronautics / BAMA Distinguished Service Award
- Grant Peterson, Ogletree Deakins, P.A. / Honorary Life Member
- Jabil Circuit / BAMA Member of the Year
- Andrea Pagliuca, Constellation Technology Corp / Emerging Leader
- Janell Weaver, Kelly Services / Associate of the Year

Honorable mentions were presented to: Chris Donnelly, Beth Ross, Dennis Stotts, Kathryn Forbes, Marilyn Barger and Becky Burton.

Tampa’s Middleton High School robotics also offered a demonstration at the event. BAMA financially supports robotic camps and robotic clubs in the community.

A video highlighting the event and a BAMA year-end recap can be found on the BAMA website at www.bama-fl.org.

BAMA has progressed and grown a lot this past year.
Some of the highlights of the 2013-14 Fiscal Year:
s Recognized and awarded students who won STEM fairs in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties
s Awarded scholarships through Pinellas and Hillsborough Education Foundations
s Updated our BAMA logo
s Hosted a successful job fair with pTEC
s Implemented a new member shadow program to welcome new members to BAMA
s Developed new banners and backdrops for trade shows and events
s Implemented an Ethics Hotline to support member concerns, 844-tel-BAMA
s Distributed new membership plaques
s Hosted BAMA Family Night with the Rays at Tropicana Field
s Video Recorded Major BAMA Events
s Offered more networking, workshops, tours and joint meetings
s Offered additional memberships to allow educators and unemployed
s Began a new member awards program
s Promoted advanced manufacturing education by implementing the Florida TRADE program

View a copy of our July 2014 newsletter