Okaloosa County School District students recently demonstrated their coding skills during the 2018 Congressional App Challenge at the University of West Florida. Hosted locally by Representative Matt Gaetz, the Congressional App Challenge is a national competition aimed at encouraging U.S. students to learn coding by creating their own applications. Okaloosa County students finished in the top three places of the competition.

“I am very proud of my students. This is the first year we competed, and now we know what to expect next year. All of the students worked hard on their apps, and I look forward to preparing them to be even stronger coders in the next competition,” stated Carrie Foxhall, a web programming instructor at Niceville High School.

First place went to Niceville High School students Joshua Delamater, Sam Cota, and Ethan Shelstad. Their app, Vanguard Volunteering, helps students find and track volunteering opportunities. Second place went to Collin Padgett, Maquire Holahan, Abbie Stanford, and Austin Mason, also from Niceville High School. Their Dear Senses app was created to assist elderly or disabled individuals in determining possible hearing, sight, or reflex problems. Third place went to Crestview High School students Vincent Cipriano and Christian Jernigan, who created a game for entertainment purposes.

Winners received cash, gift cards, and gift certificates and also have the opportunity to attend a reception on Capitol Hill in April. Additionally, winning apps are eligible for display in the Capitol and on the House of Representatives website.

Join FloridaMakes on Thursday, November 29 for a best practice webinar on Supply Chain Digitalization and Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) for Inventory Excellence, presented by Ray Poinsette, Director of Process Improvement, Beaver Street Fisheries (Jacksonville, Florida).

This session will focus on product digitization within supply chain processes and how these elements can be used to improve customer satisfaction. Discussions will help participants learn how digitization of business process information can be used to reduce defects and how to identify the true data elements your customer’s desire. We will also learn how small to midsize organizations including government organizations can track customer satisfaction and use this information to communicate areas for process improvements to leaders throughout the organization. Takeaways include the effective use and adaptability of the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) in inventory management. For more information and to register, please visit floridamakes.com/events/webinars.

FloridaMakes is a great resource and can help your company address current challenges, create new opportunities for growth and achieve measurable results. To learn how FloridaMakes’ services can unlock growth opportunities and cost savings for your company, contact your FloridaMakes’ Business Advisor Daniel Krug at dkrug@uwf.edu, (850) 612-5895 (cell), John Davis at jdavis6@uwf.edu, (850) 384-5275 (cell), or Mary Nutial at mnutial@uwf.edu, (850) 426-9145.

FloridaMakes is the official representative of the MEP National Network and NIST MEP in the State of Florida.

The NWFMC is asking our educators for assistance with providing Manufacturing Academy enrollment data for the 2018-2019 school year. This information helps the Council track program success and identify any needs. If you are an educator and haven't done so already, please take a few moments to complete the 2018-2019 NWFMC Manufacturing Academy Enrollment Survey.

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This newsletter was developed in collaboration with the University of West Florida.