SIf ou wish to bu r serl a house, dont wait
 anI lon2er. Your best choice is to cali me. With

 Sb.L HU P ES '11l make lour dreams come true!
 by Paul Guzzo

 Much of the United States not yet have the facilities or the being the principal investigator
 was built upon the tradition of number of disciplines working at his university. At the time, Realtor MLS
 its factories. Detroit was built together to call it a true Learn- he was director of the Institute lourdesacosta.mfr.mlxchange.com
 upon its automobile factories; ing Factory. You could say we for Innovation and Manufac-
 Pittsburg on its iron factories; have foundational elements. turing and the Center for Ad- Cell Phone (813) 477-8254
 Tampa on its cigar factories. "The key is the interaction vancement of nterdisciplinary Eac fice ishudepenmLnIly wedandOperaied
 Each city's factories created between the various disci- Education at UPRM.
 a product that The principal
 helped fuel the y investigator at
 city's economic Dr. Jose Zayas-Castro P had known INVITATION TO BID
 prosperity. Zayas-Castro for Sealed bids for DEMOLITION AND INSTALLATION OF
 It is often said quite somew of is INTERCOM SYSTEM AT THE FOLLOWING SCHOOLS, CY-
 that our nation's and knew of his
 greatest resource belief in educat- PRESS CREEK ELEM., MANGO ELEM., SUMMERFIELD
 is our education. ing industrial ELEM., TRAPNELL ELEM. AND YATES ELEM. will be
 So, it was only engineering stu- received by the School Board of Hillsborough County (SBHC),
 a matter of time | dents in multi- Florida in the Office of the Supervisor of Purchasing, Third
 before a "Learn- |B ^d isci pl in ar y Floor, School Administrative Center, 901 East Kennedy Boule-
 ing Factory' was studies. So when vard, Tampa, Florida until 3:00 PM, Tuesday, May 16, 2006.
 created. PSU was looking (The mailing address is P. O. Box 3408, Tampa, Florida
 Enter Dr. Jose to establish The 33601). Bids wjll not be accepted after 3:00 PM of the above
 Zayas-Castro, Learning Factory, date. Bids will be opened and read aloud in the Purchas-
 professor and Zayas Castro was ing Department, located on the third floor of the School
 chair of the De- a natural to help Administrative Center.
 partment of In- make the concept Contractors desiring to bid this project are subject to an En-
 dustrial and Man- a reality. couragement Affirmative Action Plan as identified within the
 agement Systems "Even before bidding documents.
 in the Department The Learnng There will be a mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting on Thursday,
 of Engineering at | :i :: -: ii :: Factory, in Puer-
 the University of to Rico we had April 20, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. at SDHC's A/C & Energy Mgmt
 South Florida. engineering and Department located at 4905 E. 32nd Ave., Tampa, FL 33605.
 While a profes- business stu- IT IS THE BIDDER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO SEE THAT BIDS
 sor at the Uni- dents working ARE DELIVERED TO THE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT AS
 versity of Puerto together, coming REFERENCED ABOVE. BID SECURITY MUST BE SUB-
 Rico, Mayaguez up with proto- MITTED WITH BID. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.
 in 1994, Zayas- types that can NOTICE TO ALL BIDDERS: The School Administrative
 Castro helped be practical and Center is a "security" building, therefore, visitors will be
 to create The marketable," said required to obtain a Visitors Pass prior to entering the
 Learning Factory, Zayas-Castro. building. A photo identification will need to be presented
 a concept he is "We would also at this time.
 currently trying bring the two dis-
 to implement at "Teaching was just natural for me. Most of my ciplines togeth- Plans and specifications may be obtained from the architect at
 USF. role models has always been professors. I also er and work on a cost of (One hundred dollars) $100 a set. Complete informa-
 The Learning like the university environment and wanted to issues such as tion regarding bidding documents and other information may be
 Factory is an in- how an indus- obtained from the Architect/Engineer:
 dustry-university be involved in a series of projects that would try's production Tanase & Associates, Inc.
 partnership to stimulate research in education." process could be 3701 W. Swann Ave.
 produce world- redesigned and Tampa, FL 33609
 class engineers by integrating plines. That is what happens more effective." 813 875-2724
 design, manufacturing and in industry, so we want the The engineering studentsw hs bd f a p o t d
 business realities into the en- students prepared for that would learn how business af- N bidder may withdraw hi bid for aperiod of thirty day after
 gineering curriculum. Active reality." fects their job and vice versa. date set for bid opening.
 learning, real-world problems Born and raised in Puerto When The Learning Factory THE SCHOOL BOARD OF
 and hands-on experience in a Rico, Zayas-Castro practices was established at UPRM, it HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA
 modern facility are the primary what he preaches, as he is edu- was a natural progression. MARYELLEN ELIA
 teaching tools. The Learning cated in both industrial engi- Since its inception, The SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 4/7-4/21/06 3T
 Factory offers students in tra- neering and business manage- _Learn-ing Factory has helped
 ditional engineering disciplines ment, with his B.S.. and M.S. more than 10,000 students
 an experience that directly in the former and his Ph.D. in create over 1,200 design proj-
 prepares them for careers in the latter. ects with help of more than 200
 design, manufacturing, and "In high school I decided industry partners. e
 product realization. engineering was what I wanted Zayas-Castro left UPRM in
 It is one thing for a student to do," he explained. "In Puerto 1999 to teach at the University
to understand engineering, but Rico,-studying engineering and of Missouri-Columbia, where
it is quite another for an engi- science is a big deal. There he established the Entrepre- !v es m en t '
neering student to know how are a lot of job opportunities neurial Manufacturing Inno-
to adapt their knowledge to in those fields, which is al- vation Experience Program,
real world experiences, which ways a pressing matter, more which was similar to The Learn-
means notjust coming up with so than in any states in the ing Factory. He has worked dili-
a solution, but coming up with nainland." gently to also bring elements
a solution while considering He earned his B.S. from of The Learning Factoryto USF
the health, business and mar- the University of Puerto Rico, since arriving in 2003.- Fiscal Years 2007 2011
keting side of the equation. Mayaquez (UPRM), and then Zayas-Castro and his col-
 Universities with The Learn- moved to Troy,.New York to leagues who helped to create Mayor Pam Iorio and the Tampa City Council invite
ing Factory have designed attend the Rensselaer Poly- The Learning Factory were you to attend community meetings regarding the
such items as a collapsible technic Institute and earn his recently named the recipients third phase of the Community Investment Tax. The
crutch, a safer way to adjust M.S. and Ph.D. of the $500,000 Bernard M. Ci of Tampa will presenta five-year plan on how
-car backseats and a method "I chose business manage- Gordon Prize from the National will e
for transforming coal ash to ment for my Ph.D. so I could Academy of Science. future revenue bespentimprove
pavement. understand how engineering "It's always an honor to be neighborhoods and provide an opportunity for
 "The program is a great applies to business," said Za- recognized for your work," he public comment at each of the four meetings.
success," said Zayas-Castro. yas-Castro. said. "But I was only one small
"Students who have worked He earned his Ph.D. in 1983 part in a huge project, a proj- District 4
in the factory have been much and returned to Puerto Rico ect I hope will one day be fully Tuesday, April 18, 2006, 6 p.m.
more prepared to tackle the to work as a professor at his developed at USF." Kate Jackson Recreation Center
real world problems faced with former university. Zayas-Castro is also a re- 821 South Rome Avenue
after graduation." "Teaching was just natural cipient of the Fellow Award
 USF does not yet have a for me," he said. "Most of my from the Institute of Industrial District 5
physical facility to accomodate role models had always been Engineers (IIE) and was named Thursday, April 20, 2006, 6 p.m.
a Learning Factory, which professors. I also like the uni- Distinguished Industrial En-
would house all relevant ma- versity environment and want- gineer of the Year, 1985-86, Ragan Center
chinery and tools the students ed to be involved in a series of IIE, Chapter 188, San Juan, 1200 E. Lake Avenue
need while providing students projects that would stimulate Puerto Rico. He has served on Distict 6
of various disciplines a place research in education." the Committee of Visitors and
to congregate. But. since ar- It was during his 16-year the Advisory Committee, Divi- Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 6 p.m.
riving at USF in 2002, Za- stay as an industrial engineer- sion of Design, Manufacture, Loretta Ingraham Center
yas-Castro has brought some ing professor at UPRM that he and Industrial Innovation, 1709 N. HubertAvenue
Learning Factory-elements to helped to form The Learning National Science Foundation
the university. Factory. (NSF), on the Advisory Com- District 7
 "I believe in time we will The concept of The Learn- mittee: SBIR/STTR, NSF, and Wednesday, May 3, 2006, 6 p.m.
establish a Learning Factory at ing Factory was born at Penn has been a grant reviewer for Pizzo Elementary School, USF Campus
USF or a program close to it," State University (PSU) in 1993 NSF since 1990.
said Zayas-Castro. "Right now and developed in 1994 by "Yes, I spend a lot of time Multi-Purpose Room
we have some of its interdis- Penn State University, the working to develop programs," 11701 Bull Run Drive
ciplinary aspects established University of Washington, the said Zayas-Castro. "But this is
in the industrial engineering Sandia National Laboratories, what I love. I believe education For more information contact:
program in which we have 36 industrial partners, and is an instrument that is very Liana Lopez (813)274-8251
different disciplines working the University of Puerto Rico- critical to improving the quality
together on projects. We do Mayaquez, with Zayas-Castro of life all over the world."
Pag0eI./A ,ACETAffiay, ri :14,;2QQ6;