The Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation has been running robotics programs for youth for years, including the widespread global competitions sponsored by VEX Robotics. Dan Mantz is the CEO of the REC Foundation, leading this nonprofit through the pandemic, after previously working in industrial engineering and robotics for over twenty years. He talks about the REC Foundation’s mission, how they changed their competitions during COVID, and their newer programs in manufacturing education and workforce development. Related to this episode: • REC Foundation: https://www.roboticseducation.org/ • FANUC America: https://www.fanucamerica.com/ • Rack Solutions: https://www.racksolutions.com/ • VEX Robotics: https://www.vexrobotics.com/ • Northrup Grumman Foundation: https://www.northropgrumman.com/corporate-responsibility/corporate-citizenship/northrop-grummans-philanthropic-initiatives/ • RECFoundation YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/RECFoundation • Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute: https://arminstitute.org/ • p500 robot to paint cars https://www.robots.com/robots/fanuc-p-500 • Engineer’s Guide to Improv & Art Games on Audible.com: https://www.audible.com/pd/B09BDMF9DD/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-270162&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_270162_rh_us Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games, The Calculator Gator, or Chordinates! Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.