NORTH BERWICK — Dozens of Maine high school students from several schools gathered outside the Pratt & Whitney building on Tuesday morning to showcase their robotics projects, take part in an F-35 cockpit flight simulator and meet Maine U.S. Sen. Angus King.

The event was hosted by Pratt & Whitney — who manufactures the F135 propulsion system for F-35 fighter jets — in collaboration with Lockheed Martin, developers of the fighter aircraft, as well as the Manufacturers Association of Maine, or MAM.

MAM has helped promote Manufacturing Month, a period where over 1,000 Maine students are introduced to high-tech careers in manufacturing while manufacturing facilities around the state open their doors to celebrate one of Maine’s biggest industries.

Well before the event’s 9 a.m. start, students from Biddeford’s Regional Center of Technology could be seen observing the F-35 engine display. Biddeford junior Andrew Hovasse said he planned to make the most of the opportunity to get out of the classroom.

“This is great for us getting prepared for higher learning and entering the workforce,” Hovasse said of the event. “I would be more than happy to end up working at Pratt & Whitney.”

In addition to students from Biddeford and Sanford attending the event, robotics teams from Falmouth, Gorham, South Portland and Farmington made the trip down to showcase their projects — four -wheeled robots, created by students, capable of catapulting balls, grappling up heights and zooming around by remote control.

Marion Sprague, outreach communications director for the MAM, said many of the robots present were made last year, but students had spent months adding new designs and functions to ensure their reliability.

Before King entered the flight simulator, top voices in Maine manufacturing spoke about the importance of manufacturing in Maine, and the crucial role Maine students will play in the state’s future of manufacturing.

“We have a whole generation of people who are retiring, people who helped design the F-35,” said Bob Rubino, F-35 director for Lockheed Martin’s Government Affairs organization. “There are people who are working on the next generation to replace that, and you all will have the ability to put your fingerprint on that project going forward.”

Members of MAM agreed, and added that despite the heightened awareness on manufacturing during Manufacturing Month, the awareness campaign is mainly targeting young people.

“Manufacturing Day is focused on engaging manufacturers, changing public perception of manufacturing, introducing people to manufacturing careers and showing the economic and social significance of manufacturing,” said Lisa Martin, executive director of the Manufacturers Association of Maine. “But more thrilling and exciting is the students we have here today, this is always about the kids.”

King reaffirmed Martin’s sentiment, adding that manufacturing is the heartbeat of the Maine economy.

“When you build something you can see, there’s a real satisfaction in that,” King said, adding that jobs in manufacturing are unlike any other occupation.

“It’s not that I don’t like my job but mostly what I do is move paper around,” King said to laughter in the audience. “I can’t see what actually happens when you create something. When you build something, when you create something, you’ve got something you can really hold onto, that you can take pride in. That’s why we’re talking to you. You’re all needed.”

— Staff Writer Ryder Schumacher can be reached at 282-1535, or via email at [email protected].