Getting kids stoked about manufacturing: It's THE crucial factor that will shape how our industry fares in the U.S. over the next few decades.

Obviously the best way to do this is to push kids' buttons: Find out what lights them up, and then immerse them in those things, whatever they are; and—here's the crux—make sure the kids understand how fundamental manufacturing is to those things' creation.

The recently announced renaissance of the space program will obviously help in this regard. Kids love rockets, space suits, exploring the great beyond, floating in zero gravity. They always have, they always will. That's a given.

Button No. 2

Here's another clue. They dig fast cars. No, check that: They REALLY dig fast cars. The faster the better.

An object lesson in this crossed my desk today from England—Sleaford, Lincolnshire to be exact. There, at a factory that makes resin that's used to make carbon fiber that's used to make—you guessed it—fast cars, schoolkids are getting a look at a new creation called the Bloodhound Supersonic Car, which ... well … take a look at this video: