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Published Tuesday, June 24, 2008 in Local

Special

Howard Avery took middle school students on a “backstage tour” of Yokogawa’s Newnan facility Tuesday. The students are learning the ins and outs of manufacturing as part of a Young Engineers program at Central Educational Center in Newnan.

CEC summer campers get a look at Yokogawa

By Jeff Bishop

The Times-Herald

Engineers are in short supply in the United States, so the Central Educational Center is spending the summer grooming what could be the profession's next generation.

Part of introducing local middle-schoolers in the Young Engineering Group to the world of manufacturing involved a day-long tour of the Yokogawa plant in Newnan Tuesday.

"We want to expose these kids to what engineering is all about," said Jenny Adcock of Yokogawa of America. "We have a deficit of engineers in North America. So these kids will spend this week learning welding, robots and drafting."

She said it's a "great field to go into," with new opportunities cropping up all the time for qualified candidates.

"We just wanted to bring these kids in here to show them what we're all about," said Adcock.

Scott Brown, a teacher who is heading up this summer camp program for the CEC, said that a grant from the Nuts and Bolts Foundation made the program possible.

"The purpose is that we want to introduce these middle school students to manufacturing," said Brown.

"This is not a dirty, grimy job. It's a high-tech job," said Brown.

He said that TV usually has it all wrong when it comes to its portrayals of modern-day manufacturing.

The students will spend time drafting, using CAD programs, welding and even meddling with their own robot-building kit.

"It's just a starter kit, but they do get to build a robot on their own," said Brown.

The kids "seem to have a real good time with this," said Brown.

The students have already been given a CAD-assisted drawing assignment.

"They just did a basic building block," said Brown. "But they'll get a copy of the CAD software to take home with them."

Later in the week the students will fashion a nameplate from welded parts.

The students have already formed their first assembly line, said Adcock, learning that "everything has to be top-quality before you can pass it on to the next person" in the line.

Some students took on specialized roles in the production line, such as auditors and quality control. Some were "promoted" up the line while others faced "lateral moves" until they found a position that worked for them on the line.

Adcock said Yokogawa doesn't even begin manufacturing an item until policies and procedures have been put in place.

"We have a policy and procedure for everything we do," said Adcock. "And we are expected to be able to prove that we can perform those procedures."

The camp will continue through Friday and is held at CEC from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"They'll walk away with a whole photo story of the week on CD," said Brown. "It's been an adventure."

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