A new event is giving Decatur High School (DHS) students a chance to explore local career options in an innovation way.
Several Decatur companies opened their doors to give high schoolers a peek at behind-the-scenes operations for DHS’ first ever Manufacturing Day. Thirty 10th and 11th graders — from the Ag Technology/Welding, Engineering, and Auto Pathways — got to visit, tour, and watch mini demonstrations. For organizers, the visits helped students explore career options and take their everyday classroom learning beyond the books.
The companies — Aqualine Manufacturing Corp., AeroBrigham, Cardinal Paint, Entegris POCO, Industrial Diesel Inc., Omega Research, and Onyx Specialty Processing — are manufacturing and corporate specialists in their respective fields, often taking raw materials and producing innovative products for some of the world’s top brands.
“Every mechanical heart valve in the world has our parts in it,” said Tommy Miner, business development manager for new markets at Entegris POCO, told students. “Anything that has Lockheed Martin, there’s a big chance it’s got our parts in it.”
The companies are also among Decatur’s top employers.
At Omega, a testing lab for hydrogen embrittlement — a natural, but often dangerous and costly occurrence that can cause metals to become brittle — students got to observe a hydrogen embrittlement failure in real time. And the still-under-construction Onxy, a top aerospace organic and chemical processing company, students were able to try their hand at sandblasting. At Onyx, students were able to sign a piece of drywall that will later be mounted in the building. The two facilities, located next to one another, have an almost symbiotic relationship and are both subsidiaries of Geoff Aerospace.
While manufacturing was the day's focus, other student pathways also got their own hands-on experience during the tours. A crew of Audio-Visual students filmed the event and will produce a feature video, journalism and photography students worked on a feature story that will be published in the Wise County Messenger, and the DHS BBQ team prepared and served a special lunch.