We recognized the 65th anniversary of Engineers Week (February 21-27) by celebrating on a global scale with several activities designed to engage local students in the exploration of careers focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Here are just a few events that took place:
Wadeville, South Africa hosted a group of 20 students from the Maths Centre Organization. The organization provides Maths, Science and Technology intervention to four technical high schools in the area. Our Africa office was instrumental in renovating and equipping the schools’ workshops in 2011 and 2012 and they continue to support the schools to create a talent pool of students interested in engineering fields. The students were welcomed by Regional President, Terry Lawrenson, who shared his personal insight about engineering and how Joy Global makes these opportunities a reality.
Dinah Williams, Director of Transformation, pointed out that there is a shortage of skilled people in the STEM range and that these students should take advantage of it. We offer bursaries to qualifying students, giving them the opportunity to make good career choices.
Our product engineers shared an overview of our equipment specifically the machines manufactured locally at Wadeville and the students toured the Wadeville plant.
Longview, Texas hosted a group of 25 students from Pine Tree High School who are pursuing an engineering focused education within their school. Dan Flournoy, Manager, Human Resources, welcomed the group and provided an overview about our company and the Longview facility. The students viewed a short video on our company and the mining industry as well as learning more about careers and co-op opportunities at the Longview facility.
Mark Barr, Director, Wheel Loader Engineering shared a presentation that included the “Top 10 Reasons to be an Engineer” along with education disciplines that are required for the different types of Engineering positions.
The students visited the training room and had hands on experiences with the different test equipment and simulators followed by a plant tour. Special emphasis was made about how important safety is to our employees and the students asked many relevant questions along the way.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin hosted their 4th Annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day by welcoming over 20 young women who are enrolled the Project Lead the Way Engineering curriculum at Milwaukee Hamilton High School and West Allis Central High School.
Both schools are partner schools that we work with year-round. Engineers serve as mentors in four classes on a monthly basis, give classroom presentations and mentor FIRST Robotics teams. The students played "Jeopardy" answering questions based on the research they did on our website and they became the hosts of their own episode of "STEMtv" when they interviewed STEM professionals within our company. In addition, the students were able to tour our Advanced Automation department, the Electrical Lab and the Machinery Factory.
To close the students learned more about the various constraints engineers face when working in a global market through a hands-on activity that challenged them to build the tallest structure out of pipe cleaners. One student shared, “It’s nice that a large company like this is investing in small programs and meetings to help get more people interested in engineering”.
Across the world, we have a commitment to attracting, developing and retaining top talent who will contribute to our success now and in the future. Our investment in education during Engineers Week and year-round is one way in which we can inspire the next generation to choose to pursue a STEM career.