SVHEC Hosts 400 Sixth Grade Students
On October 29th, the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC) hosted 400 sixth grade students from Halifax County Middle School for the "You Are the Engineer of Your Career" Workshop. Students were introduced to engineering careers through participation in eight engineering focused activities including 3D printing, reverse engineering, and extracting DNA from strawberries (click here to read descriptions of all workshop activities). Staff members from NASA-Langley were onsite and led several student activities."We wanted to give students a day to come and have a hands-on, interactive learning experience focused on science, technology, engineering, and math, and having NASA folks here interacting with students was an opportunity we couldn't pass up," said Amy Cole, SVHEC Director of Student Services & Partner Relations.
Warrick Scott, Founder and CEO of the Wendell Scott Foundation, served as the event's keynote speaker. He pointed out the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) that surrounds students' daily lives including Red Box DVD rentals, smartphones, and apps. "STEM education is a necessity," he stated. Scott also talked about his grandfather, the late NASCAR driver Wendell Scott.
Wendell Scott, a native of Danville, VA, was the first African-American driver to win a race in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. "My grandfather was an engineer without the training," Scott stated. He shared how his grandfather never had sponsors, but using ingenuity, innovation, and knowledge of STEM, was able to successfully compete against many well-funded drivers. "Dedication and education will take you anywhere you want to go," Scott said.
Continuing a trend that began in 2008, students in the Product/Industrial Design & Development programs at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC) earned honors in a national woodworking competition.
When the team at VIRginia International Raceway wanted a custom trophy produced for the Oak Tree Grand Prix/Tudor United Sportscar Championship weekend, they came to the staff at the Southern VA Higher Education Center's R&D Center for Advanced Manufacturing & Energy Efficiency (R&D CAMEE). Over the past few years, the R&D CAMEE team has developed a reputation for producing beautifully designed, signature trophies for prestigious competitions (see Pinnacle Award; Design Emphasis Award). The R&D team was honored with the request to design and produce a trophy for one of the largest races at the nation's premier road course.With the VIR trophy, R&D CAMEE embraced the theme "A personal victory deserves a custom trophy." Their goal was to design a piece that would not only invoke pride for the winner but also instantly take him back to the track where it all began. There were several ideas discussed, but ultimately the R&D team decided "what's more symbolic of VIR than the track itself?"
James Gordon, the owner of Springfield Distillery, comes by his interest in whiskey naturally. “I grew up with memories of my father moonshining,” says Gordon, who opened his Halifax County distillery in August 2016. “My father is one of the first two private individuals in South Africa to get his license for distilling liquor. I get to tap into 25 years of distillery experience.”
