Stihl Inc., a leading manufacturer of chainsaws and outdoor power equipment, hosted a three-day Manufacturing Technology Summer Workshop this past August. The Stihl Inc. campus in Virginia Beach, VA, hosted all of the workshop’s day-to-day activities in machining, molding, assembly and apprentice lab.
The objectives of this workshop were to develop a future project for the upcoming camps and to give the Virginia Manufacturer’s Association a tool to use throughout the entire state of Virginia. The workshop taught high school students, teachers and counselors significant information about manufacturing in general. The core departments focused on were accessories, assembly, engineering, machining and polymers.
“This three day workshop is an excellent opportunity for teachers and students to get competitive hands-on experience in the manufacturing business,” said Simon Nance, training and development manager for Stihl Inc. “Hopefully, this mini-camp will influence more students to consider careers in the manufacturing industry.”
Approximately 25 people registered to participate in the workshop’s tours, lectures, demonstrations and competitive assignments. The participants were divided into groups for various projects. At the close of the workshop, all of the participants voted for one project that best exemplified modern manufacturing technologies. Next summer, Stihl will hold a camp for high-school students to introduce them to advanced technologies in manufacturing. It will have the same structure as this year’s workshop, but will focus on the students instead of teachers and counselors.
Sponsors for the event were Virginia Manufacturer’s Association (VCAT), American Society for Metals (ASM) International, FESTO, Hampton Roads Quality Management Council, and Old Dominion University’s Business Gateway.
