This content was published: December 4, 2020. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC partners with St. Helens High School to take Manufacturing Day virtual
Photos and story by Alfredo V. Moreno
In a year of unprecedented change, Portland Community College, Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMIC R&D) and the Northwest STEM Hub have remained committed to helping Columbia County high school students explore careers in advanced manufacturing.
Congresswoman Bonamici presents to students via video.
Unable to host the annual, in-person Manufacturing Day event due to COVID-19, the planning committee turned to St. Helens High School metals and manufacturing students to help continue the important initiative.
“St. Helens students have played a leadership role in each of the past OMIC Manufacturing Day events, and we were excited to continue the tradition through an alternative virtual format,” said Bonnie Adams, the metals and manufacturing teacher at St. Helens.
Utilizing Zoom, St. Helens students conducted taped interviews with tradesmen and women from companies including USiA, Vigor, Cobot Team and Autodesk. The student-led interviews covered topics on what it’s like to work in the trades, the skills and training required and advice on how to prepare for a career in advanced manufacturing.
“The students were able to ask the questions that were on their minds, and our industry partners answered honestly, drawing on their own experience, while providing practical insights on a variety of careers in manufacturing,” said Adams.
In total, the Manufacturing Day Committee produced and distributed nine videos designed to help students learn more about advanced manufacturing. The videos, which were shared with 12 school districts and reached approximately 270 students in Northwest Oregon, featured the student-led industry interviews, an OMIC R&D blueprint tutorial, a virtual tour of the new PCC OMIC Training Center and messages from local elected leaders, including U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici and State Sen. Betsy Johnson.
Urmaze Natterwalla, head of OMIC R&D.
“These are challenging times, and it’s critical we continue to support young people who are interested in manufacturing,” said Adams. “I’m grateful to our industry partners, and I’m incredibly proud of the leadership our students showed to support other young people across the region.”
This year’s Manufacturing Month initiative, like this past summer’s Columbia Works paid internship program, highlighted the importance of PCC’s engagement with the Columbia County community as the college prepares to open its new PCC OMIC training center in Scappoose in 2021. The center will be focused on cultivating Oregon’s next generation of advanced manufacturing workers and house such programs as machining, industrial fabrication and mechatronics.
About Alfredo V. Moreno
Alfredo has served PCC's westside communities in both a community engagement and public relations capacity since September of 2018. Born in the border city of El Paso, Texas, Alfredo grew up in the timber town of Roseburg in Southern Oregon... more »
Very exciting, we’ll need to do more of these!