Oil & Gas Industry Parts China Hosts High School Students for Manufacturing Day

Today, October 23, 2015, Oil & Gas Industry Parts China hosted 25 high school students in a field trip to our plant. It was great to see the faces of tomorrow’s engineers, designers, purchasers and sales people! We knew the students were coming from engineering-type classes, but we were still pleasantly surprised at the level of interest in manufacturing. They toured in three groups of 7-8 students and were able to get a plant tour, quality department visit, as well as time in the conference room where we discussed careers in manufacturing. It was great to see the “light bulb” experiences in some of their eyes as they realized the potential that a career in manufacturing can offer.

In my presentation, before I could even get to a discussion on materials, one student asked “Do you only machine steel? What else can be machined?” When I was covering the topic about ISO 9000 and what that meant, as well as how “traceability” is important, another student expressed his concerns about designing. He said “If an engineer makes a careless mistake on a print, does that make him liable if something goes wrong with a part later?”  Several of the students wanted to know if they could get internships while they were still in high school.

During the plant tour, the students were encouraged to ask a “meaningful question” before the end of the tour. Questions included:

  • What do you do with the lubricant?
  • What do you do with the scrap?
  • Can you make parts within parts?
  • Can you machine gold? What if I brought you a brick of gold? 😉
  • What is the process for getting information to the guys at the machines to make the parts?
  • What happens if you find out you don’t have enough information on how to make a part?

We’re glad we were able to answer these and other insightful questions and make connections with students as they consider their future. Thank you Valley Industrial Association for connecting us with Metea Valley High School and arranging this experience both for us and for students in support of manufacturing! I’m sure we’ll want to do it again sometime.

Rose of Sharon DeVos