Dalton–Shaw Industries Group has extended its extensive educational partnership program to include mentoring and sponsorship of FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge events and/or teams in Georgia. The company has long supported programs from reading to robotics to help cultivate the workforce of the future to foster innovation and to help create a better future for the communities in which it operates.
With more than $1 billion invested in new equipment, technology and processes over the past few years, Shaw’s operations are more complex than ever. As the company focuses on innovation for its products, services and processes, it needs designers and data scientists, engineers and electricians, machinists and marketers with a higher skill level than in the past.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international organization started by Dean Kamen, Segway inventor, which aims to inspire young people to participate in science and technology.
Shaw’s support of the organization in 2016 includes:
- Providing mentors and financial support to individual teams including the Cartersville High School FIRST Tech Challenge team and Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy FIRST Robotics Competition team
- Sponsoring and providing volunteer judges and other significant on-site support at the FIRST Robotics Competition qualifier event, which was held in Dalton March 18-19, 2016, and featured dozens of teams from north Georgia
“At Shaw, we’re looking for the next innovators, problem solvers, and creative thinkers—people like all of the incredible students competing in FIRST events,” said Brian Cooksey, Shaw’s director of operations training and development.