{"379471":{"#nid":"379471","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Coweta County native discovers his calling in manufacturing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAsk many 8-year-old boys and girls what they want, and they\u2019re likely to say a bike or toy or electronic games.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESteven Shaw wanted a lathe, a machine used to shape wood or metal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s not surprising for the Coweta County native and senior at Southern Polytechnic State University. He\u2019s always liked figuring out the mechanics of how things work, ever since he and his big brother worked alongside their dad to help him restore his nine classic cars.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI wanted to know how the engines worked, to take them apart and rebuild them,\u201d Shaw said as he \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/facesofmanufacturing.com\/portfolio\/steven-shaw\/\u0022\u003Eshared his story\u003C\/a\u003E of how he came to find his calling in manufacturing. It\u2019s a passion this self-described \u201cgearhead\u201d discovered in high school.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;The \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gamep.org\u0022\u003EGeorgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership\u003C\/a\u003E (GaMEP) is naming Shaw its February \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/facesofmanufacturing.com\u0022\u003EFace of Manufacturing\u003C\/a\u003E. The campaign is designed to honor the often unsung heroes of the industry, 365,000 people strong who work to manufacture products that support the Georgia economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEveryone\u2019s journey into manufacturing is different,\u201d said GaMEP Director Karen J. Fite. \u201cSteven found his calling early on and is a great example for today\u2019s generation that the typical beliefs that come to mind when thinking about manufacturing no longer hold true.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShaw, 22, says discovering his interests early on, and having teachers and mentors to guide him along the way, helped too. As a high school student, he discovered the Central Educational Center (CEC) \u2014 a partnership of the Coweta County Schools, West Central Technical College, and local business and industry \u2014 during a career fair.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m lucky. I was afforded the opportunity to discover what I loved to do at an early age.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe says manufacturing is more than he could have dreamed, explaining there are so many opportunities in 3D design, research and development, and other disciplines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt also allows him to be creative and innovative. In fact, being creative is key to a career in manufacturing, something he discovered as an apprentice three years ago at GT Virtual Concepts (GTVC), a Newnan-based machine shop.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow a tooling and design engineer at GTVC, he sets up the machines, works on programing the software, and anticipates potential glitches that could lead to production issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou have to be willing to problem solve and be creative,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs he has grown, so has GTVC, a company founded in 2002 by Golda and Aaron Noble. It is one of 93 manufacturers in Coweta County and one of 950 machine shops in Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy P\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Each month the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) profiles a Georgian who is involved in manufacturing"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Steven Shaw considers himself lucky to have discovered early a true passion for a career in manufacturing."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2015-02-18 13:26:39","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:42","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"379501":{"id":"379501","type":"image","title":"Steven Shaw","body":null,"created":"1449246214","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:23:34","changed":"1475894388","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:48","alt":"Steven Shaw","file":{"fid":"75245","name":"dsc_0054.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0054.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0054.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3104449,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0054.jpg?itok=HHbCYeHU"}}},"media_ids":["379501"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/facesofmanufacturing.com\/","title":"Faces of Manufacturing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1072","name":"Business"},{"id":"16331","name":"GaMEP"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor media inquiries contact:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about GaMEP contact:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKatie Takacs\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGaMEP Marketing Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:katie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekatie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}