Steven Shaw wanted a lathe, a machine used to shape wood or metal.

It’s not surprising for the Coweta County native and senior at Southern Polytechnic State University. He’s 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.

“I wanted to know how the engines worked, to take them apart and rebuild them,” Shaw said as he shared his story of how he came to find his calling in manufacturing. It’s a passion this self-described “gearhead” discovered in high school.

 The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) is naming Shaw its February Face of Manufacturing. 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.

“Everyone’s journey into manufacturing is different,” said GaMEP Director Karen J. Fite. “Steven found his calling early on and is a great example for today’s generation that the typical beliefs that come to mind when thinking about manufacturing no longer hold true.”

Shaw, 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) — a partnership of the Coweta County Schools, West Central Technical College, and local business and industry — during a career fair.

“I’m lucky. I was afforded the opportunity to discover what I loved to do at an early age.”

He says manufacturing is more than he could have dreamed, explaining there are so many opportunities in 3D design, research and development, and other disciplines.

It 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.

Now 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.

“You have to be willing to problem solve and be creative,” he said.

As 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.

By Péralte C. Paul