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Miller-Sponsored Team Earns Recognition at AEM Construction Challenge
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Row 1: Sarah Karabush, Ann Newcomb, Hannah Friedman; Row 2: John Connolly (Instructor), Jarius Tillman, Alec Nyberg, Michael Schubert, Scott Mickel The Highland Park High School team, Highland Park, Il.) placed third in the Equipment & Careers portion of the event and 24th overall in the AEM Construction Challenge at the 2008 CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas |
APPLETON, Wis., May 2— Miller Electric Mfg. Co. is proud to announce that the team from Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Ill., placed third in the Equipment & Careers Challenge at the first Association of Equipment Manufacturer’s (AEM) Construction Challenge. The Highland Park team, sponsored by Miller, also received a Special Recognition Award for Prototype Testing and Refinement for their entry, a board game called “Construct Your Future,” which requires answering construction-related questions to win.
More than 50 teams advanced from regional competitions around the country to compete in the event, which was held at the 2008 CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas. The Construction Challenge is designed to attract the best and brightest young people into the construction industry in professions ranging from manufacturing to in-the-field careers.
Miller's sponsorship is just one of its corporate initiatives designed to address the shortage of skilled tradespeople, especially welders. By 2010, the American workforce could be facing a shortage of 210,000 skilled welders. Programs such as the AEM Construction Challenge promote the skilled trades as a viable choice for high school students considering their career options.
“The Construction Challenge provided my students with the opportunity to discover an area of engineering and construction, which would have otherwise gone unexplored,” said John Connolly, an instructor at the school and the students’ advisor for the competition.
In the Equipment & Careers Challenge, teams were tasked with developing an interactive educational resource or product to help teach audiences about construction careers and equipment. The other challenges included an Infrastructure Dialogue, in which teams researched infrastructure issues and presented their results to a panel of judges, and the Road Warrior Challenge, in which teams competed to move the most gravel across a newly-completed infrastructure, using their team-built equipment.
With headquarters in Appleton, Wis., Miller Electric Mfg. Co. is a leading worldwide manufacturer of Miller brand arc welding equipment and related systems for metalworking, construction, maintenance and other applications. Miller Electric is a wholly owned subsidiary of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW), Glenview, Ill. ITW is a diversified multinational manufacturer of highly engineered components, assemblies and systems.
