Okuma America and Chip Ganassi Racing Host Students

Okuma America Corporation (Charlotte, NC), a world leader in CNC machine tool manufacturing, and Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR; Concord, NC), one of the most successful and innovative race teams in the world, joined forces to inspire the next generation of manufacturers by hosting a manufacturing day event held at CGR. The event, held in conjunction with the annual National Manufacturing Day celebration, gave local high school students the opportunity to tour the facility and learn how CNC machining and modern manufacturing play an important role in racing as well as a number of industries.

Students toured the machine shop, sub assembly, heavy fab and final assembly departments and spoke with several professionals in their respective areas of expertise. They were educated on various roles and careers and the education level and experience needed to obtain those jobs as engineers, machine tool operators, and programmers.

“U.S. manufacturers face a significant shortfall in qualified, skilled workers and the skills gap increases every year. As manufacturing professionals, we feel it’s important to show students the wide variety of career paths in the industry. Partnering with CGR is a step in the right direction to inspire the next generation of manufacturers,” said Brittany Russell, the training program manager at Okuma.

www.okuma.com/americas,  www.chipganassiracing.com