Campers line up to watch one of the many heats of car races June 8 after closing ceremonies in Dalton. The cars were designed by campers during the week-long Designing, Engineering, and Manufacturing (DEM) Camp hosted on the campuses of Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Dalton State College, and the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy.
Northwest Georgia middle school students spent a week on the campuses of Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Dalton State College, and the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy to attend the Eighth Annual Design, Engineering, and Manufacturing Camp.
Counting first-timers and return campers, the DEM camp hosted 135 middle school technology enthusiasts June 5-9. With the help of college instructors and former campers from area high schools, these young men and women were exposed to areas of expertise such as: Rapid Prototyping, Electronic Circuit Boards, Laser Design with 3-D Imagery, Programming Industrial Robots, and Flooring Design.
The DEM camp also took campers on tours of area manufacturers. Students saw the technology and training they had been exposed to during the week being put to work at several Northwest Georgia corporations. Thanks in part to sponsors of the event, the camp is free to students on a first-come basis.
Sponsors of the annual camp include GNTC; Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy; DSC; Dalton Public Schools; Whitfield County Schools; Shaw Industries; Mohawk Industries, Inc.; Boys & Girls Clubs of Gordon, Murray, & Whitfield Counties; Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce; J+J Flooring Group; Georgia Power; ArrowStar, LLC; Dalton-Whitfield County Joint Development Authority; Grainger; IVC US, Inc.; Engineered Floors, LLC; Lyle Industries, Inc.; Lowe’s; North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation; The Carpet and Rug Institute; Inc.; Dalton Utilities; and Brown Ox Ventures, Inc.
This week, GNTC will help host two similar camps in Northwest Georgia. Camp STEMulate on the Catoosa County Campus in Ringgold, and the Young Scholars Program will be held on the Floyd County Campus in Rome. The YSP focuses on STEM activities throughout the week, as well.
"The original STEM program was designed by the Department of Education to help make American students among the world’s best educated when it comes to the academic areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The camps being held in Northwest Georgia are available in large part due to economic development efforts by the organizations, companies, and schools of the area. It is an effort to help grow the industries currently in the region, as well as companies headed to the Peach State in the future," officials said.