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Tech Talk
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Welding Wonders

Photo of Any Jackson

outh Georgia Tech student Andy Jackson continues to rack up honors in national welding contests. Jackson last year won the state SkillsUSA-VICA title and placed sixth in national competition. That performance earned him one of only 25 spots in the recent American Welding Society pre-trials, where he placed seventh.

During the course of this competition, he had to submit welded projects every other week (one made of stainless steel, one of aluminum and one of carbon steel) to three different judging corporations: Miller, Lincoln and Hobart.

Jackson has worked for the past three years at Leesburg-based Bird Buggy Inc., which makes quail hunting trucks. His welding and joining instructor at the Crisp County Center satellite campus is Brenda Butler, who is also his aunt.

At DeKalb Tech, another welding student is turning heads for his innovation and determination.

Photo of Scott Splawn Scott Splawn, 35, worked as a chef in restaurants all over the country before a fall left him paralyzed seven years ago. A motorcycle enthusiast, Splawn decided to craft a new career either repairing motorcycles or opening his own shop.

He entered DeKalb Tech’s motorcycle program and then moved to welding. With his newfound welding skills, he’s currently building a motorcycle sidecar to accommodate his wheelchair. As soon as he acquires the special motorcycle retrofit allowing him to shift gears by hand instead of by foot, he can tote his wheelchair anywhere. “I just want to be independent,” Splawn says.

After earning diplomas in motorcycle repair and welding, as well as several technical certificates of credit, he plans to market his ideas for motorcycles that are tailor-made for disabled riders.

Martin Smith (left), chair of the Georgia Fund, and State Farm’s Jack Booth, team manager in the Auto Estimatics department

ne person’s misfortune is another’s education — at least if State Farm has anything to do with it. For more than a decade, State Farm Insurance Company has donated a large number of salvaged vehicles to Georgia’s technical colleges, giving students critical opportunities to gain hands-on experience.

State Farm’s partnership in the Insurance-Education program was recognized recently with an engraved plaque presented by the Georgia Fund for Technical and Adult Education. Martin Smith, chair of the Georgia Fund and director of IT Systems Support at Southwire in Carrollton, presented the plaque to State Farm’s Jack Booth, team manager in the Auto Estimatics department.

“The donated cars are given to the colleges’ instructional programs, most going to the Automotive Collision Repair and the Automotive Technology programs,” says Claire Neme, executive director of the Georgia Fund.

Jill Blizzard, State Farm’s public affairs and marketing specialist, says, “We work with schools all over the Southeast and I must say Georgia technical colleges are the easiest to work with. It’s a natural partnership that ultimately benefits the public.”

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