Emily Chi and Abigail Luftig want to tell you what’s cool about manufacturing!
By: Abigail Luftig & Emily Chi (8th Grade iTeam members)
A simple Victaulic coupling can be found in many places we visit everyday and many places we’ve only heard about. If you’ve ever walked into a mall and seen two pipes held together by a small piece of metal, you’ve had seen Victaulic couplings in action. Victaulic couplings have been used around the world in famous places such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and not so well known places such as Saucon Valley Middle School. What you probably didn’t realize then was that this idea has been improving since 1919. And the product itself is not the only thing that has improved!
After we walked into the Victaulic building, we were greeted with the loud sounds of robots that were helping to put together the Victaulic couplings. From 1919 to now, the manufacturing of Victaulic products has become easier and easier thanks to the help of new types of robotics. Even though the robots help with a lot of the work, it still requires many people to monitor the work of the robot and quality of the products.When we interviewed the employees, they all agreed that robots have significantly impacted manufacturing over the past few years.
The contest allowed us to explore cool manufacturing careers and learn to use many types of technology to help film our video. Our team received camera equipment, and teacher guidance as we learned to script, edit, and film our video. From the beginning of the contest, we chose a creative idea that we knew was going to take a lot of hard work and time. We really wanted our video to stand out, so we used our creativity and teamwork to make all of our own props. Strong teamwork played a major role in effectively creating the video. Everyone on the team has stayed dedicated and eager to learn more about Victaulic and the manufacturing process. We were fascinated by the new technology that Victaulic employees have been using to make the manufacturing process faster, easier, and safer.
Voting starts today and ends on Feb. 22nd. To support the team, you can vote for Saucon Valley Middle School right here:
Click here to see the SVMS iTeam video and VOTE!
You can vote more than once to help our team win and take home a “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing” award!
Thank you!
When people hear the word manufacturing they often imagine working in a dirty, broken down factory at a monotonous job. In reality, manufacturing is so much more than just making products in large amounts. The “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing” contest gives students an opportunity to view how everyday products are made and manufactured. The competition, created in 2012, was designed to give students a first hand experience in manufacturing. Students are given the chance to go to a company or factory, and are taught about how everyday products are made. Here at Saucon Valley, we had the opportunity to participate in the contest. The company we were assigned to was Victaulic and its division that manufactures and assembles couplings for pipes of many varieties. For our video, we took trips to two different Victaulic sites and learned about not only the manufacturing process, but also about the effort and dedication of the workers involved.
SVMS iTeam Contributors:
- Emily Chi
- Tanner Gilly
- Caitlin Keeney
- Kyle Laub
- Teegan Lannon
- Sonia Lloyd
- Abigail Luftig
- Meredith Lesney & Chuck Austin (SVMS faculty advisors)
