Trinity School students tour the Recording Heads facility.
– By Lori Johnson
Employees at Seagate’s Minnesota sites help boost education related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by supporting several ongoing activities at local schools or within the sites’ facilities. One of these longstanding voluntary efforts recently was recognized by a state educators association.
Volunteers Earn Educators Award
Seagate’s Shakopee volunteers were recently recognized by the Minnesota Technology and Engineering Educators Association for supporting the engineering program at the Shakopee Junior High School.
Over the past eight years, more than 65 employees have contributed to the school’s program by serving on the advisory board, acting as mentors for two different courses, providing tours to students, serving as guest speakers on a variety of engineering topics and judging design projects.
Teacher Brad Thorpe nominated the Shakopee design center for the Business Recognition Award because of “the expertise provided to help make the school’s program top notch,” he said. The school will present the award to the design center at an upcoming all-employee meeting.
“The Shakopee school’s program gives students a clear picture of what it is like to be an engineer so they become engaged and more inclined to pursue it as a career,” said Ed Neu, executive director of enterprise storage and a volunteer at the school. “The students have one-on-one, real-life engagement with practicing engineers and scientists, which helps them relate the classroom subject matter to the real world.”
Longstanding Support
On-site activities primarily involve hosting student tours throughout the year. Typically, the tours include information sessions on technology development and the different career opportunities Seagate provides.
Externally, employees are involved in judging science fairs and science bowls, supporting or coaching robotics teams, working at competitions, demonstrating technology at STEM-focused activities, speaking at schools and mentoring students. Easily, more than 1,500 Minnesota students are impacted annually by employees’ generosity.
Recently, a 10th-grade chemistry class of 55 students from Trinity School toured the Recording Heads facility and attended a seminar given by engineers that connected classroom education to real-life work. Students learned how the chemistry of tribology, electro-deposition, adhesives, chemical-mechanical polishing and wet etching work in building hard drives.
“For students, chemistry is an abstraction with maybe a little hands on work that they do in the classroom,” said Tim Rausch, tour coordinator for Seagate. “Seeing how the material they learn in school serves as a foundation for chemical engineering on an industrial scale, like we do at Seagate, is critical to their education.”
Employees also supported the state’s robotics tournament at Prior Lake schools that was attended by about 1,000 spectators and participants. A Seagate display, coordinated by Shakopee engineer Mark Dube, included hard drives, videos, giveaways and retail products. It attracted a great deal of attention and questions, he said, especially when a robotics team used its launcher to distribute Seagate T-shirts.
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