Valdosta State University celebrated National Engineers Week from February 16-22 with student and faculty research presentations and guest speakers from local economic development organizations. José de Diego Arozamena, Industrial Engineer and founder/CEO of Arglass Yamamura, spoke to attendees about the construction of the new state-of-the-art Arglass bottle manufacturing plant in Valdosta.

“Interactions with practicing engineers and the leaders of the local engineering industry bring engineering to life for our students, encouraging and motivating them to be committed in their engineering education and their future career in engineering,” said Barrie Hojjatie, Ph.D., P.E., professor of engineering technology and coordinator of the VSU engineering studies program.

VSU engineering technology majors Jackson Herb and Josef Rakaj presented their research projects with Hojjatie on Computer Aided Design (CAD) and the development of different bottles made from glass materials, as well as the residual stresses developed in glass materials during firing.

Students also interacted with Arozamena, Mike Lane, senior operations advisor for Arglass, Patrick Collins, city engineer of the City of Valdosta, and Stan Crance, director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority, during Hojjatie’s engineering courses during the week.