Rebecca Richardson (center), dean of the School of Engineering, Manufacturing and Industrial Technology at Dorman High School in Roebuck, South Carolina, holds a $1,000 PPG Foundation check with student Gustavo Fragoso, joined by other Engineering Club members (from left) Jessica Trejo, Zachary Byrne, Nicholas Byrne and David Kluesener. PPG employee Nilmini Abayasinghe (not pictured), a research associate at the Shelby, North Carolina, Fiber Glass Science and Technology Center, requested the grant for Richardson and the club to fund talks by guest speakers, visits to local manufacturing sites, and materials for engineering mini-projects to build bridges, balloon-powered cars and gliders.

Abayasinghe volunteers to support Dorman High School engineering programs, and she collaborated with Richardson to submit the Innovative Classroom Grant request. She also helped arrange an Engineering Club talk by PPG Senior Project Research and Design Engineer Leroy Magwood, who also works in Shelby, to discuss his work and the fiber glass industry.

“PPG is strongly committed to supporting educational programs that help train tomorrow’s innovators, especially in communities and schools where our employees are involved,” Abayasinghe said. “I am very happy this grant will help members of the Dorman High School Engineering Club learn more about different industries and professions by providing opportunities for them to meet real-world engineers and participate in hands-on activities as they begin to explore their college and career options.”