Over 150 Gwinnett County high school students learned about careers in the water industry Wednesday during a summit at The Water Tower in Buford.
The Student Water Innovation and Leadership Summit gave students the opportunity to discover different roles, processes, technology and innovations involved with water industry careers. They also engaged with industry professionals during a career fair to strengthen their skills in leadership, communication, strategic thinking, team building and networking.
"They also participated in hands-on activity stations covering topics in plant operations, microscopy, lab skills, GIS, smart technology, pipeline design, engineering, filtration, stream restoration, underwater robotics, wildlife assessment, scientific artwork, crisis communication, robots in water pipeline systems, and more," a release from The Water Tower said.
The summit is a part of the organization's mission to attract, train and place the next generation of water workers in positions to support Georgia water utilities. There are an estimated 1,200 open water jobs in the Atlanta Metro Area, according to the release. Water utilities across the U.S. are projected to lose up to 50% of operations staff in the next five to 10 years.
“The Water Tower is committed to assisting utilities in meeting their personnel and training needs with our various hands-on workforce development initiatives,” said Melissa Meeker, CEO of The Water Tower. “The Student Summit gives local high school students the opportunity to connect with industry professionals who are poised to recruit, train and place them in a variety of open positions, while showing students that a career in water can be fun.”
Students from Lanier High School, Shiloh High School, Paul Duke STEM High School, North Gwinnett High School, Discovery High School, Mountain View High School and Grayson High School participated in the half-day event.
Summit sponsors included The Water Tower’s sustaining partners: Carollo, Garver, Gwinnett County Water, Kamstrup, Siemens, and Wade Trim; transformative partner Safekrit; and event sponsors: Jackson Electric Membership Corporation, Georgia Rural Water Association, Ardurra Group and Georgia Banking Company.
