Starting June 17, we’re excited that the White House is celebrating a National Week of Making throughout the country. From schools to fab labs and makerspaces, manufacturing plants to tech centers, and universities to after-school programs, special events are taking place to share the power making brings to our lives.
President Barack Obama has had a special commitment to making and digital fabrication. In releasing today’s proclamation, the President said:
The same American spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that has steered our Nation through the industrial and digital revolutions — and led our people to explore the depths of the oceans and the distant planets in our solar system — has enabled us to reimagine our world through new ideas and discoveries. Since our earliest days, makers, artists, and inventors have driven our economy and transformed how we live by taking risks, collaborating, and drawing on their talents and imaginations to make our Nation more dynamic and interconnected. During National Week of Making, we recommit to sparking the creative confidence of all Americans and to giving them the skills, mentors, and resources they need to harness their passion and tackle some of our planet’s greatest challenges.
It is innovation and creativity that each Potomac employee brings to our daily fabrication jobs. Whether it’s our CEO, quality control manager, laser micromachining workstation operator, or 3D printing technician, each Potomac manufacturing professional has the problem-solving skills to address challenges for our customers in a time-efficient, economical way. Anyone can purchase a new type of machine and make standard parts, but our real innovation comes with the modifications we have made to laser workstations, CNC machines and 3D Printers. We also push the process development envelope, working on new methods to work with glass, metals, organic polymers and even diamond. The power of Potomac’s success is from our team that utilizes strong American ingenuity in everything we do.
For many of us, these skills were learned as we worked on our cars, played with Legos, built kites with our parents, or joined robotics teams after school. Our founder, Paul Christensen, remembers taking radios apart to see how they worked and fixing any problems they might have. Knowing Paul, he most likely invented improvements along the way.
These early fabrication opportunities shaped our workforce and we would encourage everyone to support making activities, both in and out of our schools. The national Week of Making is a great opportunity to find programs in your community and to get involved! Check out the White House Nation of Makers website and we hope you’ll be inspired to make something! Who knows, you may end up applying for a job at Potomac, making very cool things!
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