On Monday, Pillar Technology Group LLC VP of Engineering Kimberly Clavin gave a presentation about the company to digital design, app development, and engineering students at the Delaware Area Career Center.
Meanwhile, more than 20 miles south, a robot-mounted camera controlled by Clavin guided the students through a tour of the office, stopping periodically to ask questions of various employees.
“I don’t like slide shows,” Clavin said. “It gives them a total immersion into our space without having to do the logistics of getting to a space. For me to bring these developers out would be more expensive for the business, so this gives (students) the ability to see all these different careers in their work environment and chat with them.”
Clavin gave the presentation and tour to juniors and seniors at the DACC, and she added she wanted the students at the presentation to gain awareness of all the career paths available to them in the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) field.
“Our work environment has artists, developers, engineers, marketing people and HR,” Clavin said. “This is a way for them to get a live view.”
Clavin added the open-ended style of the presentation and tour gets students more engaged, since they can ask questions of virtually anyone.
“It’s hard to read kids, but I gotta say they do seem more engaged than when I gave lectures at the university,” Clavin said.
After the presentation, engineering student Scott Huffman said he enjoyed the variety of staff members employed at Pillar.
“There were people with philosophy backgrounds and art backgrounds, but they offer that eight-week boot camp, and apparently, you can learn a lot in those eight weeks,” Huffman said.
Huffman, a Buckeye Valley senior, said he’s planning on minoring in engineering at Cleveland State University, and he thinks Pillar could be a place he applies to one day based on the tour.
Veronica Leist, a senior in the app development program, said she enjoyed seeing the open, collaborative spaces at Pillar during the virtual tour, and while she’s planning for a career in game design, she thinks the tour probably benefited her classmates.
“It’s not my thing, but it’s probably a fit for other people,” said Leist, a Buckeye Valley student.
Digital design senior Chris Skomra said he thought the presentation was good and relatable to students.
“She was definitely speaking everyone’s language,” Skomra said.
Skomra added the digital presentation saves the school money, but it still gives students the experience of a tour.
“The interaction really brought out the benefit of the presentation,” he said. “From a technical standpoint, if I was more into robotics and engineering … I would look for a place like that.”
Skomra added he enjoys a more structured environment, and he is planning on studying music production at Full Sail University.
