HydraForce Named Business Partner of Year by Northwest Educational Council for Student Success (NECSS)
On Thursday, April 28, HydraForce was honored as Business Partner of the Year by the Northwest Educational Council for Student Success (NECSS) for providing an "exceptional experience" to high school students in participating in the School District District 211 Career Trek.
In February, HydraForce hosted a career exploration day for a group of Palatine High School students who are interested in becoming engineers. The day included tours of the HydraForce manufacturing plant and Innovation and Technology Center, presentations from employees in various engineering disciplines - product design, sales, application engineering, and manufacturing engineering, and a hands-on activity that introduced the students to 3D modeling engineering software.
Jim Brizzolara, Ray Hernandez, and Robyn Safron of HydraForce were recognized for their efforts to support Palatine High School and School District 211.
"HydraForce depends on the quality of its people to make the highest quality products," said Jim Brizzolara, president of HydraForce. "We were honored to be asked to partner with the Northwest Educational Council and I can see we were in good company as Arcon, Prudential, Innovative Components and American Airlines were also Business Partners. HydraForce will certainly continue to support the educational community and our next generation," he added.
"Encouraging high school students to study engineering isn't always easy, but there's a real need for more people with skill in technology and engineering" said Ray Hernandez, Engineering manager at HydraForce. "As the parent of a student at Palatine High School, I became aware of the opportunity for HydraForce to get involved and am very glad we were able to take that opportunity. I may have brought up the idea, but it was truly a team effort and I thank my co-workers and am glad that District 211 appreciated everyone's efforts. I hope we influenced a few individuals to pursue a technical career as a result of this event."
"HydraForce and its employees were very pleased to host the Career Trek," said Robyn Safron, Human Resources manager at HydraForce, who accepted the award on behalf of HydraForce. "We were deeply honored to be nominated by District 211 and Palatine High School, and look forward to continuing to support their efforts to make students aware of the opportunities in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math."
HydraForce, based in Lincolnshire, designs and manufactures high performance hydraulic fluid power cartridge valves, custom manifolds and electro-hydraulic controls. The company employs about 775 people at its headquarters and machining center in Lincolnshire and Innovation Center in Vernon Hills.
NECSS is a secondary and post-secondary regional educational collaborative focused on student success via post-secondary career planning and opportunities between all district partners and the local communities. NECSS partners include Harper College and Township High School District 211, Township High School District 214 and Barrington School District 220.