The Georgia Center of Innovation for Manufacturing, in partnership with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Startup Ecosystems, Floor360, Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce, Calhoun College and Career Academy, Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy, and Shaw Industries, is hosting an event for high school students in honor of National Manufacturing Day. The goal of 
the Oct. 3 event is to raise awareness of manufacturing, with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.
The “Shark Tank”-inspired event will be held at the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy in Dalton from 9 a.m. to noon. Four startup companies, including Synapse, Sumo Robot League, Phoenix Rescue, Wish for Wash, along with Chris Oberste, a Materials Science Engineering doctoral candidate at Georgia Tech, will first give a 10-minute overview of their respective technologies and how it was 
developed.
Each company and Oberste will move to a breakout area where they will oversee several groups of students who will be split into teams of three. The students will be asked to brainstorm solutions to a problem relevant to
the company and present their findings to their breakout group. The startup companies will each select a winning solution/team and each of the five winning teams will then present their ideas to the entire student assembly. Awards will be given to each winning team. A total of 90 to 120 students are expected to participate in the event.