SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah Technical College Business Management Instructor Rushe Hudzinski-Sero was selected as the SkillsUSA regional advisor of the year Region 2. Hudzinski-Sero was previously named SkillsUSA advisor of the year for Georgia. Region 2 represents the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Hudzinski-Sero is one of the SkillsUSA advisors for the College. She was named the 2020 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year by Savannah Tech. Hudzinski has been an instructor at Savannah Technical College since 2010 when she began working as an adjunct instructor. She became a full-time instructor in 2016. Leading up to this transition, Hudzinski was Chief Human Resources Consultant for New South Financial Group. Before coming to New South she served as the Director of Human Resources for Effingham County Board of Commissioners and oversaw personnel matters concerning the County Staff, Elected Officials and Constitutional Officers.

Prior, Hudzinski was the Training and Development, Staffing/Faculty Coordinators at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She served as a District Recruiting Specialist for Eddie Bauer, South East Region and held positions in several management capacities in the apparel, home and outlet divisions. Her early positions in management have retail and hospitality influence to include Talbots, Paradise Island Resort and Casino, the Hilton Corporation, and Walt Disney World.

Earlier this year the college was named one of 24 Model of Excellence SkillsUSA chapters nationwide, as long as a Chapter of Excellence Gold designation at the state level. STC students and teams won ten (state-level) virtual competitions: five gold, four silver, and one bronze.

SkillsUSA is a national career and technical student organization/competition that annually serves more than 395,000 high school, college and postsecondary students–and their instructors–in technical, skilled and service-occupation instructional programs.

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#2140 | May 24, 2021
Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512
ashaffer@savannahtech.edu

SAVANNAH, Ga. –Savannah Technical College has been awarded a patent for the historic marker fabrication process. This is based on a project STC students started in 2017, as a fix for damaged historical markers to preserve the past for the future at a fraction of the cost.

The patent approval process was funded by the STC Foundation, which owns the rights to the royalties. Savannah Technical College is the first technical college in Georgia to be awarded a patent. The College is celebrating the patent now because May is National Preservation Month to celebrate U.S. heritage through historic places.

“The Historic Marker Collar Bracket that we celebrate today, was the result of a collaborative effort among faculty and students in Historic Preservation, Drafting and Precision Machining,” said STC President Dr. Kathy Love. “Working together, they identified a way to solve a real-world problem and pursued the solution beyond the concept all the way to implementation.”

STC students initially used this fix to bring Troup Square’s Jingle Bells historical marker back to life after it was damaged by Hurricane Matthew. Since then, students have created and installed a replacement bracket for the Blue Star Memorial marker on Highway 280 in Pembroke, Ga. They are working on a replacement collar bracket for another marker in Effingham County.

Patent number 10847064 for historical marker repair components and methods was awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last year. From the patent summary of the invention:

This invention solves the problem of historic marker replacement by providing a process whereby broken markers may be repaired without having to re-cast the entire marker. In the preferred embodiment, the repair component comprises a metal casting with an upper channel dimensioned to receive the lower edge of the original plaque, and a lower collar dimensioned to fit onto the existing post.

The lower edge of the existing plaque may be fastened, welded, glued or otherwise secured within the upper groove of the repair component. In the preferred embodiment, however, the plaque is fastened to the repair component using specialty anti-theft bolts. Alternatively, the upper channel of the repair component may include a moveable member forming a jaw that clamps onto the lower edge of the existing plaque. The collar, likewise, may also be fastened, welded, glued or otherwise secured to the upper end of the pole.

A method of repairing a marker including a plaque with a lower edge that has broken away from an existing collar fitted to a post comprising the steps of measuring the width of the lower edge of the plaque and the cross section of the post; casting a repair component including an upper channel dimensioned to receive the lower edge of the existing plaque, and a lower collar dimensioned to fit onto the existing post; installing and securing the lower edge of the plaque within the channel of the repair component; and installing and securing the lower collar onto the existing post, which may be of metal or wood of varying cross section. The casting of the repair component may be of any suitable metal or alloy, including bronze or aluminum.

STC students designed, engineered and cast the channeled historic marker collar replacement bracket or base that could be adapted to fit different marker designs. The collar may be manufactured in large quantities, taken into the field, and used to replace a damaged collars at a substantially reduced cost. Also, it will allow the text section of the signs to be preserved rather than discarded.

“In many of our Traditional Trades course we push the boundaries of methods, materials, and techniques to develop new ways of addressing old problems,” said STC’s Department Head for Historic Preservation Benjamin Curran. “Our intent with this collar design was to provide an economical solution to a regular issue that arises with historical markers.”

Students from the Historic Preservation and Restoration department worked with students from Drafting, Welding and Machine Tool to create the prototype. A mechanical drafting student worked with the original sketches to create a design and print samples of 3D versions. The drafting student’s 3D print was used to create the form that was used to cast the collar mold. Welding students helped to build the furnace that was used to melt aluminum prior to casting. Machine Tool students assisted with CNC machining.

“As an institution Savannah Technical College strives to provide its students with the knowledge and skills that will make them valued members of our local and regional workforce,” said Curran. “Within the Industrial Technology department, we collectively focus on industry need, regardless of discipline. That has manifest itself in constant push to provide our students with opportunities to view themselves not simply technician, but also as contributors to the advancement of their respective fields. Innovation is the key. The historic marker collar replacement bracket perfectly exemplifies our students’ technical talents and creative capacity to further the advancement of the Historic Preservation field.”

STC Historic Preservation students cast the first replacement bracket under the guidance of Visiting Artisan Gary Knappenberger, who helped STC students with a finial casting for the Smithsonian Institute in 2013. He assisted with the mold making process and helped students build a small furnace large enough to melt down aluminum to pour multiple brackets for the casting process.

As the only public hands-on Historic Preservation program in Georgia and one of seven in the U.S., Savannah Technical College has led the way in preservation education, specializing in training not typically held by construction workers. The program has gained international recognition and has contributed to a number of community-based preservation projects in the surrounding communities. Traditional Building Magazine named Savannah Tech’s Historic Preservation program one of the nation’s Up and Coming programs.

For more information visit:www.savannahtech.edu/CenterTraditionalCraft or contact Curran at bcurran@savannahtech.edu or 912.443.5864.

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#2139 | May 13, 2021
Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah Technical College was selected as a Model of Excellence chapter for 2021. This annual recognition honors exceptional integration of personal, workplace and technical skills into SkillsUSA chapter activities. It is the highest honor bestowed on chapters by SkillsUSA, which is among the largest student organizations for career and technical education.

Savannah Technical College is one of 24 Model of Excellence chapters nationwide including both high school and college chapters. These top chapters will be evaluated in June for top honors. A panel of judges will evaluate each of these highest-level schools based on their goals, plan of action, results, evaluation and SkillsUSA Framework integration. Business and industry partners will conduct finalist interviews with students and advisors, and then help select the top three schools to be recognized on June 24 during the National Leadership and Skills Conference Virtual Recognition Session. The top three will receive national recognition and the opportunity to share their stories through SkillsUSA in publications and trainings.

The focus of Models of Excellence is student-led activation. These students learn and practice the skills that every employer seeks, including leadership, initiative, communication, teamwork and problem solving by taking the lead on all SkillsUSA activities. Their SkillsUSA instructors take the education of these students to the next level by guiding them, but never doing the work for them, elevating learning from classroom instruction to successful application of skills.

The Models of Excellence program promotes the intentional learning of personal, workplace and technical skills outlined in the SkillsUSA Framework for student development. Specific characteristics defined within each skill area provide tangible benchmarks for student achievement and chapter programming. Achievement is measured by student efforts in implementing essential workplace skills including personal responsibility, integrity, work ethic and organization in chapter activities. The hands-on approach of this program actualizes the SkillsUSA mission of empowering members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens.

Earlier this spring, STC students and teams won medals in ten (state-level) virtual competitions: five gold, four silver, and one bronze. The College also earned a Chapter of Excellence Level Gold designation.

SkillsUSA is a national career and technical student organization/competition that annually serves more than 395,000 high school, college and postsecondary students–and their instructors–in technical, skilled and service-occupation instructional programs.

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#2138 | May 11, 2021
Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512
ashaffer@savannahtech.edu

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah Technical College has selected Debra R. Geiger, Esq. as its Dean for Business & Professional Services division. As dean, she will manage division initiatives, programs, courses and instructional services. She had previously served as STC’s department head for Paralegal Studies since 2012.

Geiger is also the immediate past president of the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE), having served a two-year term as president, and a prior three-year term on its board of directors as associate programs director. She is admitted to practice law in the State of Georgia and has over 18 years transactional law practice experience. Geiger earned a Bachelor of Arts in in English from the University of South Carolina, law degree from the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida and MBA from Mercer University. In 2016, she was named STC’s instructor of the year. She is an active Girl Scout troop leader, as well as member of the State Bar of Georgia, Savannah Bar Association, Port City Bar Association and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

The Business & Professional Services division prepares students for careers in the following fields: accounting; barbering; basic law enforcement (Peace Officer Academy); business management; business technology; cosmetology; criminal justice; culinary arts/baking & pastry arts; cyber and related programs; early childhood care and education; fire science; hotel, restaurant and tourism management; and logistics management. To learn more about these programs visit: www.savannahtech.edu/academics/business-and-technology/

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# 2137 | May 3, 2021

Media Contact: Amy Shaffer, APR
912.443.5512 or ashaffer@savannahtech.edu