First year Halifax County High School dual enrollment WoodLINKS students' class project won first place at the American Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) Fresh Wood Student Competition (2009). The students' work won blue ribbon honors in the High School Class Project Category at the national competition. The project, affectionately called The Chair, is a beautiful work of art with a cherry-like finish. It is contemporary twist on the traditional Queen Anne Side Chair. That twist is what exemplifies the Product Design & Development program and its students.

The winner of the Martinsville Speedway's Annual March NASCAR race receives a special trophy: a grandfather clock. For years, the clock was produced by Ridgeway Clocks in Martinsville, VA. When Ridgeway Clocks was bought out by Herman Miller the trophy for this all-American sport was shipped overseas.

Seeing an opportunity for a unique partnership, the SVHEC's Product Design & Development team approached the Speedway and asked if their students could design and engineer the trophy clock. The Product Design & Development team received permission to design, engineer, and manufacture the March 2010 trophy clock. The project perfectly illustrates the power and potential of the PD&D curriculum. Students work on a real world design challenge and take the clock through each phase of production.

In the process they collaborated with a number of individuals in Virginia and elsewhere on specific parts of the clock. Students received a one-of-a-kind learning experience and have the distinct honor of saying their work is in the hands of one of the nation's finest racecar drivers--Mr. Denny Hamlin. 

"Dead Ben Drums"

Recent Wood Science-Product Design & Development graduate Ben Scarborough took home first place honors in the national Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) 2011 Fresh Wood Student Competition. Scarborough’s entry, three CNC-milled snare drums (known as Dead Ben Drums) withstood stiff competition from students at Brigham Young University and Art Center College of Design to win the production/contract category’s blue ribbon. Ben's win was the second time in as many entries that a Product Design & Development student placed first at the AWFS Fresh Wood competition.

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"The Universal Light Bulb" 

WoodLINKS students Dustin Meadors, Shonque’l Betts, and Jared Owen were juried into the WoodLINKS Ready to Assemble competition at the International Woodworking Fair in Atlanta, GA (2012). Their competition competition entry was a unique lamp design called  “Universal Light Bulb.” Shaped like a traditional incandescent light bulb, “Universal Light Bulb” uses an energy-efficient compact florescent bulb to create an intersection between old and new. They placed 4th in the nation with this unique design!
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