Georgia Southwestern State University students Rakia Zanders and Ariana Carby recently worked with Southeastern Pneumatic, Inc. of Ellaville, Ga. to shoot a promotional video for the company.
 
Founded in 1987 by Melvin Collins, Southeastern Pneumatic was the first in a family of businesses under the parent company Bulk Equipment. With locations in Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas, Bulk Equipment companies specialize in the sale, service and repair of bulk and heavy hauling equipment such as pneumatics, open deck and dump trailers.
 
The promotional video project is the second of two collaborations between Georgia Southwestern and Southeastern Pneumatic. In the first project, a computer science student and a business student from GSW worked with the company on upgrading its website.
 
Georgia Southwestern doesn’t always have students in place to drive projects like this, but when they do, it is worthwhile for both the students involved and the community.
 
“I am a strong believer in the engagement and interaction of academia and industry for the betterment of our community,” said Nathan Peck, executive vice president of Southeastern Pneumatic. “This project was an example of the positive outcomes that can occur when the two work together.”
 
With an undergraduate degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and two graduate degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Peck spent a lot of time as a student so he realizes how invaluable hands-on experience can be.
 
“As a student, I benefited greatly both personally and professionally from free consulting that I provided as part of class projects, assignments or on my own. These projects are an investment,” Peck explained. “SEP is investing time, resources and patience. The school is providing its students’ academic knowledge and technical resources to drive a program that provides well-rounded and experienced students. This benefits the school and community in the long run.”
 
“Real-world projects are an essential part of student education. Such projects help students to see their future profession in action and develop appropriate technical and soft skills,” added Boris Peltsverger, Ph.D., dean of the GSW School of Computing and Mathematics.
 
Zanders, a senior from Americus, and Carby, a senior from Midway, are information technology majors pursuing the multimedia option. They worked on the video project as part their coursework for Audio-Video Production Technology I in the fall of 2014 and Audio-Video Production Technology II in the spring of 2015. Both students worked diligently to produce this video under their instructor’s guidance.
 
The video is now available on the Bulk Equipment Youtube channel as well as their Facebook page, where it has already received over 2,000 likes. The video will soon be available via the Bulk Equipment website as well.