Vivek Gupta is the president of Texas ProFab Corporation, a precision sheet metal fabricator and finisher, located in Carrollton, Texas. Texas ProFab Corp was an early adopter of automation in many areas such as forming and cutting; and a leader in environmental compliance among its finishing operations; and a company that has experienced significant growth over Vivek’s tenure.

Vivek began his volunteer service to the FMA board of directors in 2011 and was elected chair in 2015. Throughout his eight years on the board, Vivek served on multiple committees and led the board and staff as the association moved its headquarters from Rockford to Elgin, Illinois, in 2016.

In 2010, Vivek and his family established the U.K. Gupta & Family Scholarship Endowment fund with NBT. While the endowment was fully funded in 2011, Vivek has personally continued to give annually to NBT, contributing to fundraising appeals such as the President's Challenge and the Board Chair's Endowment campaigns.

The Gupta Family Scholarship is awarded to students from northern Texas enrolled in a course of study leading to a career in manufacturing. To date, the endowment has funded 13 scholarships totaling $25,500. Most of the scholarship recipients are mechanical engineering students at the University of Texas or Texas A&M.

Vivek was nominated for the Power of Industry award due to his passion for advancing the future of the fabrication and manufacturing industry. He commits his time and efforts to support programs that encourage the next generation to pursue careers in manufacturing, and his generous donations to NBT help ensure a pipeline of skilled workers for the advanced manufacturing industry of tomorrow.

Miller Electric Mfg LLC is headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, and wholly owned by Illinois Tool Works (ITW). The company maintains its industry leadership by setting the standard for reliability, quality, and responsiveness. Miller is a manufacturing leader because of its development of state-of-the-art equipment, safety leadership, the efficiency of advanced technology, and training the next generation of innovators and creators in the manufacturing industry.

Miller employees annually donate thousands of personal hours for community improvement projects, and the company awards them paid time off for these efforts. In addition, ITW offers an incredible 3:1 matching gift program to support nonprofit organizations where the ITW Foundation will match, at three times the value, personal gifts up to $5,000 per employee or retiree per year.

Miller began its volunteer service to NBT in 2016 when Bruce Albrecht, vice president of global innovation and technology, joined the NBT board of directors. Jeff Schroeder, segment director at ITW, is a recently elected NBT board member.

Over the past several years, Miller’s generous support of NBT has been extensive. Examples of Miller’s many contributions include an annual gift of $10,000 to support summer manufacturing camps in Wisconsin, participation at GOLF4MFG® , equipment donations to schools that host NBT camps, and allowing time for employees to serve on the boards of FMA and NBT, among other charitable organizations.

Miller was nominated for the Impact on Industry award due to its commitment to the metals manufacturing industry through its leadership involvement with NBT, its financial support of the summer manufacturing camp program, and the dedicated support of philanthropic efforts the company embraces.

Itawamba Community College (ICC), located in Belden, Mississippi, has a tradition of academic excellence combined with a friendly, caring atmosphere. ICC also offers freshman and sophomore-level university transfer programs and 31 early-career programs.

In 2010, under the direction of Scott Beadles, ICC partnered with NBT to host the first Tek2Go summer manufacturing camp for students to learn about real-world manufacturing processes. In 2013, Gina Black took over the responsibilities as the camp director and expanded the camp to include advanced machinery and concepts with the creation of the Tek2Go Advanced Manufacturing Camp for Students. Three years later, Scott Blackley introduced Tek2Go Advanced Manufacturing Camp for Teachers.

Tek2Go Advanced Manufacturing Camps are designed for students in middle and high school; the Tek2Go Camp for Teachers is geared to manufacturing program faculty. Participants in both the student and teacher camps are exposed to advanced manufacturing concepts through the same experiences. Campers create take-home projects such as a metal clock, tour local manufacturing facilities, and hear presentations from business leaders and entrepreneurs to understand the impact their contributions and successes have made in the industry.

ICC has developed and fostered significant manufacturing partnerships to enhance the content of their manufacturing plant tours and create a sustainable camp model. Bryan Hawkins, president and CEO of Hawkeye Industries and past NBT board chair, is a long-time supporter of the ICC camps. Camp participants spend a half day visiting Hawkeye Industries and talking with Bryan about starting a business and linking education, including technical skills training, to a prosperous and fulfilling manufacturing career.   

ICC has been nominated for the Future of Industry award in recognition of its involvement with NBT’s summer manufacturing camp program for the past nine years, as well as its innovative approach to solving the skills gap by educating the educators. Student campers are exposed to modern manufacturing while learning about the available careers and salaries the industry offers. Likewise, the camp for teachers helps technical educators learn how to mentor their students to encourage them to choose a manufacturing career.