Loc Nguyen a student at Clearfield Job Corps designed and submitted for entry a medallion to be given away by the Secretary of Labor, Dr. Hilda L. Solis as her Honor Award. Submissions were sent to the Department of Labor from several Job Corps Centers around the nation for review with Mr. Nguyen’s design coming out on top.

Loc and Giau Nguyen arrived at Clearfield Job Corps 7 months ago from Vietnam via Colorado to learn new skills to launch them into successful careers.  The brothers are the last of their family to immigrate to the United States, a task that has taken their grandfather almost 20 years to help his family accomplish.

Both brothers chose Machining as their training of choice for different reasons.  Giau, who worked as a mechanic in Vietnam says he likes machine shop because of the technical aspects and mechanics involved in manufacturing parts.  Loc, in turn chose the trade because of the creative aspects of designing “just about any part of any size that he can come up with.”

Loc Nguyen designed the medallions in just over a week in the shop’s computer design software CAD/CAM.  It takes approximately forty minutes per medallion to machine or “tool” the design into each of the 5 medallions templates already cut from slabs of brass sheets. Giau Nguyen then takes each medallion and deburrs, buffs, and polishes the imperfections out of the medallions left by the machining process.

Both Loc and Giau are happy their design was chosen out of all the entries and are keen to add their creations and participation in the Department of Labor’s request to their professional résumé. Clearfield Training Director, Joshua Bell says, “It’s really great to see our students put in the effort to make a positive change in their lives by coming to Job Corps and both Loc and Giau are outstanding examples of what students can achieve when they work hard and focus on their career goals.”