This past weekend I got to go Atlanta, Georgia for the 111th Phi Psi Convention. Phi Psi is a professional textile fraternity. Every year one of the four chapters hosts the other chapters and we go network, go on industry tours and enjoy a guest speaker at formal dinner on Saturday. This year Theta Chapter at Georgia Tech was the host.
Amidst the heat and humidity on Friday, we got to go to Serta and Simmons bedding company. We learned all that there is to know about manufacturing mattresses as well as all the cool innovative technology that Serta and Simmons is testing and implementing in their products.
From there we went to Solvay Special Polymers which is a European based company that specializes in special polymers. We got a chance to explore their state of the art testing and research labs. I’d be lying if I said I actually understood the work they did. However, I was in awe of their facility and the fact that there are people out there who actually understand polymer science. The work they are doing with special polymers to better people’s lives blows my mind!!!
After the tours we spent some time relaxing and walking around Atlanta. We stopped by the Georgia Tech bookstore which is enormous. I’m pretty sure all of the Jefferson campus could fit in the bookstore…that might be a slight exaggeration, but you get the point.
On Saturday, we attended the Phi Psi business meeting and then had the rest of the afternoon off. During the afternoon, Angela and I walked around Atlanta, stopped for some froyo and then took some much-needed naps before we got ready for the dinner.
The formal dinner was hosted in a room above the Georgia Tech football stadium which I’m also sure could hold Jefferson’s campus. During the dinner of traditional southern food, we had the opportunity to listen to Bryan Swarn, an alum of GT, and how he created his own company Phenetix, that specializes in uniforms for track and field athletes. He was very inspiring and left as all wanting to know more about his work.
Additionally, a part of convention is an award ceremony for the chapters as they are competing for best written report, photo archives, oral presentation, and best all around at convention. I am pleased to say that our chapter, Alpha, received honorable mention for both the written report and photo archives, 1st for the oral presentation, and was the winner of the best all-around award!!!
After the dinner all the chapters celebrated a great convention together at little after party put together by Theta Chapter. It was a great experience meeting everyone from Georgia Tech, NC state, and Clemson and I can’t wait to see what Iota Chapter puts together next year in Clemson!