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Clemson Gaining Traction in Composites Research

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Our state is beginning to make a name for itself in advanced materials research.  That notoriety was furthered recently by our next guest’s efforts in composites for the automotive industry, which won his organization the https://youtu.be/C8lYm__j7no">2020 Innovision Technology Integration Award.

Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Srikanth Pilla, the Robert Patrick Jenkins endowed professor and Dean’s faculty fellow of automotive engineering at Clemson University. He is also the founding director of Clemson Composites Center and Director of the Automotive Engineering Certificate Program.

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After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.