Extraordinary Explorers
November 2020
The Exploring program offers high school students the opportunity to experience a vocation, while gaining hands on experience.  This creates an opportunity to jump start their search for their future career field, when so much is still uncertain in their lives. Today’s publication is about Coldwater High School student Austin Ebbing and how is long time hobby was transformed into a future career field opportunity through the Crown Corporation Engineering Program.

Crown Corporation Engineering Exploring Program Transforms Hobbies into Career Filed Opportunities

Austin Ebbing a Junior at Coldwater High School is a current participant with the Crown Corp. Engineering Exploring Program, where he has been able to experience the engineering career field.  Last week Austin participated in a seminar on mechanical engineering with the Post.  That seminar really reaffirmed Austin’s interest in engineering.

The Crown Corp. Engineering Exploring Program offers high school students the chance to learn life and career skills through immersive career experiences. They develop mentorships facilitated through the engineering department at Crown.  The group is led by Post Advisor Jordan Coffman.  Jordan serves as the Mechanical Design Engineer at Crown Equipment Corporation.

Engineering is something that Austin has had his sights set on ever since middle school. He has always liked science and math, but It was not until middle school that he took interest in FTC (First Tech Challenge) robotics.  This is when he started to see what engineering really was. 

Currently Austin is the President, and the head programmer of his FTC Robotics team. The team must design, build, and program the roughly 2 feet x 2 feet robot.  Austin says, “It’s not Battle Bots”, there is a point scale based on tasks the robot completes.  The greater the performance within those grading areas the higher the points the team will earn.  During the 2020 Spring Semester the team earned first place in the state before COVID hit.  There is also a fundraising component where the team has raised close to $10,000 in funding to assist with the program. 

Austin looks up to his dad Jared Ebbing who by training is a Civil Engineer now Community/Economic Developer for Mercer County. Austin is the oldest in his family he has a 9th grade brother and third grade sister and a enjoys spending time with their family’s dog named Kirby.   

While Engineering is an important component in Austin’s life, he is also very active in other areas.  He enjoys playing golf and diving for the Coldwater High School team. If he is not doing any of the above, you can find him working at Mercer County Elks golf course or at the Coldwater pool as a lifeguard.  He spends his summers working as a counselor at Harbor Point 4H camp.

Austin favorite class is physics as it really challenges you to think in various ways while building things with your hands.  Austin is eyeing up University of Dayton and would like to get into the engineering profession possibly aerospace. 

For more information on joining Crown Corporation Engineering Post or other Exploring opportunities please click the link

If you have a story on a local Explorer, please contact Colin Earl at colin.earl@scouting.org. Exploring provides exciting activities and mentorships for youth looking to discover their future. Whether you’re a local organization looking to strengthen the community or a young person wanting to uncover the possibilities of your future, Exploring is a great place to start.