Improving educational facilities: Umicore staff are the catalyst
Umicore’s Automotive Catalysts plant in Americana, Brazil is keen on supporting local educational projects. Students attending the Escola Prof. Sebastiana Paié Rodella in a poor district of Americana, Brazil used to enter the school via a dingy and unsafe entrance. Now, thanks to a donation from money received by the plant as a Best Practice award and efforts by employee volunteers, students can now walk safely and proudly through a mag-nificent new entrance, inaugurated in the presence of teachers, parents, students and dignitaries on March 6th 2009.
In another charitable effort Americana colleagues donated two robots from the plant (now replaced by new ones) to a regional University and a technical school in Americana. The robots, which had served to handle ceramic substrates for 18 years, will now be used by students in automation engineering at the University and for technical automation training at the Technical School.
The establishments were chosen because several Umicore employees had studied there and wanted to put something back.