Every year, Daman holds the Fluid Power Action Challenge competition for local youth to learn about and construct hydraulic solutions.

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More than 20 nations outperform the USA in math and science every year. Wanting to help improve our children's education in the US, Daman hosts the Fluid Power Challenge annually.

Larry Davis, CEO: Many of us in the business community are not happy with the traditional education delivered to kids today. The Fluid Power Challenge is a profound way to impact that education and provide opportunity for kids to experience real world applications in a dynamic learning environment. No longer is someone at the front of the class lecturing, they're engaged, they're immersed in solving a problem that matters. And there's an emotional component to that, that I think, can't be overlooked.

For the first time in a kid's educational career, they've had to take materials, raw materials, and envision a machine and understand and work through all of the the issues and decisions to get from raw material to a finished project. That's a systems concept that, simply, is not available to the kids in traditional education.

It's a somewhat novel concept for kids to not have to find the right answer. And in this challenge, the learning is in discovery and trying things and seeing what works and what doesn't work. It's actually the failures that generate the most opportunity for learning. All they can bring to competition day is their tools and their portfolios. They're given a new set of materials and three hours to reconstruct their machine.

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We could not have done it without the help of our sponsors: Alro Steel, Doug Atkin, Einstein Bagels, Elkhart Plastics, Howard Precision, Imagineering, Indiana University South Bend, Insight Strategic Concepts, Ivy Tech, Jack D. Davis, Joel Friednman from "DXPE - MTS," Kathleen & David Sparks, Marco's Pizza, McGladery LLP, Micro Matrics LLC, Mid-State Bolt & Screw, NFPA, PARO Engineering, Powell Tool, Robert Urbanski, Sapa Group, QTA Industrial Supplies & Solutions, Rechor, Renaissance Executive Forums, Tuesley & Hall, Valley Screen Process Company, Inc, Western Consolidated Technologies, Womack Machine Supply.