Pickens County Career and Technology Center machine technology instructor Brian Aiken and students recently accepted a [cointent_lockedcontent]$10,000 check from the Gene Haas Foundation. Presenting the check was Haas Automation Incorporated’s Upstate South Carolina Representative, Gordon Eargle. The designated donation defrays program expenses and provides scholarships for students enrolling in post-secondary manufacturing-based training programs. The Gene Haas Foundation was created by Haas Automation, Incorporated, founder Gene Haas. Haas Automation, founded in 1983, is today recognized as the largest machine tool builder in the western world, manufacturing a complete line vertical and horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes and rotary products, and specialty machines.[/cointent_lockedcontent]