DALTON, Ga. — Morris Innovative High School junior Michael Nolasco was wearing a virtual reality headset as he crawled on the floor during a recent visit to Mohawk Industries’ Light Lab Design Center, his classmates laughing at his actions but also watching as a large, wall-mounted screen showed the detail of the carpet in the virtual world.

“It felt like I was right there,” said Nolasco of his view inside the headset. “When he told me to look at the ground it looked like real life. You could see the features of the carpet.” 

The “he” Nolasco referenced was Bryan West, a product development manager in technology and analytics at Mohawk. West and several other Mohawk employees spent a recent morning telling students from Morris Innovative’s Translation Academy about their jobs at a flooring manufacturer that don’t involve working on a factory floor. 

West told the students the virtual reality setup allows Mohawk representatives to show potential customers what different flooring options could look like in the actual space they are shopping for. This sort of technology is a game changer, he said, and it’s why Mohawk is looking to hire gamers. 

“They don’t have to imagine what the carpet would look like in their space, because we can recreate that and do that for them here,” said West. 

Jackie Dettmar, vice president of design and product development, told the students how her job involves designing new flooring options and that the company introduces about 100 new products each year. She said inspiration can come from anywhere but that one key is to always understand what a customer needs so you can develop the products to fill those needs. 

Like many of the other speakers, she emphasized that there are always chances for advancement for those who want to work their way up.

“Wherever you start in a company, there are learning opportunities that can take you elsewhere,” she said. 

Dionna Reynolds is a sustainability coordinator at Mohawk. She told the students how her job is to find ways to reduce waste and increase efficiency.

Since 2010 the company has seen an 11.4 percent decrease in energy use and a 200 million gallon reduction in water use. Mohawk recycles 5.5 billion plastic bottles and 25 million pounds of tires annually. Reynolds also listed several organizations they partner with to help improve sustainability.

“We’re always thinking of ways to help customers, not just with what they think we can help with but things outside the box, too,” Reynolds said. 

Linda McEntire, director of technical training in human resources, told the students about Mohawk’s apprenticeship program, saying there are always ways to learn and do more if that’s what they desire. She showed them a video testimonial from an employee who renewed his interest in school thanks to his apprenticeship, went on to graduate and now runs a maintenance crew at the company. 

McEntire started as a shift supervisor before working her way through a number of departments and landing in her current role. 

“I remember my first day, they told me, ‘Don’t get used to where you are, because if you want to be somewhere else, you will get that opportunity,’” she told the students. “We are here to let you know there are other opportunities.”

Jackie Killings, a senior manager in the research and development department, explained that she works with robots, drones and 3-D printing as part of her job. She said she uses math and science every day and that she loves her work because it’s never the same thing from one day to the next. 

“We just want to make things that are brand new, things that are different,” Killings said. “I get to see what other people are doing out there and see how we can use that at Mohawk.” 

She told the students about a Mohawk facility in North Carolina with a production floor that is almost entirely automated, with robots doing most of the hard work.

“That’s the future, and we’re already there. We don’t need people on the floor. We need people to design and maintain the equipment,” Killings said. 

Nolasco, after taking off the virtual reality headset, said he was impressed by everything he had seen and heard during the visit. He said he hadn’t known so many job options existed at the company.

“I was not aware of any of it,” Nolasco said. “It really helped me learn what Mohawk could provide. I always thought it was just making carpet.”