Don Price, TE 1994, credits Georgia Tech, and MSE in particular, with a large amount of the success he has had in his career so far. Price class of 1994, graduated from what was still the School of Textile Engineering, now Materials Science and Engineering, with a degree in Textile Engineering. He began his now 30 year career in the carpet industry in nearby Dalton, GA where about 70% of the world’s carpet is made. In time, as his career progressed,  Price ended up moving to California where he is now the Vice President of manufacturing for the West Coast operations of the Dixie Group in the Fabrica division. In other words, any home on the West Coast that has Fabrica’s carpets installed has carpeting whose manufacturing  Price has helped oversee.

This manufacturing is fiber science and considering that Fabrica is known for having very high-end carpets, the fibers are expected to perform well. At Tech,  Price said he learned the ins and outs of the nylon and wool that are used in carpet manufacturing as well as the specifics about how polymers perform. He said, “I’ve used that knowledge immensely to work with team members to develop very high end carpets.” The fiber and textile sciences he learned during his undergraduate degree are still a part of his career and his work so his time at Tech still affects him daily.

The effect Tech has had on his career goes beyond the knowledge he learned in classrooms, too. “The one thing that sticks with me the most that Georgia Tech taught me is problem solving,”  Price said. “Not to be scared” when faced with any problem that comes across his desk, he explained. The value of this lesson is self-evident in the history of the Dixie Group. The Dixie Group was founded over 100 years ago and the Fabrica division celebrates its 50th anniversary of founding this year. To survive the ebb and flow of the economy and housing markets for so long and to survive the pandemic as well is a testament to the problem solving and dedication of the company.

 Price also noted that it did not hurt to have a degree from a university as prestigious as Tech. “The Georgia Tech degree opened doors for me. It literally did,”  Price said.  He emphasized that not only the skills he learned, but also the name and reputation of the uncompromising quality of education one gets at Tech are a part of what helped him find his way to Orange County, CA and the success he has in his career.  Price will be the first to admit what current students as well as alumni very well know, going to Tech is hard. The classes are hard, and it is a rigorous school. But that rigor and how well-known it is that a degree from Tech is hard work has been invaluable to  Price.

With that in mind,  Price had one piece of advice to new or prospective Georgia Tech students: never give up. “It’s easy to give up,” he said, “but once you establish study habits, stick to them, and keep your positive attitude, you can do it. And it’s worth its weight in gold once you get that degree.”  Price’s success shows that his degree was indeed worth its weight in gold, and the flexibility and real-world application of a degree with MSE can help students reach the heights that our proud alumni, like  Price Price, have reached, and find new and exciting heights to reach in their own careers.