PRESS RELEASE
Illustrations available upon request
For Immediate
Release
May 2006
Contact:
Phone: (860) 875-5006
Fax: (860) 872-1565
michellen@mastercam.com
Is Machine Technology Education on the Rebound?
Innovative programs
like Mastercam’s target CNC training to meet diverse industry needs at Cape
Fear Community College
The school’s decision to shift
instructional emphasis from traditional machine operating skills to CNC
(computer numerical control) programming and machining saved this program. When
the outlook for manufacturing turned upwards in 2004, the local manufacturing
community and students discovered that CFCC had exactly what they were looking
for.
Students are still given a solid foundation in manual machining
including metal cutting band saws, drill presses, lathes, milling machines, and
surface grinders. However, 60% of the work centers are CNC machines. “For
Associate’s Degree candidates, the second year is all CNC,” said instructor,
Randy Johnson.
In their second
16-week semester, students take an entry-level CNC programming class covering
different types of CNC machines, their controllers, and how to program using G-codes.
“During their third semester,” said Johnson, “students become totally immersed
in the world of CNC machining when we introduce them to off-line computer
automated programming with 160 hours of training in Level I and Level II of
Mastercam, a popular Computer-Aided Manufacturing program from CNC Software,
Inc. (
The students of the
one-year certificate program are not finished until they pass the NOCTI
(National Occupational Competency Testing Institute) exam. They must also complete
the 6-hour Mastercam Certification exam that includes writing a program for
manufacturing a three dimensional, six-sided object.
Both Johnson and
his teaching colleague, Ben Bowie, have met the stringent academic and hands-on
requirements to become certified Mastercam instructors and administer the
national Mastercam exam to their students. While passing the national Mastercam
exam is not a Machining Technology Certificate requirement, it is a bonus since
certified Mastercam programmers are frequently offered high paying jobs right
out of school.
The college also offers standard and custom training programs for a number of
local manufacturers. This includes a special initiative with the GE Energy
Division and its technical manpower subcontractor, Penpower, to provide
technical training to students who will eventually go on to become nuclear
power technicians. Currently there are 20 students from this program enrolled
in Machining Technology classes. In the
future, there could be as many as 100 at any given time. At the other end of
the training spectrum,
Only a year ago,
CFCC was weighing the possibility of eliminating one of its three Machining
Technology Instructor positions. Today
each of the instructors has a heavy workload. “
To learn more about
Mastercam in the Educational Market, go to www.mastercamedu.com.
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