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CNC Machining Magazine | |||||||||||
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The sun shone brightly in a windless sky above the campus of Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The temperature hovered at a comfortable … –35ºC. That’s about –27ºF, for those of you who are metrically challenged. Yes, it was a bit chilly in the Great White North, but the January festivities gave Red River College the distinction of being the first Haas Technical Center (or Centre, in local parlance) in Canada. For Haas Business Manager Bob Moraga, a Southern California native who attended the event, the weather was nothing short of shocking. “I took a breath, and everything in my chest froze! It was beautiful to look at, though.” By local standards, it was a “gorgeous” day, said one Manitoban, and apparently he wasn’t alone, as about 500 people attended the event, all interested in seeing what Haas machines could do. What is now the Red River College of Applied Arts, Science and Technology began life in 1938 as a federally funded vocational center for unemployed youth. The first courses offered included carpentry, sheet metal, machine shop, needle trades, welding and forging, power engineering and radio. Red River currently serves more than 32,000 full- and part-time students every year, with more than 110 diploma, certificate and apprenticeship programs. While the machining curriculum has evolved over more than 60 years, its current incarnation is about 4 years old. Instead of three machine shop programs, there is now one Manufacturing Technician program. A student’s level of proficiency – and accreditation – is determined by the length of time spent in the program. A student completing the 5 months of classes in Term 1 gets a certificate in “Machine Shop Practice, Basic” and joins the work force as an entry-level machine operator. Term 1 students use manual machine tools – “You have to walk before you can run,” says instructor Bill Noakes – and take one class in basic computer skills. At the other end of the spectrum, completing the entire 2-year program (four terms) earns you a Manufacturing Technician diploma and a Level 2 Apprenticeship accreditation. Canada’s apprenticeship programs are well known, and highly appreciated by employers. Apprentices work full-time, and take several weeks off periodically to return to school. The Red River HTC provides training for Apprenticeships up to Level 4.
Perhaps one way to convince parents and teachers that machining is a profession for the brain-worthy is simply to let them read a few course descriptions. Red River’s science classes cover, among other topics, basic and intermediate chemistry and physics – including electricity and mechanics – as well as the “mechanics and theory of machines and power transmission.” While the first year of math is hard work, the second year eliminates the math-phobic: it includes trigonometry and coordinate geometry. Supervisory Management, a Term 4 course that requires a mini-thesis, covers more than just management principles. Working in teams of two to six, students choose – or invent – a part, develop a CAD drawing and design any tooling needed. Depending on the complexity of the part, the design is either downloaded into Mastercam or the students write the program at the control. After the part is produced, students defend their thesis in class. Students in the Manufacturing Tech program begin using CNC machines during Term 2 – and they’d rather work on a Haas.
The manufacturing base in Winnipeg (population about 620,000) is considerable, particularly in aerospace and transportation. The city’s aerospace firms provide nearly 13,000 jobs. The transportation industry is even bigger; motor vehicles comprise Manitoba’s largest export category, and the city of Winnipeg is North America’s largest bus manufacturer. Smaller job shops abound as well, and the economy tends to be fairly stable. Red River’s Manufacturing Tech graduates generally find jobs fairly quickly, and, Bill Noakes reports, “A lot of them ask before they accept a job whether the place has Haas machines. Some of them don’t want to work on anything else.” No surprise there, for anyone familiar with Haas machines. Now, if all the heat generated by the machine shop could just be put to better use … .
When it comes to manufacturing technology, book learnin’ only goes so far. Becoming proficient requires a hands-on approach that allows students to apply design, manufacturing and production theories and techniques under real-world conditions.
This external-combustion engine (invented by Scottish engineer Robert Stirling in 1816) is often used to teach thermodynamics, both because it’s powered by the expansion and compression of a gas being heated and cooled, and because it’s very efficient. (It has practical applications as well; an Internet search will turn up several.) Fairly simple mechanically, the Stirling engine is also used in “hands-on” engineering courses, and at Red River students fabricate the parts they will use to assemble the engine. The project description notes that, although the manufacturing processes involved are basic, many engineering students have limited (or no) experience working with lathes, milling machines and such hand tools as band saws, hand files and micrometers. Students also learn about tolerances and tolerance chains, and not just in theory – if the designed-in allowances for the engine aren’t accurate, the parts won’t fit together. The tooling needed to cut the Stirling engine parts is made by Term 4 Manufacturing Technician students – “their skill in toolmaking on the Haas machines allows us to do this project,” notes Fainstein. “It’s a real cooperative venture.” Students learn more than just hands-on manufacturing skills, too. Each class plans the production run for the next year’s class. That means students have to deal with inventory control, bills of material, shop routing and scheduling, operations management, drawing control and capacity planning. It’s a slice of the “real world” – embedded in a classroom. ~~
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