In January, the beginning of the new semester at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago also marked a whole new beginning for career and technical education for students on the south side of the Second City with the grand opening of a new Manufacturing Technology and Engineering Center (MTEC).
More than 250 students, educators, administrators, policymakers, members of the Daley family, and the media were in attendance along with members of the manufacturing technology industry for the grand opening, ribbon-cutting ceremony. The crowd heard comments about the planning and program development process from Illinois Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan; Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, Juan Salgado and a keynote address from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The new MTEC is not just a brand-new building, but a whole new approach to attracting and educating students, which also includes completely new and modern equipment in CNC machining, state-of-the-art robotics & automation, metrology, mechatronics, EDM, 3D printing, and welding all to support the needs of local manufacturing employers.
The MTEC includes a Machining lab with equipment from Haas Automation, as well as a Fanuc Robodrill and integrated robot cell. The Robotics and Automation lab also features robots and cobots, and automated robots with welding end effectors are part of the Lincoln Electric Welding lab. The Metrology lab features CMMs from Carl Zeiss Industrial Metrology, as well as measuring equipment from Mitutoyo and The L.S. Starrett Company. There is also Mitsubishi EDM equipment in the school.
The MTEC has a makerspace in Classroom 108, which includes desktop CNC milling machines, 3D printers, and hand tools. It will soon include fabricating tools through a donation from AMT, made possible through proceeds from sponsors and participants of the Miles For Manufacturing 5K at IMTS 2018.
The new MTEC at Richard J. Daley College in Chicago is the new national standard for all communities to model as a key tool in resolving the skills gap in manufacturing in their local area. Chicago may be the second City, but this MTEC is second to none.
Send me your comments and suggestions at gjones@amtonline.org or call me at 703-827-5203.
The arrival of the Insight lander on Mars and more recently, the photos from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft’s fly-by of Ultima Thule, the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft, are reminders that it’s on us in the manufacturing industry to be able to produce parts that can withstand the challenge of space travel.
That it is on us (the United States) was made clear when NASA’s recent accomplishments were followed quickly by news of China’s Chang’e-4 team landing on the far side of the moon. NASA’s Administrator, Jim Bridenstine, congratulated the Chinese. He later added that the next voice from the surface on the moon would be spoken in English.
We all know a manufacturer who supplies parts to NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin and others, and in some cases, you may make those parts at your company or they are made on the equipment that you sell to NASA and its contractors.
On a visit to an aerospace and defense contractor’s facility in 2018, I had the opportunity to view the machines and see the processes that went into making parts of the explosive mechanisms that allowed the NASA Insight lander’s parachutes to open and its solar panels to be deployed. You can bet that after years of testing and six months of space travel, every employee at that company was cheering the outcome of that mission along with everyone at NASA and all the space geeks around the globe.
It’s moments like this that make you think about the people in manufacturing who make advanced technology and engineering happen. For me, it’s a reminder of the good work that we’re capable of in our Smartforce Development efforts at AMT if we can change one more mind and get one more student to consider the importance of an education in science, technology, engineering, art and design, and math.
Changing minds is why we bring 3D printing air rocket challenges and rover challenges to the Smartforce Student Summit at IMTS. It’s why we bring advanced robotics, generative design, and additive manufacturing to the summit. It’s why we use proceeds from the Miles for Manufacturing 5Ks at our events to donate to robotics teams and provide technology and equipment to schools. If we can change tens of thousands of minds, then we’re doing our job to encourage more young people to seek a career in manufacturing.
It’s on us to make sure that the missions continue. Above all else, we need the people with the brightest minds — the Smartforce.
Send me your comments and suggestions at gjones@amtonline.org or call me at 703-827-5203.
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