Front row: Chris Andrews, Instructor, Kenney Institute. Second row (l-r): Michael A. Johnson, Grant Manager, Workforce and Account Manager, Mountain View College; Patricia Benjamin Webb, Executive Dean, Corporate and Continuing Education, Mountain View College; Joe Law, Shop Foreman, Kenney Industries; Aaron Ramaley, Mill Foreman, Kenney Industries; Mike Kenney, President, Kenney Industries; Michael Kenney, VP of Operations, Kenney Industries; Karla Chandler, Program Manager, Kenney Institute; Johnny Law, Plant Manager, Kenney Industries.
Mike Kenney, President, Kenney Industries, recognized the need to open a training room in the Kenney Industries plant. "We needed trained machinists for our company and could not find a training school to send them to. So we decided to use one of the rooms in the building we had just purchased for training new machinists," said Mike Kenney.
The Kenney Institute of Machining Technology was founded October 2012 for the purpose of providing machining education for new students and employees of manufacturing companies.
The Kenney Institute is equipped with a manual mill, lathe, a CNC vertical milling machine and a CNC lathe as well as various measuring instruments. MasterCAM software is used for training students in computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). All of this equipment is provided by Kenney Industries, a machining company that manufacturers components used in elevators, food processing equipment and heavy industry. The company also does assembly of the components. Machining is from raw metal stock or castings. Engineers will assist customers with design, prototyping and reverse engineering to create a part drawing and a machining program.
The first students to be trained by the Kenney Institute of Machining Technology were Kenney Industries employees, students from H.I.S. Bridge Builders and Grand Prairie High School students. Engineering students from the University of Texas-Dallas also were exposed to machining when they created a Battle Bot robot for entry in competition. Courses from the online Tooling U have been used for the written material and knowledge base.
"High school seniors are interested in learning about machining and the best way to do that is to physically come to a shop and work with the machines," said Kenney. Employees at Kenney Industries have been involved in the training including Johnny Law, Plant Manager; Joe Law, Shop Foreman; Michael Kenney, VP of Operations; and Aaron Ramaley, Mill Foreman.
Mike Kenney wanted to further develop the Kenney Institute of Machining Technology. Through his relationship with National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) North Texas Chapter, he met Karla Chandler who then began to work as a liason between community colleges and the Kenney Institute. "Education is my passion and NTMA has an education focus," said Karla Chandler, Program Manager with the Kenney Institute.
Mountain View Community College is now partnering with Kenney Industries to provide training for individuals and employees in advanced manufacturing. Michael Johnson, Grant Manager, Workforce & Account Manager and Patricia Webb, Executive Dean, Corporate and Continuing Education, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX, are overseeing the training. Courses at the college are combined with hands-on training in the Kenney Institute lab.
"This partnership facilitates training at the Kenney Institute in shop math, blueprint reading, cutting tool management, measuring and metrology, manual machining, CNC machining and part programming with MasterCAM. Students will have hands-on machining experience and will complete machining projects," said Michael Johnson.
Chris Andrews is currently training six individuals in the Kenney Institute. Additional students are expected in 2014. An example course is Introduction to Mill Operations. In this lab-based course, students will have the opportunity to experience hands-on projects to demonstrate theory. This is an entry level course to machining technology with an emphasis on safety and hand tool use; measuring tools including scales, micrometers and dial calipers; technical mathematics; basic mill operations; basic layout and blueprint reading. Activities include introduction to the vertical milling machine; vise alignment; types of cutters; mounting and removing cutters; and calculation of speeds and feeds and depth of cut. During vertical mill operations the students will learn to align a vise, conventional milling versus climb milling, machining a flat surface, machining a block square and parallel, drill holes at 90 degrees to surface, cutting slots and key seats, rotary table set-up and radius milling.
"Our mission is to provide world-class machining education for students to meet the needs of employers," said Mike Kenney. "This has been a learning experience for us and we are happy that Mountain View College, with its resources for training, has partnered with us in this effort. We want to make a difference."
For more information contact:
Mike Kenney
President
Kenney Industries
2110 Panoramic Circle
Dallas, TX 75212
214-421-4175
mike@kenneyind.com
www.kenneyind.com
Kenney Institute of Machining Technology
2343 Lone Star Drive
Dallas, TX 75212
214-860-3627
mvc_kimt@dcccd.edu
Michael Johnson, Sr.
Grant Manager, Workforce & Account Manager
Mountain View College
4849 W. Illinois Ave.
Dallas, TX 75211
214-860-3627
michaelj@dcccd.edu