The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) and Mastercam have announced their partnership supporting America's Cutting Edge (ACE), a workforce development program targeted at revitalizing the United States machining industry through online and in-person training.
ACE connects top national experts with students and incumbent industrial workers from diverse backgrounds, levels of education and work experience to build interest in all facets of machining, including software development, metrology, design, operation and entrepreneurship. To date, ACE has delivered online courses to more than 9,000 students from all 50 states and in-person boot camp style training to more than 1,200 students, all at no cost to participants.
"Prior to this partnership, there was only one other computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software ACE provided for its online computer-numerical control (CNC) machining course," said a spokesperson. "This partnership between IACMI and Mastercam will open the ACE machining course to a much wider audience, as Mastercam is a widely used CAM software."
"I am thrilled to add Mastercam as an ACE partner," said Dr. Tony Schmitz, ACE curriculum developer. "As we expand our reach, we want to provide opportunities for our participants to choose their CAD software to match their current and future needs. This partnership makes our program more accessible to students."
Peter Mancini, Manager of Education at Mastercam, noted, "At Mastercam, we take pride in the fact that our customers shape the future of manufacturing, so we are excited to partner with ACE and its national initiative to restore the prominence of the U.S. machine tools sector."
When registering for the CNC machining course, participants will choose their preferred CAD/CAM program. They may also choose to complete both pathways online.
Schmitz believes this will lead more prospective or current machining professionals to become ACE certified.
"I anticipate that we will increase ACE participation through this partnership," said Schmitz. "It is our intent to provide the CNC machining course to add new participants to the machining pipeline and provide training on the relationship between vibrations, and also machining parameter selection for those already familiar with CNC machining. This partnership will provide new learning opportunities for those already using Mastercam."
"This partnership provides an outstanding product as an option for ACE machining students," said Joannie Harmon, IACMI Vice President of Workforce Development. "Those who are familiar with or curious about Mastercam will benefit from the training ACE provides, and industry will benefit as more people get the skills they need to fill critical positions. All in all, it means a larger pipeline of talent; it is a win-win."
ACE curriculum combines advanced training tools and techniques from the University of Tennessee, the scientific expertise of the Department of Energy's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the workforce development capabilities of IACMI.
ACE has expanded beyond the initial testbed of the University of Tennessee to include seven training hubs at North Carolina A&T State University, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Marshall University Advanced Manufacturing Center, University of Florida, St. Cloud State University (MN) and University of St. Thomas (MN). There is a growing network of over two dozen machine tool training partners in 11 states, including high schools, trade schools and community colleges.
For more information contact:
IACMI
2360 Cherahala Blvd.
Knoxville, TN 37932
www.iacmi.org
CNC Software, Inc.
671 Old Post Road
Tolland, CT 06084
800-228-2877
info@mastercam.com
www.mastercam.com
America's Cutting Edge
www.americascuttingedge.org