In 2006, each of nine graduates of the Advanced Manufacturing Program at Vincennes University (Vincennes IN) received three or more job offers from high-tech manufacturing shops. Many of these were from some of the most prestigious names in automotive, aerospace and medical device manufacturing.
What’s behind this success? Talented and hard-working students, of course; but also an innovative 3-year program that brings students in direct contact with the latest advanced manufacturing technologies and some of the country’s leading manufacturers.
The Advanced Manufacturing Program at Vincennes was instituted in 2005 after the University conducted a survey of Indiana manufacturers who unanimously agreed that there was a crying need for technical school graduates with Advanced CAD/CAM and CNC skills. Such a good job was done in enlisting the aid of industrial partners to develop its technical center, CNC capabilities and curriculum that Vincennes University was awarded the 2005 Indiana and Technical Education Award for Excellence. Partners include Haas, Mastercam, Kennametal, Niagara, SGS, Rego-fix, Charmilles, Erowa and others.
Associate Professor, Doug Bowman, lead instructor for the Advanced Manufacturing Program said, “Prior to enrolling, each student must complete an intensive two year associate’s degree program in either Tool & Die or Injection Mold Tooling. In the two-year program students construct complex projects that include progressive dies and injection molds with side action. By the time I get them they have all of this, plus three CNC classes already under their belts. This solid background is what makes the difference. Industry today has a great need for this type of graduate.”
Students spend about half their time on a Mastercam seat, programming CNC equipment and half in what Bowman calls “the dream lab” running their programs. The university has 30 Mastercam seats. About 22 of these are in the CNC programming lab and the others can be accessed from any node on the campus network—the library, for instance. The Haas Technical Education Center at the University is equipped with 13 state-of-the-art Haas machining and turning centers acquired with a substantial grant from their manufacturer and one from the Lilly Tech Works Partnership Fund.
By the time the students graduate from the Advanced Manufacturing Program they will have logged in 800 additional hours of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-axis programming using Mastercam X and manufacturing with the Haas CNC machines. Many of the projects are designed to make use of the latest in high speed machining (HSM) and multi-axis machining in collaboration with companies specializing in die making, mold making, aerospace, medical devices, and motorsports.
A sampling of the projects undertaken during the 2005-2006 academic year include: tooling for Toyota Tundra trucks, mil-spec mounting hardware for missile launchers, pre-production automotive tooling models, high-speed machining of contoured surfaces on hardened materials (an exercise emulating medical manufacturing practices) and reverse engineered wheels for an antique Porsche.
Students of the Advance Manufacturing program become very familiar with the kinds of opportunities available. Before entering the program students are required to work as interns during the summer at a local manufacturer. During the academic year Bowman takes his students on field trips. In 2006, for example, there were six field trips to visit 18 different manufacturing operations. The students also attended trade shows such as SME’s Manufacturing for Performance in Indianapolis, and IMTS in Chicago.
As students and employers got to know each other, the employers cast their votes of approval with numerous job offers. An Advanced Manufacturing degree from Vincennes University is simply a hot commodity.
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