Mastercam Continues 20-Year Tradition at SkillsUSA 2019
It’s an honor, and always inspiring, for us to participate in the annual SkillsUSA Championships as judges, technical advisors, and donors of Mastercam software for the “Automated Manufacturing” contest. Many thanks to Mastercam’s Jayson Kramer and John Turner for their technical expertise and generous time spent with the students at SkillsUSA 2019. The event took place in Louisville, Kentucky, and if you ever have a chance to attend, it is exciting to see almost 6,500 students ply their trades in over 100 contests in a vast variety of career paths.
In the Automated Manufacturing contest, 30+ teams comprised of three people compete on 12 CNC milling machines provided by Intelitek. Each team forms a hypothetical prototype company.
One person does all the design work in CAD, reproducing the hard copy drawings. The second person does all the toolpath programming and post processor coding. The third person produces the part on the machine—from fixturing the workpiece on the table, setting the cutting tools, and machining.
Once the part is cut, the team turns it into the judge. Next, the team receives a change order to go back, modify the CAD file, adjust the CAM program, and either recut the same part or create an additional part. They turn that in for the final submission. Mastercam partners, Vericut and Verisurf also participate in this contest with us to check and confirm the CAD/CAM files the students create. It was an intense and exciting three days.
We’re pleased to congratulate all of the participants and share the SkillsUSA 2019 winners of the Automated Manufacturing contest:
High School
• GOLD: Norco High School, Norco CA – Garrett Knopf, Ryan Uhle, Parker Knopf
• SILVER: S&W Washtenaw Consortium, Saline MI – Aldan Bunting, Sammy Zebrowski, Ryan Schwartz
• BRONZE: EHOVE Career Center, Milan OH – Jonnathen Arnold, Brandon Missler, Chad Rodriguez
College
• GOLD: Southwestern Illinois College, Belleville IL – Gavin Becherer, Connor Barnard, Connor Braasch
• SILVER: Gadsden State Community College, Gadsden AL – Zackery Crowley, Daniel Anderson, James Clark
• BRONZE: WSU Tech, Wichita KS – Stephen Frazier, Jason Nelson, Benjamin Light
Another aspect of SkillsUSA is the TECHSPO Trade Show that includes supplier booths, exhibits, and demonstrations near the competition areas. Mastercam had two booths, aptly and enthusiastically hosted by manufacturing technology teachers Jim Howie and Sam Mason. Thanks to both for sharing their Mastercam expertise!
Our participation in SkillsUSA is entering its 21st year. Mastercam is the #1 CAM software taught in education. We have a sincere and vested interest in supporting SkillsUSA’s vision and mission. The organization empowers members to become world-class workers, leaders, and responsible citizens. SkillsUSA improves the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the development of a comprehensive framework of skills that include personal, workplace, and technical skills grounded in academics. The organization welcomes support if you or your company would like to get involved, particularly in your local community.
To request support from Mastercam as a SkillsUSA participant, please contact your local Reseller.
Learn More About SkillsUSA
The SkillsUSA National Leadership Conference and Championships is the nation’s largest workforce development event for middle-school, high-school, and college/postsecondary students enrolled in public career and technical education programs. Winners of the various state contents compete at the National Championships. SkillsUSA is a national membership organization. More than 360,000 students and advisors join SkillsUSA each year, organized into more than 19,000 local chapters and 52 state and territorial associations. The organization has served more than 13.5 million annual members since its founding in 1965. More than 600 business, industry, and labor organizations actively support SkillsUSA at the national level through financial aid, in-kind contributions, and volunteering in SkillsUSA activities. Many more support state associations and local chapters. Commitment by industry to the annual national SkillsUSA Championships is valued at more than $36 million.
To find out more about what’s happening in your state and cities, and at the national level, visit www.skillsusa.org.
Congratulations again to all SkillsUSA 2019 participants!