Grant Career Center’s Engineering Design program received a $7500 grant from the Gene Haas Foundation.
The check was presented to Engineering Design instructor Tobin Huebner, by Lou Santoro of HFO Midwest, the Haas Automation distributor. Santoro said, “Grant Career Center’s Engineering Design program is helping to fill the need of a qualified, trained workforce to continue manufacturing excellence in the USA. This check is to assist the students and that mission”.
Gene Haas is the owner Haas Automation, Inc., America’s leading builder of CNC machine tools, which he started in 1983. Haas Automation is a now a billion dollar company. One of the Gene Haas Foundation’s goals is to introduce students to careers in machine technology and manufacturing by sponsoring educational events, programs and competitions that provide these opportunities.
The Engineering Design program at Grant Career Center prepares students to continue into a two or four-year post-secondary degree in engineering technology, mechanical engineering, electro-mechanical engineering and manufacturing.
The Gene Haas Foundation Grant will help fund the several items in the Engineering Design program at Grant Career Center.
The Haas Grant will help defray the costs for each student to have access to interactive online simulation of industrial training for Computer Numerical Control (CNC), Milling Machine control usage and G&M programming.
The Gene Haas Foundation grant also provides funds to purchase industrial supplies, consumables, and raw stock for student CNC machining capstone projects.
“This funding will help each student to manufacture unique products on a CNC machine which they have designed as part of the Engineering Design class, it is a great opportunity for each student,” Huebner said.
The Gene Haas Foundation grant will also provide funds for a “Gene Haas Manufacturing Grant” to an outstanding Engineering Design graduating senior to continue their education in a post-secondary engineering or manufacturing program.
A recent report called “The Skills Gap in U.S. Manufacturing 2015 and Beyond” projects that, “Over the next decade, nearly three and a half million manufacturing jobs will likely need to be filled, and the skills gap is expected to result in 2 million of those jobs going unfilled.” Gene’s commitment to the importance of US manufacturing has incited him to grow his personal foundation and direct his foundation board to focus on manufacturing education in the form of scholarships for CNC machinist training. Grants are also funded that help some strong technical programs that teach these skills grow and expand.
The Engineering Design program at Grant Career Center assists students in earning up to 17 semester hours of college credit, OSHA certification card, and prepare to successfully complete college in an engineering or manufacturing major. Applications are currently being accepted for the 2016-2017 school year.
