Northland Community and Technical College announces the addition of $60,000 in metal machining equipment. Funds for this equipment were provided through 360°, a center of excellence in manufacturing and applied engineering. 360° is collaboration of eight technical colleges and Bemidji State University with the mission to build the future workforce for manufacturing in Minnesota through innovative and collaborative education. Over the past three years NCTC has received $217,466 for equipment to improve the quality of the Automated Systems and Welding Technology Programs.

Manufacturing and applied engineering has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades. The days of an unsafe, dark, dirty, low-wage, low-skill industry are gone and they have been replaced with a dynamic industry of high-performance manufacturing in clean, safe, high-tech facilities throughout the state. In addition, manufacturing careers pay very well. With as little as a certificate or diploma from a technical or community college, you could earn $30,000 per year right out of school with the opportunity to advance to greater than $50,000 per year with continuing education and experience.

Located in the front of NCTC’s welding lab, the new machining equipment consists of two manual lathes, two vertical mills, a surface grinder, and a Haas CNC Toolroom mill. In addition, other equipment include: four CNC control modules and a variety of tooling and machine accessories. The primary use for this equipment will be for instruction of the MFPT 1530 Machine Operations and MFPT 2570 Fixtures and Tooling classes. The machines will also be used for student projects and to develop other instructional equipment.

The Haas CNC mill is a state of the art machine. Instead of turning hand wheels, a CNC machine uses motors and a sophisticated computer control to cut materials. Many companies throughout northwest Minnesota use CNC machines like the Haas TM1 for prototype and production work. It is challenging to have twelve students and only one machine. Use of four control modules will maximize the use of the CNC mill in the classroom. Programs can be created, simulated, and debugged on the control modules and then transferred to the CNC mill where the parts are machined.
The manual mill, turning lathe, and surface grinder will also provide our students a valuable experience. In industry, manual equipment is limited in use to low volume, simple fabrication or repair work. Working with these manual machines will provide students with fundamental machining skills.

For more information please visit www.360mn.org and www.northlandcollege.edu.