About 15 minutes south of Milwaukee, there is a state-of-the-artmanufacturing lab populated with large numbers of futuristic CNC manufacturing systems. It is part of the Milwaukee Area Techni cal Col lege (MATC) Center for Energy Conservation and Advanced Manufacturing (ECAM) at its Oak Creek Campus. Students enrolled there have the advantage of training on equipment that lean manufacturers in a wide range of industries will be depending on to improve their productivity and stay competitive in awide-open globalmarketplace.

The ECAM Center and its equipment are valued at about $9 million.

About half of the funding was provided by the State of Wisconsin as matching grants to donations provided by local philanthropists and manufacturing industry resources, aswell as by donations and deep discountsmade by manufacturing equipment and software vendors. The facilities list is nearly as long as a biblical genealogy, including Hardinge with Fanuc controls, Mazak with a Mazak control, Haas machines, a Heidenhein-controlled 5-axismachine,Mitsubishi wire EDMs, a Ram EDM, a waterjet system, a high-speed machine with a Fanuc control, etc. To prepare its students to program such a large variety of CNC equipment, MATC teaches computer-automated machining using Mastercam CAD/CAM software (from CNC Software, Inc., Tolland, CT).MATC has approximately 100 seats of Mastercam deployed in labs on two campuses and on the shop floor at the ECAM Center.

In order to qualify for the advanced two-semester program in CNC operation and programming, students must either have taken the school’s one-year technical diploma or have two years of industry experience setting up and programming CNC machine tools. With those qualifications, students are ready for immersion in the manufacturing environment, spending one full semester programming and setting up advanced CNC turning systems (with live tooling, double spindles, etc.) and another semester of intensive work with advanced CNC machining centers.

During the first eight weeks of each semester, the students program the equipment directly by writing GandM- code programs. During the second eight weeks, programming is drama t i c a l ly a c c e l e r a t ed by us ing Mastercam computer-automated manufacturing software. By the time they have completed both semesters, students will have received 400-500 hours of intensive hands-on Mastercam programming experience.

So what types of parts are these students producing using CAM on their advanced CNC equipment?

Things you don’t generally see in a college manufacturing lab. For example, one student who is intent on becoming an aerospace CAM programmer made a steam engine. Another student acquired a CAD model of an advanced racing engine, and then programmed toolpaths for all 640 of its surfaces (in addition to completing all of his CNC course work) during the second semester.

“Actually it was just the roughing steps,” said instructor Chris Haase, “but thatwas quite an accomplishment for a student CAM programmer.” In January 2010, the MATC will launch a new curriculum providing advanced instruction in 4- and 5-axis CNC programming with Mastercam. Haase said that he is aware of no other college in the United States offering courses dedicated to teaching high-level multi-axis CNC programming. There is definitely a demand, however. He has already had inquiries from manufacturers interested in hiring 5-axis programmers. They include moldmakers, as well as aerospace and automotive manufacturers. On the student side, six graduates of the MATC diploma programwere already standing in line for the course, which hadn’t even been announced.

Why the sudden interest in 5-axis programming? Haase saidmanufacturers are looking to 5-axis CNC equipment so that they can machine entire complex parts with a single set-up to improve both precision and productivity.With the introduction of good and relatively low cost 5-axismachines, like the Haas 5-axis CNC equipment at the ECAM Center, the technology is now easily affordable even by relatively small job shops.

“Tools like Mastercam are essential for programming these complex machining cycles and for making it possible to ver i fy the toolpaths wi th computer simulation. Students who are proficient using Mastercam to program advanced 5-axis equipment will be in a particularly good position to find work when they graduate because their skills will be among themost needed for helping manufacturers stay competitive,” said a CNC Software spokesperson.

Haase said that an essential requirement for teaching advanced 5-axis programming is a rock-solid postprocessor that will interface with the controller flawlessly and seamlessly.

Having complete confidence that the 5- axismachine will execute the toolpaths exactly as written, and thatMastercam can verify them to make sure there are no obstructions, gives Haase peace of mind. He knows that beginning studentswill not damage extremely expensive tooling and equipment.

Haase worked with Will Slota of Mastercam’s Educational Division and with In-House Solutions, Inc., a Mastercam Reseller, to develop such a postprocessor for the Heidenhein TNC 530 control on its 5-axis machine. “This is a very high-end control that needs a post that can process information very quickly to avoid visible steps between the paths,” said Haase. “They completed the initial postprocessor within a very short period of time. Then Will came to our lab for a trial run, and he shared the programwith the In-House Solution’s programmer over the Internet. They worked out some snags and made refinements to the postprocessor on the spot. When Will left, I had exactly what I needed.” Haase said that one thing that differentiates the ECAMCenter fromother advanced manufacturing centers at colleges and universities is its association with an educational track dealing with solar energy, geothermal heating, wind power, and other green technologies.

Although this educational track is separate from manufacturing education, its existence positions the college nicely for the acquisition of federal and other grants once proposed government energy initiatives eventually materialize.

“In the meantime, with the downturn in the economy, we are booming,” said Haase.Many of the students in the programhave been laid off fromoutside jobs, and they are using this circumstance as an opportunity to improve their job skills. In addition, the ECAM Center is starting to take on more occupational training for some local area manufacturers.

“In the past, we performed some training for manufacturers, but it was Mostly academic subjects. Now manufacturers are looking to us to provide job skills training as well. I think that is because we have better equipment.” For more information contact: Greg Holther, ECAM Coordinator MATC - Oak Creek Campus 6665 South Howell Avenue Oak Creek, WI, 53154-1107 414-571-4660 holtherrg@matc.edu www.matc.edu/ecam/ Michelle Nemeth CNC Software, Inc. 671 Old Post Road Tolland, CT 06084 860-875-5006 Fax: 860-872-1565 info@mastercam.com www.mastercam.com TX, LA Don Disco MLC CAD Systems 6001 W. William Cannon West Dr. Bldg. 2 Ste. 101 Austin, TX 78749 512-288-8511 www.mlc-cad.com OK Bob Goree Red Bird Inc. 205 West 2nd Street, Suite 8 Wichita, KS 67202 316-262-0076 redbird@iwichita.com AR Richard Jacuzzi Manufacturing Services 4116 Front Drive Benton, AR 72015 501-847-2292 501-847-6291 NM William Craven Milagro Enterprises 6316 Childs Drive SW Albuquerque, NM 87105 505-450-5670 505-877-3412