By Erin Albanese
School News Network
Kent Career Tech Center student Nathan Schaner learned about designing car components virtually by using professional tool and die stamping software on a classroom computer.
He was participating in a three-day training session on the software offered by Kevin Vormac, senior applications engineer for the firm AutoForm. The program exposed a dozen engineering students in the second year of the Tech Center’s Engineering & Architectural Design program to industry-level design.
The goal was to help prepare students for the local pool of engineering jobs, many at firms that use the expensive software, as well as for apprenticeships or college programs.
“Learning it here at (the Tech Center) is definitely beneficial,” said Nathan, who plans to major in mechanical engineering at Ferris State University. “I feel like I have a head start amongst all the other kids.”
The software eliminates the need for material or shop space and allows tweaking and tinkering. “We want for them to have some exposure to the software so when they do go out and look for a job they can put it on their resume,” Vormac said.
Nathan said he sees the value in learning digital design now. “This seems a lot more applicable and it’s easier for us to manipulate and do the correct things we need to do.”
Program instructor Larry Ridley said AutoForm is allowing the class to download the software onto 12 computer stations for use through the end of the school year. For a company to purchase the software for that many stations, the cost would be about $840,000.
Virtual design saves time and money, Ridley said, and has become standard in the industry. “It can do what they used to do by hand, that would take them four, five, six months,” he said. “Here, they can do their preliminary design in just a couple of weeks.”
Ridley regularly has students working in engineering while still enrolled at the Tech Center. Many start as apprenticeships after graduation or go to college to pursue degrees. Engineers can earn more than $100,000 after eight or nine years in the industry, he said.
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