Thaddeus Stevens College Receives State Grant

"You have chosen very well," Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway said to students during her visit to  Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology earlier this year. Secretary Hearthway was at Thaddeus Stevens College to announce the award of a $148,970 JOBS-1st- PA Tech Grant.

Part of this money will be used to purchase two CNC machines for the Machine Tool and C.A.M. program. The CNC machines will be added to Stevens' existing equipment and is part of the schools initiative to upgrade facilities and equipment while doubling class size.

The expansion will be accommodated by moving the Machine Tool program to the Greiner Campus, a new campus Stevens is building at a former National Guard Armory nearby. It is projected to open in the Spring of 2017.

My Future Career Website

Alexis Nolt, Manheim, PA

At Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, we have created a website to aid high school students make career choices.  The website is called My Future Career , myfuturecareer.us , and it was made possible through donations made by supporting businesses.

When a student visits the site, they will be asked questions to determine what some of their interests are and are then directed to a career they are likely to find interesting.  Included in the site are numerous videos with both graduates and present students explaining their career and why they chose it.
We have just completed another video that has yet to be added to the site so I am premiering it here. Alexis Nolt is the student in this video and she is from Manheim, PA.
Let me know your thoughts.

Video Link

Student Sponsors Recognized at Annual Banquet

Mr. Enterline from N.N.B. and Taylor Geib

    The Future Machinist Sponsorship Program (FMSP) was made official this past week when all of the company sponsors were recognized at an annual scholarship banquet.  Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology (TSCT) holds an annual banquet to recognize scholarship donors and this marked the first year that the FMSP was included. 
    In its first year, nine companies stepped forward to sponsor an incoming freshman and a total of ten students received a sponsorship ranging from $1000 to $1500.  Also included with the monetary award is a guarantee of employment during the summer months between semesters. 
    Sponsored students also received company shirts that are worn in place of the required uniform worn in the Machine Tool Program.  With many of the students wearing company shirts in the lab, it emphasizes to visitors the ongoing participation of local companies and the Machine Tool Program at TSCT. 

Tom Frick from Intricate Precision and Dylan Bekheiser

 The sponsoring companies for 2014 are as follows: 

• Arcobaleno/Gam Precision, Lancaster, PA
• Intricate Precision Mfg., Lancaster, PA
• PRL Inc., Lebanon, PA
• Astro Machine Works, Ephrata, PA
• National Novelty Brush Co., Lancaster, PA
• TE Connectivity, Mount Joy, PA
• Weaver Industries, Denver, PA
• Mold Base Industries Inc., Harrisburg, PA
• Flex/Cell Precision Inc., Lancaster, PA

Future Machinist Sponsorship Program

Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is launching the Future Machinist Sponsorship Program.  Much like a scholarship, the program is designed so that companies will provide $1000 to incoming freshman for college expenses.  Where the program differs is that it not only helps students with expenses but it will assist companies in attracting skilled employees that are in big demand.

Because companies are experiencing an increased difficulty in recruiting skilled workers in the machining industry,  the Future Machinist Sponsorship Program was created to help bridge the gap between high school students and manufacturing companies.  The program will assist the college in its recruiting efforts while assisting participating companies by introducing them to motivated young-adults.

Students will apply for the sponsorships and will be interviewed by the relative company.  Once the selection process is over, companies will take steps to make the sponsored students feel as though they are part of that company.  Providing students with company work uniforms and including students in safety meetings and other company gatherings are just some of the options discussed by various participating companies. 

In a time when student loan debt and unemployment rates fill the airwaves and the front pages, the Future Machinist Sponsorship Program will be guaranteeing high paying jobs after just one year of college.  At under $15,000, two years at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is relatively inexpensive especially when you consider that the placement rate in the Machine Tool and C.A.M. program is consistently 100%. Now that the Machine Tool and C.A.M. program is striving to place incoming freshman before they even attend class, it becomes harder to ignore the opportunity that the machining trades offer.

    

2014 SCHOOL YEAR COMES TO AN END

The school year ended on May 10th as Thaddeus Stevens College celebrated its 103rd graduation ceremony with the Machine Tool Technology program granting 16 degrees.  This marked the end of a very busy year for the Machine Tool program and the beginning of an exciting future.

Students Andrew Spencer and Maddeline Lennox talk with Rob McCord.

2014 was a year in which allot things were put in motion that will help insure the future success of the Machine Tool program at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.  Two new initiatives, which are designed to help with recruiting and to increase company/employer involvement, were implemented this year.  The first program is a formal internship that allows students to work for college credit and the second program is called The Future Machinist Program.  The latter is designed so that companies will sponsor incoming students before they even attend class at the college.  This program is very much like a scholarship with the exception that the sponsoring companies will provide the sponsored students with summer employment after the freshman year and many will provide work uniforms bearing their company logo that the students will wear while working in the shop at  school.

During the past school year we were also awarded a grant that is allowing us to purchase four new CNC machines.  We will be adding two Haas SL-10 lathes, with live tooling, and two Haas Mini-mills.  We are optimistic that these machines will be in place and ready for the upcoming fall semester.

During the month of May we received the attention of some very important people in Harrisburg.  Rob McCord, the State Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate, visited the program space on May 1st.  He spoke with students and was given one of our shop t-shirts as a token of our appreciation for future support.  Not to be outdone, Governor Tom Corbett sent representatives to campus to interview college president Bill Griscom and to tour the Machine Tool lab.  Video footage was taken of students in the lab and will appear in an upcoming video.  As a side note, the Machine Tool program was the only program visited by Mr. McCord and Gov. Corbett's team and we're proud to admit it.

The summer months will be spent preparing for the upcoming school year.  This will be the largest incoming class in the history of our program with fifty freshman scheduled attend.  Along with the second year students, this will bring the program enrollment to seventy.  It will be a short summer.

2014 Production Project

First Piece Inspection

Each year, students in the Machine Tool & C.A.M. program are assigned a project that is referred to as a "production project."  The actual project has changed over the years but last year we started making Stirling Engines.  Last years class was tasked with making 27 engines and they were successful in doing so.  Feeling confident, I decided that this years class was not only going to make a different design but that they would make 50 Stirling Engines.

With two weeks left in the school year, we managed to assemble our first motor.  There was a huge sigh of relief in the entire shop when we managed to get this first motor running.  Keep in mind that I was not even sure if our designs would even work.  (I don't tell the students this concern when I'm telling them to make parts for 50 motors)  Now that we have assembled a functioning engine, we will spend a majority of the last week of school assembling the last 49 engines.  This process should make for an interesting week.

This project has turned into an excellent experience for the Machine Tool students.  Most of their lab assignments require them to make one single part.  With this project, they are required to make 50, which forces them to approach the production of a part from a completely different angle.   In addition, the students are forced to work together in the production of these parts.  This particular engine is comprised of 30+ parts and if a single part is incorrect, the engine simply will not function.  Teams were created with each having a team leader who is charged with coordinating the groups efforts.

There have been some bumps along the way but I optimistic that all fifty engines will be assembled and operational by weeks end.  If you would like to lend moral support, feel free to stop by the shop.

YouTube Video of first assembled engine
2014 Student Stirling Engine

2014 Machine Tool Luncheon

2014 Luncheon

Yesterday, April 27th, the Machine Tool Technology program at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology hosted the 3rd Annual Alumni Luncheon.  As in previous years, it was well attended with approximately fifty people taking part.  Those attending included Machine Tool alumni, current students, local employers, and incoming students.

The original intent of the event was to help recruit high school students into the Machine Tool program.  Although it has been successful in this regard, the event has turned into a true alumni reunion and serves as testament to the success of our graduates.  For the high school students and their families who attend the event, it is a powerful recruiting tool to be able to talk to successful graduates and local employers who have hired graduates in the past.

This event is definitely here to stay.  See you next year!