We recently launched the Mastercam Quick Part Series. The Mastercam Quick Part Series is an initiative to provide free, project-based tutorials for teachers.
The Mastercam Quick Part Series: Project-Based Tutorials for Teachers
Peter Mancini, Education Product Manager | Mastercam
Tell us about Mastercam and your role with the company.
Mastercam creates software and services that solve the world’s manufacturing challenges. Mastercam is well known worldwide as it is the most widely used CAM software both in industry and education. I was brought into Mastercam two years ago to lead our worldwide Education team. Our team is responsible for boosting global CAM education using Mastercam as a foundation. We look at strategies for things such as price, product, which education organizations to sponsor, certification, curriculum, and teacher training.
What is Mastercam doing with schools in the area of project-based learning?
We recently launched the Mastercam Quick Part Series. The Mastercam Quick Part Series is an initiative to provide free, project-based tutorials for teachers. The tutorials are guided projects that take students through the CAD/CAM/CNC process from project start to a finished part. Students learn about manufacturing terminology, techniques, and processes while using the world’s leading CAD/CAM software.
What types of schools are using Mastercam?
Mastercam is used from middle schools to universities. Schools that teach CAD/CAM/CNC with a goal of getting their students a job will often turn to Mastercam due to its prevalence in industry. And there are schools that just want to introduce their students to CAD/CAM/CNC that use Mastercam as well.
Do you offer a student version of Mastercam?
We offer a free Demo/Home Learning Edition (HLE) that many students take advantage of for their studies. The HLE version just about mirrors the industry version of Mastercam although the HLE version cannot post G-code. However, the HLE files are compatible with the Mastercam licenses used by schools.
What type of training and support do you provide teachers?
Our worldwide Mastercam Reseller network is the front line for support and training. Additionally, there are quite a few resources out there for those that want to learn Mastercam at their own pace online. We have our own Mastercam University and there are other quality options such as camInstructor, In-House Solutions, and Streaming Teacher. Additionally, we offer free teacher-training at our home office in Tolland, Connecticut every summer. This past summer we had twenty-five teachers from the US and Canada for three great days of learning. For the summer of 2020 we are also planning on adding a second teacher-training class on the west coast. Lastly, many of our industrial Reseller partners will let teachers sit in on any Mastercam training class for free or at a reduced rate.
Tell us about Mastercam supporting manufacturing-based education competitions and organizations and why you feel this is so important.
Everyone in our industry talks about the skills gap that exists and that it forecasts to get worse. We need to get more people into the industry to fill all the jobs that exist now and the jobs that will continue to exist in the future. So it is vital to support as many initiatives as possible that can get students interested in manufacturing. We currently support great organizations such as SAE, NASA HUNCH, National Robotics League, FIRST Robotics, SkillsUSA, and WorldSkills. And we are always on the lookout for more organizations to support.
Why is it so important to get young people interested and educated in the latest Manufacturing Technologies?
Again, it all goes back to supply and demand. Currently the supply for manufacturing jobs does not meet the demand. And these jobs pay well but often students, their parents, and their guidance counselors can have a misconception about manufacturing jobs. They might still think of manufacturing as being dirty, unsafe, and labor intensive. Or dull and repetitive. Thankfully it seems like governments in many countries, including the US, understand the severity of the issue and have acted on it positively with funding and other initiatives. Here at Mastercam we just want to do our part to get young people interested and educated so therefore every decision we make is based on that premise.
The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of ManufacturingTomorrow
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