Helping Smart Kids Get Smarter
Due to the generous support of The Champlin Foundation, students in CHARIHO tech’s Engineering, Drafting, and Design program are now able to better apply their knowledge to real-world situations. With their newfound ability to program the state-of-the-art computer numerical control (CNC) machine funded by the Foundation, students have gained a more thorough understanding of advanced manufacturing principles. Real learning through the application of skills and knowledge allows students to take their designs from conceptual sketches straight through to the manufacturing process.
How does this work in the Engineering, Drafting and Design classroom? Students are asked to solve an authentic dilemma. Work begins by developing a rough sketch of a solution to the problem. Solidworks, or another similar CAD program, is then used to create working drawings similar to what a machinist would use to further develop and create the proposed solution. Utilizing the CNC machine, the student designs the finished product to determine if their solution to the problem is valid. If not, the cycle begins anew, just like in the workplace.
Allowing students to make the leap from the theoretical to the practical created many important learning experiences that would not have been possible without the CNC machine.