Manufacturing Education and More on the Florida Panhandle

Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola, FL, (PJC) is located in a beach community, not a major industrial center. The nearest of these are 50 to 100 miles away in places like Panama City, Mobile and Montgomery, AL, industrial centers.

So, to do right by its students, the school's Engineering Technology Programs must do more than teach basic skills that prepare students only for traditional manufacturing jobs. Mike Cannon, Assistant Professor, Engineering Technology, explains how PJC strives to provide its students options that will allow graduates to take root in a variety of careers, regardless of where they ultimately choose to live.

For students who have the time and inclination, PJC's Mechanical Design & Fabrication associates' degree program prepares students for careers in manufacturing as CNC equipment operators and as CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design /Computer-Aided Manufacturing) programmers or for 4-year degree programs. For students looking for skills that will help them get work sooner or advance more rapidly in jobs they already have, PJC offers a 12-credit certificate program that provides foundation skills in metalworking or woodworking technology.

By the time they have gone through the three levels of this program, students will understand how to set-up and operate CNC equipment (mills and lathes for metalworking and CNC routers for woodworking), program them both manually and with Mastercam CAD/CAM software (CNC Software Inc., Tolland, CT), create their designs in SolidWorks CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software, efficiently translate these designs into viable Mastercam programs and manufacture them on the appropriate CNC machines.

However, these formal offerings are just a starting point for the important job and life skills Cannon is working on to get across to the 20 to 30 students who make up PJC's Engineering Technology Program each year. Here are some of the additional themes he weaves into the learning experience:

• Think Outside the Box. Engineering Technology skills taught at PJC have a wide range of uses outside the realm of conventional manufacturing. In a community like Pensacola, for example, a great application for a CNC Lathe is commercial signage. Cannon shows students how to create sculptured-effect signs using Mastercam Art.

  "This program might be called 3D For Dummies," Cannon said. "I can take my Grandma and run her through a program and she can do it in one class setting. After going through some of the tutorials, a student can take lettering and basic 2D designs and convert to 3D murals and signage without a lot of the 3D drafting knowledge you need to develop the 3D computer models used in conventional manufacturing."

  Cannon said that in addition to its utilitarian value, a program like this in the beginning can help the student get quickly motivated in a subject area that will soon require him to learn a much larger set of skills to become technically proficient.

  PJC itself thinks outside the box to provide its students with more value. For example, every junior college has co-op programs where students are placed with local businesses in a mutually beneficial learning experience. PJC has a "Reverse co-op program where businesses come into our shop and we help them develop new manufacturing processes that they hope to use to improve their capabilities and operating efficiencies," said Cannon.

• Learn to Learn. Cannon tries to use one day a week to study up on new technologies. There is simply too much of it to always be attending classes, so he learns from tutorials and polishes his new skills in the lab. As a result of his personal continuous improvement program, Cannon is now ready to begin teaching his students Mastercam X CAD/CAM software programming, and introducing a new learning module in stereo lithography prototyping starting in the fall of 2008.

  Cannon also encourages his students to be self-learners. When they run into problems, he is always available to help them work through the hard parts. When Cannon runs into snags in his own learning process, he relies on his trusted software and equipment suppliers.
   

• Carrot in Every Class. Cannon said, "Every class has what I call a carrot: a job skill, something to make the boss a dollar that day. Something to be productive for the company you are working for. On the other hand, you don't have to work for someone else."
   

• Become an Entrepreneur. "I tell my students they have two choices: go work for someone else or work for yourself. These days the technology-like a fancy plasma cutter, a computerized router or even a HAAS VF2 mill-is affordable. You can buy one and start your own business. I have students who are designing their own products and selling them while they are still in school.

  "For example, one of my students, Matt Bingham, has designed his own BMX bicycle parts. He is partnering with a local machine shop to manufacture the designs. His goal is to make high quality bicycle products in the US, tested by riders for riders. His website is under construction at www.HTBIKECO.com.

  "Another of my students, Sean Fry, has become very proficient in both Mastercam and Solid Works. He keeps his skills up-to-date by offering workshops to local industry."

Just the Beginning
The vast majority of the students who graduate from PJC find work in their chosen fields, but that is just the beginning. Technology and the job scene are continually changing, so Cannon encourages his students to always have a plan B, which may involve acquiring new skills or learning to use the skills they already have in different ways.

"One-third of my students are electronics majors," Cannon said. It's amazing how the electronics people get into the computerized fabrication courses. The CAD just gives them something else to fall back on in the electronics field. With their electronics and CAD background they could gravitate toward the service end of things. One of our electronics majors working in a machine shop would not only be able to create designs or program machines but also set up your network and keep your computers running."

The point is to know a lot, be open-minded and adaptable. This is a recipe for career success that is serving PJC graduates very well.