If you remember back to the first episode of the current practice cage project, you might remember that Jeremy paid a visit to Bryant LaFlamme's classroom at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School. Bryant runs the school's Precision Machine Department, and has been a great help with the project. As a teacher, he's a quite a busy guy, and we'd like to thank him for taking a few minutes to talk about the great work the Assabet Valley team is doing.
What is Assabet Valley’s SolidWorks program like?
Assabet Valleys Precision Machining & Automated Manufacturing program uses SolidWorks to train and prepare high school and post-graduate students interested in engineering and highly-skilled manufacturing careers. The high school students are in the machine shop for a full week, learning the related theory and applying engineering and manufacturing skills to design and produce projects in the machine shop. The opposite week they move to a traditional academic classroom setting. It’s a full high school curriculum completed in half the time. High school students graduate with all of the academic requirements for a diploma and a certification in Precision Machining. Students have also earned credits that can be transferred to colleges through articulation agreements.
What draws students to the SolidWorks program?
Kids come to Assabet Valley—and to this program—looking for more than a high school diploma. Interestingly enough, many of our students have parents who graduated from this school. Most of our students continue on to a four-year college, while others take the training that they have received at Assabet and enter the workforce benefitting from the skills they have learned.
The class itself is interesting because the clientele is mostly made up of teenagers; their focus is on music, movies, sports and relationships. SolidWorks gives us a great advantage because it’s similar to a video game where they can use their imagination and create something—it’s fun.
What’s the next step for your students? What career opportunities are available?
Students who graduate from this program have many opportunities. They can go to school to become engineers, or straight into full machining and designing careers.
The current generation of designers and machinists are approaching retirement, and there is a dearth of fresh talent to take their places. This means that designers and machinists are, and will continue to be, in high demand. Additionally, because of the structural changes in manufacturing, there is a lot more opportunity for movement and many small, highly-efficient shops in the landscape.
We have companies calling to find out when our students are graduating because they need these skills immediately; there are more jobs than students and they’re being scouted at a young age. This gives them an opportunity to find their niche and choose from a lot of options.
How has design technology changed in recent years?
The technology has improved tenfold in recent years. We now have a full computer lab with 16 seats of SolidWorks. Before, we only had two computers in the entire shop. The school has been very supportive of this program.
Within the past three years, we have had a 50 percent increase in kids pursuing engineering degrees. The rate wasn’t that high in the first few years, but the students find this program fun, and they want to keep doing it.
The trick is to relate it to everyday products. We discuss NASA, aerospace and medical devices—all products with complex designs hidden inside. This demystifies manufacturing and makes it appealing.
What do students like about the Let’s Go Design series?
It’s so inspiring for them to see what can be done. As they’re watching the videos, they’re brainstorming and logging into SolidWorks to see if what they’re thinking about can be created. They’re blown away with the results.
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