There were Tormach employees all over the country last week, from Autodesk University in Las Vegas to talking makerspaces at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some spent last week in the glitz and glam of Las Vegas… but really, we only saw the inside of the Sands Convention Center where Tormach Brand Ambassador, John Saunders, spent the week teaching CAM and machining.
Autodesk University is an event where over 10,000 attendees further their skills in CAD, CAM, design, and various other facets of the engineering, manufacturing, and architectural professions.
The event hosts classes, like the one given by Saunders, as well as some of the latest innovations by organizations using Autodesk software, while the company announces its own innovations and latest updates.
This year’s theme was close to the heart of Tormach’s philosophy, ‘The Future of Making Things,’ which we constantly strive to be a part of. We took five PCNC 440s to help with Saunders’ class, which were surrounded by everything from emerging generative design technology, 3D-printed bridge components, lots of VR experiences, and even our friends from ShopBot and Printrbot.
While some staff cruised around convention halls in Vegas, others spent the week at MIT for the first-ever International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces (ISAM). Tormach’s Andy Grevstad presented a paper that discussed the importance of safety in academic and makerspace environments, and we had a PCNC 440 showing off what it can do.
ISAM is a new event that is hosted by the Higher Education Makerspace Initiative, which is comprised of eight different colleges; including MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Georgia Tech, Yale, CMU, CWRU, and Olin; that are working to use makerspaces to maximize student learning experiences and contribute to alumni success.
We can’t wait to see what the makerspaces at MIT and the rest of these academic frontrunners churn out!