Adding hands-on experiences in the classroom makes CNC machining easier to both learn and understand - especially in the commercial world of manufacturing and engineering. Matias Perret is an instructor in the College of Engineering at the University of Iowa, and he has used both a PCNC 770 and a PCNC 440 to give his students CNC manufacturing experience.

Ohio State University has filled their training lab with Tormach CNC machine equipment to meet the challenges of educating future engineers.

We’ve all heard the stories about part drawings coming through that specify ridiculously tight tolerances. We know that holding tight tolerances is harder, and we know it is more expensive to make a part the tighter the tolerances are. But, how much does it really cost to have tighter tolerances?

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.

With their size and approachable design, Tormach machines have found their way into a number of classrooms at high schools and colleges around the nation. While the uses for a CNC mill or lathe in the classroom may seem obvious – teaching kids to machine parts – you may be surprised at how many teachers are doing much more than just teaching machining.

Adam Summers started his engineering education at a math and science public high school in New York City. He explains, “Stuyvesant offered wonderful opportunities for science, but for me the most important characteristic was there were enough shop classes that I could take two every semester for four years.” After getting degrees in mathematics and engineering in college, Summers changed gears and got a Master’s and Ph.D. in Biology.