Acrotech supports MN State College and SLAM
In July 2019, Minnesota State College Southeast was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to create an 11-credit Engineering/CNC Certificate in four regional high schools. The program launched with students enrolled in Cannon Falls High School and Chatfield High School in the first year, followed by Red Wing High School in 2020. Named SLAM (Students Learning Advanced Manufacturing) by the students themselves, the program has given high school students a chance to get hands-on experience in an industrial setting and earn college credit for coursework related to engineering.
(Pictured) SLAM intern Cayden White from Red Wing High School and Jim Schively, Acrotech’s Machine Shop Manager who recently celebrated 25 years of service.
“The objective is to develop a pipeline of skilled technicians for industry, working closely with local industry partners for support, such as summer internships,” according to Calvin Clemons, MSC Southeast’s Director of Trade and Technology.
This summer Cayden White, a senior at Red Wing High School, had the opportunity to intern as a CNC machinist at Acrotech in Lake City. Acrotech Inc. specializes in manufacturing custom urethane molded parts for industrial applications. Acrotech open casts and compression molds urethane products supporting a wide variety of applications. They include a multitude of MRO items in addition to many lower volume OEM parts. They are a true job shop with over 20,000 active part numbers and 9,000 active customers.
As a captive manufacturing facility, Acrotech provides product design assistance, mold making capabilities as well as complete component assemblies. Multiple CNC work centers are utilized to machine a wide array of molds and inserts to support the growing customer base. This presents an abundance of exposure and challenges to an intern working at Acrotech. Cayden was responsible for setting up the program for new jobs in the CNC machines, fixturing the material and touching off the tooling to start the cycle. Cayden’s duties also included inspecting machined parts and implementing program edits when needed.
When asked about expectations Cayden said, “Not really sure, I wanted to experience a full eight-hour shift compared to fifty minutes in the classroom.” He added, “I like the fact that it’s real world; I have a lot of projects; it’s not mundane. The machining process is very streamlined compared to what I’m used to”.
Acrotech’s Plant Manager, Joe White added, “Participating in SLAM and the Learn-N-Earn programs are great ways to expose students to some non-traditional, high demand and lucrative career paths in the manufacturing sector”.
Partnering with SLAM has multiple benefits. It helps our regional workforce which has seen a shortage of skilled machinists. It helps the students with early exposure to career exploration. And it helps Acrotech with supplemental staffing to meet our customer’s demands while potentially securing some long-term interest.