MACHINING TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MINUTES
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
5:30 -7:30 PM
AA5, Room 107
Members Present: James Freeman, Committee Chair, Hewlett Packard; Tom Magnuson, Hewlett Packard; Brady Mayer, Columbia Machine; Matt Houghton, Schurman Machine; Ryan Kruse, Cid Bio-Science, Inc.; Mike Foley, Innovative Composite Engineering
Members Absent: David Wallway, Committee Vice Chair, R&D Machine; Dennis Aguilar, nLight Corp.; Byron Bates, Micro Dimensions; Paul Davis, Davis Development & Mfg. Inc.;
Clark College: Bruce Wells, Department Head/Professor; Patricio Sevier, Machining Instructor; Genevieve Howard, Dean of Workforce & Career tech Education; John Maduta, Advising Div. Manager-Professional/Technical Programs; Andreana DiGiorgio, Coordinator, Advisory Committees
Committee Chair, Jim Freeman,called the meeting to order at 5:45pm.New committee member Mike Foley of Innovative Composite Engineering, Inc. was introduced.
Review of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting
Jim went through the minutes from the November 20, 2013 advisory meeting. While going through the minutes, Matt Houghton asked about the Okuma Lathe. Pat Sevier told the committee that it had been submitted for funding.He showed the committee a copy of the order; said it costs about $92,000. Pat described all the discounts, and said HAAS throws in a simulator worth $1,500. He said HAAS also doubles the warranty.
Pat also announced that the Skills USA had to be cancelled for lack of participants.
A motion was made to approve theminutesas written. The motion was seconded and unanimously carried.
Office of Instruction/Advisory Committee Business
Dean Genevieve Howard passed the roster around and asked the members to check their information for accuracy and also asked them to pay close attention to the “employer/employee” column. She said that the state pays close attention to this information and said that the ratio needs to be close to 50-50. She said that the committee is currently out of balance with two “employee representatives” and eight “employer representatives.”
Genevieve moved on to quorum requirements. She told the committee that currently the requirement is 51%. She said that this number can be changed if the committee wants to make getting quorum easier. She said that they may want to change quorum to 4 or 5 members present. She mentioned that theoretically the members should be cycling in and out. Brady Mayer said he has a couple of employees who he could bring with him next meeting. They could also become members. Bruce asked him to just email him the information and we can get them signed up.
Department Chair Report
First year. Professor Bruce Wells reported that he has five new students and still has 30 in their first year. He said this group is younger and very motivated. He said next fall they’ll be hitting the streets and looking for employment.
Bruce announced that they started a night program again for first year students doing manual machines. He said he’s looking for an evening instructor for the CNCs. This will be two days per week from 6—10 pm. He said they need to have machining work experience and know how to use the HAASand Okuma Lathes. They will need to learn the Master Cam software but there’s time for that as this won’t begin until this fall. He asked the members to send him names if they have anyone in mind.
Bruce said he would still like committee members to come and visit the students. He thinks it would really pump up the students if people in industry came to talk to them about jobs and the work involved. Matt Houghton said he can bring two of his employees who are former Clark students. Bruce asked him to call and give him a time and date and he’ll get it on the schedule.
Genevieve asked the committee if any member knows of someone who has a background in metallurgyto please let her know. She said it’s been a challenge to find someone for this area. She said it’s a tough class to teach because it’s very scientific. She said the class will be two hours of lecture with a two hour lab. Genevieve added that Clark has begun evening welding and machining programs, and they’ve added a Maintenance Tech evening program and metallurgy is required in all these programs. Mike Foley said he may know someone who has a master’s in metallurgy. He’ll get in touch with him to see if there is any interest in teaching or if he knows of anyone. Genevieve will send the committee the instructor job description.
Bruce told the committee that he has started the second Longview Fiber millwrights. He said that Corporate Education has come across a WSI grant from WDC. Bruce said they want to certify an extra 2 nights per week. They would like to run a program 2 nights per week with some type of certification (NIMS). We are still in debate about this and nothing has been scheduled.
Second year. Instructor Pat Sevier gave the committee a breakdown of students. He said there are a total of 27 students in 2nd year. He said the numbers are about the same as the last few cohorts. Bruce added that more and more young people are entering the program.
Work Plan:
The committee discussed the work plan. Following is what was decided:
1)Recruit potential advisory committee members. This is an ongoing item. Brady said he will hook the committee up with a couple of his employees.
2)Develop a two-year equipment plan for the Machining Technology program.After some discussion about equipment needs, Bruce said he will take an inventory of current equipment and send the list out to the members. Members would like it to include the year it came into the program and identify when it may need to be replaced. Genevieve asked if Bruce and Pat can put together wish list that can be discussed at the fall 2014 meeting with member input.
3)Gather feedback from local/regional employers who have hired Clark students and obtain feedback on student job preparedness, skill level, and other areas of training that may be needed.Genevieve said she’d like to have a standard list of questions to ask employers how prepared Clark students are. Mike Foley suggested that a list of questions be put together and sent out to the members. This will be an agenda item for fall meeting. Bruce, Pat, and Genevieve will work together on this.
4)Vision 2020. Genevieve would like this to become a 5-year plan. She and Bruce would like the committee to think about the needs of the program in the next five years to include future program needs, a thorough curriculum review, staffing and internship needs.
New Business:
Additional state funding for aerospace high demand programs. Genevieve explained that the Aerospace “high demand” programs areones that support the aerospace pipeline. She said any of the technical colleges can submit up to two proposals. The funding will be based on “FTEs” or Full Time Equivalents, in this case, students. She said that she and Bruce are looking at an evening Machining program like in the past, and this is how Clark will make their proposal for the funding. The proposal will tell them that they can fill the FTEs. She said that recently the Vice President of Instruction, Tim Cook, was in Washington, DC, where he learned thatthese funds will be divvied up by Tacoma Aerospace and she’s hoping the dollars don’t stay north of us andfunnel down this way. She told the committee that she wants to put together a proposal for the Machining and Mechatronics programs.
Genevieve added that if funding is approved, she said that the program will need CNC instructors for night program. Matt Houghton said the machining industry is changing fast and he wants to come to these advisory meetings to act. Matt said he’d like something in hand that gives information on what we are looking for in potential instructors. Genevieve said she will email the committee members the instructor posting so that they can show it to possible instructors.
Genevieve is anticipating that she may need to submit a letter of support with the proposal and asked the committee if they are part of the aerospace supply chain or if they know someone who is, to please email her with contact information. She gave the committee her email address: .
Old Business
Jim asked if anyone wanted a refresher in the online member training. Andreana can get the file over to the members. She reminded the committee about the Committee Handbook on the main page of the advisory website.
Bruce mentioned that he keeps hearing about certifications in other programs. He said he’d like to get together with folks from the machining technology industry to see if they can come up with some standards for the program and to find out if there is a need for Machining students to be certified. Similar to NIMS but more up to date. He asked if anyone is interested in being involved in this to please let him know. One thought was that maybe certifications can include more intern time. Matt suggested some job shadowing and/or internships for real world experience.
Summary and follow up:
Committee chair Jim Freeman summarized the meeting.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 5:30 p.m.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 p.m.
Prepared and submitted by Andreana DiGiorgio
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