Letting students take control of the CNC machine for the first time each semester can be terrifying enough if they were paying attention to your wise words of caution, but we all know some of them weren’t taking studious notes. An easy way to save your machine and nerves is to give your students forgiving workpieces, like machinist wax, wood, or plastic, but that’s not always the best solution.

I know what you’re thinking. Why should you bother milling everyday, boring plastics when you have a Tormach mill or lathe that can cut any metal you can imagine?

Jim Anderson has been a journeyman machinist in Canada for more than 26 years, and he’s built everything from racing motorcycles to hydrogen fuel cells. Parts big and tiny, Anderson has seen a lot as a fabricator. With his array of building knowledge and his two PCNC 1100s, Anderson runs a prototype development machine shop, Anderson Prototypes.

As the technology used in medical research continues to shrink, so does the engineering surrounding it. Edmond Young, Ph.D., who is the director and supervisor at the Laboratory of Integrative Biology and Microengineered Technologies (IBMT) at the University of Toronto, focuses on developing technologies that rely on the flow of fluids at the microscale (a length scale of less than one millimeter – typically tens to hundreds of microns).

Anybody who has ever worn glasses knows the struggle when your new specs don’t quite fit correctly - the bridge is too tight, the frame is too wide, they fall off your face, etc. That’s why Randy Barnett created Indivijual Eyewear, a company that custom produces eyeglasses for the 80 percent of us that just don’t fit into bulk-design frames.

From his Anaheim, California, machine shop, Tormach PCNC 1100 owner and motorcycle enthusiast Brian Carmichael manufactures OMNI-CRUISE, a universal throttle lock/cruise control that he designed to enhance the riding experience for motorcycle enthusiasts around the world.