Hands-on learning is quickly becoming the best-known way for students to fully grasp concepts and curriculum, especially in the world of technical CNC machine education. To this end, classrooms have started to change in accommodation for this type of hands-on teaching. Because 3D printers are becoming more regular in everyday classrooms (not just tech ed rooms), machine tools, like multi-axis CNC mills and lathes, are more commonplace in the shop.

At Tormach, we find ourselves visiting a lot of different trade shows since we touch people in so many different areas – from education to makers to heavy industry – and last week was no different.

I love STEM events. Students huddling around chemistry experiments, buzzing machines, and the buzzing of learning makes me giddy; all of these bright young minds are going to be our future, and, with our help, our legacy as STEM professionals.

More than 100 middle school students eagerly watched machines run, listened to technical explanations of how things worked, applied their math skills to engineering demonstrations, and got to meet with engineers, machinists, and other leaders.  What made this group is unique is their gender – they were all female.

Earlier this week, we visited a local technical school, Madison College, to see what they were up to with their PCNC 440. As part of the automation integration program, an array of students have had the opportunity to use Fanuc robots for different programming and automation challenges. Students did everything from packaging candy to unpacking a CD. But, we’re biased, and our favorite took blank

We love STEM, and not just because we’re a company full of engineers and machinists. Our marketing and logistics departments are just as geeky as the tech crew. That’s why we played host to a Family STEM Day that was put on by the local library, here in Waunakee, WI. Everything from community members showing off an FRC competition robot from Badger Bots and retro electronics to building spaghetti-marshmallow towers to creating miniature marble rollercoasters. Sector 67, a local makerspace, even had an array of projects showing off their wares.