Jeff Gillow

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Two teams from the South and West Washtenaw Consortium CAD/CAM and Machine Tool class are competing against each other to see who can build the best RC (Remote Control) truck. These classes are held at Saline High School. The teams are made up of 4 to 6 students and each team member is responsible for a different job. Everything that is changed or made must go through the engineering process. Each part on the truck and trailer will have a detailed CAD drawing. This will allow any students from either class to participate and help manufacture each piece. The truck will be displayed in the Saline High School Library for students to vote on them. Team 2 truck pictures will be posted soon.

Rob Law, Nick Schineman, and James Jeffery participated in the State of Michigan Skills USA Automated Manufacturing contest on April 18th through the 20th. The contest was over four hours long and consisted of many challenging skills related to complex designs and manufacturing problems. The team contest of three students and no one person can have all the answers, so it is imperative for manufactures to combine the resources and abilities of a team to resolve problems. The contest evaluates teams for employment in integrated manufacturing technology fields of Computer Aided Drafting/Design (CAD), Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), and Computer Numerical Controlled machining (CNC). In this process the CAD operators construct the part geometry, the CAM operator generates the tool paths, and the CNC operator sets up and machines the part. The students performed tasks such as Rapid Prototype and Concurrent Engineering. These are the newest methods used by industry and colleges to reduce the time and cost of bringing a new product to market.Rapid Prototype is defined by its title how quickly you can make a prototype. Concurrent Engineering involves the designer and manufacturer working on the design of the product throughout the entire development of the product.

The students from SalineHigh School, which is part of the South and West Washtenaw Consortium (SWWC) placed 1st in the State of Michigan out of seven different teams from around the state. SWWC students have been competing in the Automated Manufacturing contest and have placed in the top three every year they competed: first place in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008, second and third in 2004 and third place in 2007.

As the Instructor (Jeff Gillow) of the CAD/CAM class for the South and West Washtenaw Consortium, I personally would like to say THANK YOU and CONGRADULATIONS to Rob Law, Nick Schineman, and James Jeffery this very impressive accomplishment. Outstanding Job! These students will be traveling to Kansas CityMissouri for a week to compete at the National level contest. If the students place first at Nationals they may have a chance to travel to Australia to compete at the Internationals.

Automated Manufacturing

A team contest for three students. The contest evaluates teams for employment in integrated manufacturing technology fields of computer aided drafting/design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer numerical controlled machining (CNC). CAD operators construct the part geometry; the CAM operator generates the tool paths; and the CNC operator sets up and machines the part.

Scope of Contest

1. Teams must be composed of three members.Teams will demonstrate their ability to perform, exhibit and compile skills and knowledge necessary from the following list of competencies determines by the SkillsUSA Championship technical committee.
2. The teams will be provided with a demonstration drawing of a part to prototype.The team will hand in the furnished part to the client (judges) and then the team will receive a change order.The team will make the necessary changes to the part program and produce three identical parts.
3. The prototype will be machined in a soft prototype material.
4. Each team will be issued a notebook.This will be a three-ring view binder that will allow the team to display a plot or print of their operation.The inside cover will be a check-off sheet of required documents listed in order of suggested manufacturing process to help organize the students.These forms will not be highly specific but will coach the student.There will also be plastic disk holders in the three-ring binder for the diskettes containing the computer files.

Contest Overview

CAD, CAM, and CNC are the current manufacturing technologies that are making the UnitedState competitive in the world market today.To remain competitive, companies worldwide must be able to access and apply current and emerging technologies in the Design and Manufacturing process.With today’s complex designs and manufacturing problems, no one person can have all the answers, so it is imperative for manufactures to combine the resources and abilities of a team to resolve problems.Workers in the field of Automated Manufacturing have found success in the team approach, and as it is our aim to emulate industry whenever possible, we will use the team approach in this competition.We suggest a team comprised of a specialist in each of the following fields: CAD, CAM, and CNC

Rapid Prototype and Concurrent Engineering are two of the newest methods used by industry to reduce the time and cost of bringing a new product to market.Rapid Prototype is defined by its title how quickly you can make a prototype.Concurrent Engineering involves the designer and manufacturer working on the design of the product throughout the entire development of the product.

Statement of the Problem

As the Automated Manufacturing Technology team, your team is Pro Design, Incorporated.D&F Industries, Incorporated (hereafter referred to as The Client) has presented your team with a print of the part that they wish to have prototype and manufactured.

The Client is dissatisfied with its old supplier, who uses manual machines; the part signatures have an unacceptable variance, quotations are not accurate, and the lead-time is unacceptable.Rapid prototyping and the ability to meet engineering changes at any point of the process are critically important.The Client wishes to find the best shop to have parts prototyped and manufactured.Your company will be competing for this lucrative contract with several other firms.The Team Leader is responsibility for communication between Pro Design, Incorporated and D&F Industries, Incorporated.

About SkillsUSA
Formerly known as VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America), SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. We help each student excel.

Key Statistics

·Expected contestants: over 4,700

·Total contests: 84

·Skilled trade contests: 46

·Health contests: 7

• Occupationally-related contests: 5
• Leadership contests: 15
• Demonstration contests: 11
• Contest judges: 500+ from business and labor
• Contest technical committee members: 550+
• Conference management team and education team members: 350+
• Contest area covered: 685,782 sq. ft. (equivalent to the area of more than 11 football fields)
• Awards to be presented: 2,046 medals and 201 service awards
• SkillsUSAUniversity seminars: 57
• Total in-kind industry and education contributions (donated time, equipment and material): More than $30 million
• Total volunteer hours by technical committee members, courtesy corps, national education team, judges and alumni during the week: approximately 56,000 hours.
• Hotel accommodations in Kansas City in 2005: 26,303 room nights in 24 hotels (second only to WalMart’s annual conference). Expanding to 29 hotels in 2006.

Instructor: Jeff Gillow

Classes: Machine Tool

Drafting & Auto CAD

CAD/CAM

My class is designed to give students a skill or trade that will allow them to be successful in either college or at a job. From my own experience, working in the area of manufacturing, I believe that hands on experiences are very important. It is also critical to be on time and attend class every day. Lab time will be run like real world work scenario. Students will be responsible for managing their time efficiently and completing their work. Learning will take place as they work through a carefully planned sequence of selected activities, problems and projects, designed to prepare them for a particular job. There will be group instruction from time to time. The students have the opportunity to work with instructor as they might with a work supervisor. The instructor will monitor student progress through a sequence of activities, working with each student one-on-one and to help them through the rough spots when needed. Finally, safety is the most important lesson that is taught. The safety information is presented and students are expected to pass a safety test with 100% accuracy.

Please visit my web page at http://sites.salineschools.com/users/gillowj/ to view more photos of my lab and many projects we have done. Thank you!

New HAAS CNC Machines at Saline High School.