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Cameron Miksch, manufacturing specialist for the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Integrated Teaching and Learning Program (ITLP) at CU Boulder.
Counting the successes
To date, roughly 300 students have graduated from the ITLP’s CNC courses, but Micksch is quick to point out that 700 or more use the shop each academic year for other reasons. There are numerous student-run engineering groups, such as the school’s rocketry club (CUSRL) and Formula SAE, an international competition where students have the opportunity to design, build, and drive Formula-style race cars. “We helped make some crazy steering knuckles for them on the five-axis last summer, which was pretty cool,” he said.
The school also does research work with grant money from local and national businesses. These might be specialized medical devices for one of the area’s hospitals, enclosures for reading radioactivity, or components produced for leading aerospace companies. “One of our clubs is called Space Grant, which is funded in part by NASA, and one of my students went on to work with one of their subcontractors,” said Micksch. “Granted, our use of VERICUT had very little to do with that success story, but a large portion of our students get hands-on experience on the Hurcos, and my job would be much more difficult without VERICUT. That, and it’s a great teaching tool.”
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CNC WEST October/November 2020
It was CU Boulder’s decision to buy a Hurco VM10Ui 5-axis vertical machining center that led the school to invest in VERICUT toolpath simulation and optimization software from CGTech