By Gary Dotterer
Northeast Technology Center
For sixteen area students, a week during the summer
proved most exciting as they built their own skateboard by attending
SCREAM (Summer Camp in Robotics, Engineering And Manufacturing),
sponsored by Northeast Technology Center, NEO A&M College, Tech Prep, Grand Lake Manufacturers’ Council,
and Malone’s CNC Machining of Grove.
The
purpose of the camp was to introduce young people to careers
in manufacturing, robotics, engineering and graphic design.
Earlier in the week the students visited NEO A&M College
and learned about measurements and tolerances, as well as quality
control.
Campers spent some time
at Malone’s, a local machine shop, and gained first-hand
knowledge and experience of what a machine shop does. Owner/president
Don Malone and his staff donated the use of the shop, and the
day was spent in the fabricating of the aluminum decks of the
skateboards.
The campers were able to follow the
progress of their own skateboard, often doing the hands-on work
themselves. They watched as the holes were drilled into their
aluminum plates for the wheel trucks; they used
hand grinders to grind creative designs into their plates and
watched as “SCREAM 2006” and their names were
engraved onto the plates.
|
The
SCREAMers observe the CNC machine cuts out the skateboard deck
pattern. |
Students chose a deck design and watched as a CNC lathe cut their
plate into the pre-set shape, checked for quality and precision of
the cutting and hole placement, and watched as their plates were
bent into the traditional skateboard shape.
The employees took each group of four under their
wings and explained in detail their role at Malone’s. It
was often hard to tell who was having the most fun. When the
day was done, each student had his or her custom-designed skateboard
deck ready to take back to the tech center for final assembly
on Friday.
Brittany
Ellis’ woks on her skateboard
deck. |
It was
obvious from the students’ comments that the visit to Malone’s
was well received, as many of them got to experience new activities
and see things they had never seen before.
“Kids have a misconception
about what kind of careers can be found in a machine shop,” said
Don Malone. “We have people involved in accounting, manufacturing,
quality control, programming, engineering, machine set-up, assembly,
riveting, and sheet metal work.
Today’s machine shop is not
a dirty place...there are many high-tech pieces of equipment
in here. We take pride in what we do and the cleanliness of our
shop shows it,” he adds.
Prior to the visit, Malone, along
with representatives from Northeast Tech, NEO A&M College,
Grand Lake Manufacturer’s Council, and TechPrep, met to
discuss ways the camp could be offered which would teach students
about manufacturing, expose them to many career fields, and give
them some hands-on experience, as well as allow them to take
home something tangible.
|
A skateboard idea was
developed, and Malone created a prototype, using his shop’s
facilities, to test the practicality of the project. It proved
successful, as the process involved layout, inspection, sheet
metal work, CNC operations for trimming and design, and grinder
work for design effects.
The campers also
designed five deck styles. The following day was spent in
one of Northeast Tech’s
computer labs designing vinyl decals for the underside of
the skateboards. Friday was assembly day and an awards presentation.
The day at Malone’s wrapped
up with a group session as Don spoke to the campers about the
manufacturing process, how a team effort was involved, and how
a mistake in a process affects those on down the line. The campers
left with an appreciation of what teamwork is all about.
|
The SCREAM campers with their completed skateboards. |
* Watch a video feature produced by Oklahoma
Horizon Click
here |
