Rapid prototyping machining centre into schools

An Unimatic Engineers product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jan 12, 2001

At the heart of the industry-backed CAD/CAM into Schools Institutive is Unimatic's Isel 3-4 axis machining centre, used throughout industry for tasks such as rapid prototyping

The next generation of young engineers will start their careers fully versed in up-to-the-minute CAD/CAM technology and techniques, thanks to the industry-backed CAD/CAM into Schools Institutive, launched this term.

At the heart of this programme is Unimatic's Isel 3-4 axis machining centre, used throughout industry for tasks such as rapid prototyping, but here repackaged for the special requirements of schools, colleges and training centres.

Popular CAD/CAM software packages are being made available to educationalists, who are being brought up to speed on this state of the art equipment by a national network of accredited trainers working at local level and through a network of some 80 regional Ohub centres'.

"It is recognised that Craft, Design and Technology (CDT) education has lagged industry's uptake of CAD/CAM," comments Unimatic's Bob Wright.

"With CAD/CAM now almost universal throughout engineering and manufacturing, industrialists were becoming very concerned.

Now, thanks to their lobbying, CAD/CAM is on the National Curriculum and, importantly, in such a way that it will always be up to date with development and advances." Unimatic has already supplied Isel units to two of the hub centres, Thomas Telford School in Shropshire and John Kelly School in North London, and also to several tertiary colleges and private schools.

"The older kids have produced some first class work on the CAD/CAM systems, things that many an engineer in industry would be proud to have done," enthuses Wright.

"The way we have repackaged Isel for schools means it can be introduced to pupils as young as 10 or 12 for making simple 2D badges and signs, and they can progress with it throughout their education to later produce 3D scale models and engineering components.

By the time they are ready to step from education into industry CAD/CAM will as natural to them as word processing, spreadsheets, computer games or cricket.".

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