Industry News for 06/2015

Machine tool builder Mazak Corp, Florence, Ky., will host a "Discover More With Mazak" technology and education event at its Southwest Technology Center in Houston, Texas, July 8 and 9 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Intended for all manufacturing industry segments, the event will showcase the latest metalworking tools, technologies and techniques for enhancing productivity and versatility on the shop floor, according to the company.  

Nearly two dozen robots competed head-to-head on a course designed to replicate rescue efforts amid disaster conditions during the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Robotics Challenge held June 5 and 6 in Pomona, Calif. At stake: $3.5 million in prize money. 

A public-private partnership announced June 8 seeks to enhance and expand training to fill the largest number of open manufacturing jobs in states along the automotive corridor, according to a news release issed by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS). 

A Cleveland-based trade association, Women in Manufacturing, now counts 510 members from across the country, with a strong online presence and a growing network of state chapters designed to support the advancement of women working in the field and to increase their numbers at all levels, from the shop floor to the corporate suite and everywhere in between. 

LNA has been appointed as a Fanuc Robotics Authorized Integrator to provide customers with automated laser marking solutions. Combined with LNA's experience with high-performance lasers and applications, customers benefit from lower manufacturing costs, vastly improved throughput, repeatability and resolution, according to the company.   

Northshore Technical Community College, Hammond, Ind., offers a machinist training program that it hopes will offset the gap in manufacturing job openings and qualified people to fill them, according to the school. The 2-year program acts as an introduction to a machining career, with students getting an associate degree in applied science with a concentration in machine tool technology, said Bridget LaBorde, dean of the campus. 

Machine tool supplier Methods Machine Tool, Inc., Sudbury, Mass., has expanded its Southern California operation, increasing the number of sales/application engineering and service personnel by eight and offering a full range of machine tool solutions from all of Methods' partner brands. In addition, Robert Serrano has been added to the leadership team as sales manager, bringing 25 years of machine tool experience to the position. 

Jack Beckman and Spencer Massey of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be joined by key members of Don Schumacher Racing on June 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for an open house at Sandvik Coromant headquarters in Fair Lawn, N.J. Beckman and Massey, who will drive DSR's Sandvik Coromant Top Fuel Dragster that weekend in the NHRA Summernationals at Englishtown, N.J., will be joined by DSR Senior Vice President Mike Lewis and Crew Chief John Medlen to highlight Sandvik Coromant's role in DSR technology and machining of key parts.

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), a standards and certification body, and the Gene Haas Foundation (GHF), which provides scholarships to schools for students entering technical training programs, are partnering to provide scholarship funds directly to select SkillsUSA students.