(WACO, Texas) – For this contest, money was on the line.
Students in the second and third semesters in Texas State Technical College’s Precision Machining program at the Waco campus participated in the second annual Machine Shop Mania on Thursday, July 16, at the Industrial Technology Center.
Students were divided into teams and competed in trivia, parts production and presentation. The goal was for students to use time management, planning and organization to work together.
“Keeping your space tidy is a big part of it, and consistency,” said Jeremy Bailey, TSTC’s director of alignment for the statewide Precision Machining program.
Students worked together to answer questions covering geometric coding, measurements, process cooling and heating materials, and other machining topics during the trivia portion of the morning.
For the parts contest, students used blueprints to create a lathe bolt, lathe nut, milled T-part and milled U-part to create a cube-shaped assembly part. Students were given an hour to work.
Teams presented their parts to a panel of industry judges. Students were able to use soft skills in talking about their production process.
Watching the work was Cindy Svoboda, a talent acquisition specialist at Integrated Machining Solutions in Azle. The company specializes in designing, building and shipping hoists for overhead bridge cranes.
“I thought it was amazing and the students looked like they were having fun, and showing off what they learned is great,” she said.
Svoboda said TSTC stands out for its education quality and the organization of its spring and fall industry job fairs for students and alumni. She said when looking at resumes, Svoboda pays attention to whether they are a TSTC graduate, have a consistent work history and good soft skills.
Precision Machining faculty members chose the student whose skills stood out above the rest. Byron McDonald III, of Corsicana, is a second-semester student in the program and was named top technician. McDonald received a tool box containing calipers, thread gauges and other tools.
“Being a top technician is fun,” McDonald said. “I do this for a living. I have experience in shops. It affirms to me that I am good at it (machining.)”
The top team was made up of Lionel Dmello, of Humble; Mason Clayton, of Graham; Michael VanZandt, of Waco; and Joshua Wiersema, of West, who is also an instructor in TSTC’s Welding program. Each received a $500 scholarship provided by The TSTC Foundation.
“It is exciting and exhilarating,” Dmello said. “I have some shock in me from winning.”
Dmello said he had pre-contest jitters but pulled through making the team’s lathe nut.
“We were able to pick what part we were going to run,” he said.
Registration continues for the fall semester at TSTC. For more information, go to tstc.edu.