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ACE hands-on bootcamp goes beyond fundamentals of CNC machining

Composites, Workforce

Say hello to Stian Romberg, a former wide receiver at Brown University, currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) and researcher at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL). Stian is studying large-scale thermoset additive manufacturing and has had a lot of experience with CNC controls, but has never had the opportunity to run a CNC Machining system.

He read about the ACE program in a mass email sent out by the UT Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Department and was prompted to sign up for the ACE CNC Machining Training online course.

“I was very excited to see that Dr. Tony Schmitz would be overseeing the training. I took his advanced manufacturing class last year, so I knew this training program would be great.”

After completing the online program, Stian felt he acquired a thorough introduction to the steps required to machine parts, but decided to sign up for the week-long, in-person CNC machining bootcamp May 24-28 to gain hands-on experience.

“For many applications, additive manufacturing must be paired with machining to achieve required tolerances, surface finishes, etc.,” he said. “To achieve a well-rounded understanding of what can be achieved with additive manufacturing, I felt like I needed an introduction to machining.”