Techniques Nov-Dec 2012 - 23

Business and Industry Partnerships

schedules and curriculum development to deliver quality training when and where we need it.” Goodyear-Lawton has reciprocated by providing a steady flow of qualified student-employees, access to the factory as a training lab, donated equipment and collaboration in curriculum development. “Great Plains Technology Center is proud of the private-public partnership that has developed between our career and technology center and Goodyear Tire,” says CEO/superintendent of GPTC Tom Thomas. “Our 35-year partnership has had benefits for organizations, the school district and other regional employers.” In a recent economic impact survey, Goodyear-Lawton reported that as a result of partnership activities and the professional services provided by GPTC, Goodyear has realized an annual savings of $50,000–$150,000, and

a projected increase in sales revenue of $250,000–$500,000.

Pioneer Technology Center Safety Reciprocal Council
Pioneer Technology Center’s Safety Reciprocal Council safety training program is another unique example of how the Oklahoma CTE system builds sustainable partnerships. Although Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) built the first CTE Safety Reciprocal Council in the state, Autry Technology Center, Mid-America Technology Centers and others are beginning to implement similar programs. In 1994, PTC entered into a unique partnership with then-Conoco Phillips to provide all their contractor safety training for their refinery in Ponca City, Oklahoma. This partnership was created to ensure consistency in the safety training all the contractors received prior to enter-

Successful companies grow despite difficult economic conditions. Finding the right employees and continuing their professional development is one necessary strategy for most companies.
ing the refinery. From 1994 to 2008, PTC provided safety training to approximately 1,500 contractor employees annually. In 2009, with the active capital improvements that Conoco Phillips (now Phillips 66) has implemented each year in the refinery, that number increased to roughly 3,000 contractor employees trained annually. In 2011, PTC decided to become an OSHA Area Reciprocal Safety Center (ARSC) to better serve the participants.

Using Real World Tools in the Classroom
Virginia Tech engineering student Derek Lahr made his senior design project on his graduation present, a Tormach PCNC mill. “One of my research projects at Virginia Tech was to make a continuously variable transmission (CVT) for a bicycle. To get continuously variable ratios out of the transmission, one of the parts in the cam changes shape along its length. I needed a 4th-axis CNC with a rotary table to get it done. While I was researching ways to solve the problem on the bicycle design, I discovered the Tormach mill and saw that it had 4th-axis capabilities, was economically priced, and the right size.”

For the Future
While pursuing advanced degrees at Virginia Tech, Lahr continues to use his Tormach CNC mill, making award-winning robots for the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) program.
For more information on Tormach PCNC mills and accessories, please visit

www.tormach.com/education

www.acteonline.org

November/December 2012

Techniques

Techniques Nov-Dec 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Techniques Nov-Dec 2012