Posted on 09/03/2017 5:00:45 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Your car. Your phone. The spare change in your pocket. They have one thing in common: A machinist helped to make all of them.
“Most people don’t understand how products get made,” said Kurt Kimberling, an instructor in the Machining and CNC Technology program at North Idaho College. He has more than 30 years of industry experience. “Machinists have a hand in everything you use on a daily basis.”
At NIC, Kimberling teaches basic to advanced machining concepts, such as precision measuring, operating a milling machine, and operating computer numerical control (CNC) machines. Students can earn an intermediate or advanced technical certificate, or a two-year associate degree in machining and CNC technology.
“My goal is to teach students critical thinking and problem solving,” Kimberling said. “As a side effect, they learn all the basic skills. I consider myself a trainer, not a teacher. You learn competencies and master different skills.”
Upon completing the program, students will be qualified for entry-level machinist positions. Because machining is one of the biggest parts of manufacturing, and part of every industry, there’s a wide variety of jobs for machinists.
Max Clemons learned welding in the military. When he came to NIC, he enrolled in the welding program, then switched to machining.
“I could weld anything, but I had limited on-the-job training,” Clemons said. In the machining program, he received comprehensive training. “Now I can do anything, from top to bottom.”
Machining and fabrication came easily to Clemons, so in class, he would often help other students. After graduation, he soon found work as a prototype machinist.
At NIC, Clemons said, the instructors teach the fundamental skills, and from there students can explore what interests them and how they can use machining to pursue those interests. Because machining technology is used in so many industries, the applications are virtually endless.
“They give you an opportunity to see what interests you,” Clemons said, “and then they challenge you to think outside the box.”
In fact, Kimberling estimates that there are around 600 different facets of machining, from tool and die makers, to precision grinders and mold makers, and beyond. In recent years, he said the industry has become somewhat compartmentalized, so many machinists specialize in certain areas.
Jobs for machinists will increase by six percent between now and 2024. Kimberling said that a lack of skilled labor has created a deficit in the machining industry.
“The need for machinists is huge,” Kimberling said. “There’s a huge demand for these skilled workers, and there’s a good salary to go along with it.”
The median pay for machinists is $41,510 per year.
Machining is a craft that requires a commitment of time and effort to master, Kimberling said, but the ultimate payoff is well worth it. “It’s a very satisfying, challenging career,” he said. “From a raw piece of material, you can create anything you can imagine.”
For information on NIC’s Machining and CNC Technology, call (208) 769-3311 or visit www.nic.edu, click on “Instructional Programs” and then select “Machining and CNC Technology” from the drop-down menu.
Most everything in California is a leftist crap hole unless you move to the central valley.
I know that region well. It’s simple, for 40 years all the wrong people have been moving in and now it’s disgusting. They crashed the party.
Same with many other areas of the state. What’s interesting is they’re now totally pricing out most all the people who were born raised in CA for generations. They’re all being replaced by foreign nationals with big $$.
In fact foreign nationals with big $$ are the only thing propping up the entire RE market in CA.
They don't have machine shops in San Francisco, with Atlas Machine being the exception.
I was talking about San Francisco. You think your going to afford an average home of $1,500,000, while working at a machine shop?
Come on.
Yes. You either have a reading comprehension problem or are just stubborn. I need to get back to machining parts.
You’re ridicules.
Why are you attempting to convince people you can work at a machine shop and still be able to afford the average 1.5 *million* dollar home in SF? That’s absurd.
What’s your motive here?
I was a Nuclear Welder & Engineering Laboratory Technician in the Navy, retired as an MMCS. Took my VEAP and parlayed it into a mechanical engineering degree, and worked for a while as a welding engineer/metalurgist. Worked for GE for the last 20 years. I have an understanding and a respect for the trades that a majority of our junior engineers have yet to learn
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