Following months of preparation and three days of intense competition in Greenville, SC, the Minnesota State College CNC Machine Tool Team edged out the competition in the Project MFG Advanced Manufacturing Championship to take home the national title and a $100,000 prize.
The competition took place in May, but the results were not announced until the July 10 premiere of Season 3 of the reality web series, Clash of Trades.
Having made it through a qualifying round in Minnesota and a regional round in Wichita, KS, MSC Southeast was one of top four teams in the country. The college was represented by Bradley Bishop, Ellery Kiesel, Ivey Wadman Vehrenkamp, and Austyn Warren.
The theme of the national championship round was medical manufacturing. The students were challenged to fabricate various metal parts that are used in a total hip replacement and weld a pressure vessel, in this case a small version of an autoclave, which is used to sterilize medical equipment.
The prize money will be shared 50-50 between the students and the college. The college is planning to its use its $50,000 as seed money to add a 5-axis machine to the Advanced Manufacturing Lab.
Comments