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Staff Reports

  Chad Brown, South Georgia Technical College’s Precision Machining and Manufacturing Instructor, has been selected to serve as a two-year college representative on the 2023-2024 Haas Technical Education Community (HTEC) Member Council.

   The Haas Technical Education Community (HTEC) is a worldwide partnership program, established to transform CNC (Computer Numerical Control) classrooms into high-tech, advanced manufacturing labs that provide the best CNC education possible.  Educators gain access to industry-standard CNC machines and essential technologies, as well as classroom materials, professional training, and national and international conferences.

   The Haas Technical Education Community consists of a community of manufacturing technology educators – spanning a global footprint of more than 4500 schools, training centers, colleges, and universities – who leverage the capabilities and technologies of Haas Automation and leading industry partners to exploit the power of modern, advanced manufacturing equipment in an educational setting, with the aim to provide the best CNC training possible for generations to come.

   HTEC educators also network and share best practices with thousands of other CNC machining educators around the world on a global scale.  Today’s manufacturers form the backbone of communities, helping them grow, supporting other industries, and providing opportunities for advanced technology careers as machinists, programmers, and business owners.

   The first HTEC Educators Conference was held over 25-years ago at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY.  Since then, the HTEC conferences have continued to provide an opportunity for educators training in CNC technology, to meet, collaborate and learn from each other as well as being taught by industry who represented products and resources that educators needed to build successful CNC training programs.

   SGTC’s Brown recently attended the HTEC CNC Educator’s conference at Peak Innovation Center at Fort Smith, AR, and was nominated and voted by peers to serve as a member for the two-year colleges.  He was joined by Jessica Burzminiski of Red River College Polytech in Winnipeg, CA; Paul Hill of James Sprunt CC in North Carolina; Tommy Morris of Lanier Technical College in Georgia; and Brian Nelsen of Dunwoody, MN.

   Eric McKell of Brigham Young University in UT was elected President of the HTEC Member Council.  Matt Erbach of South Elgin High School, IL, is the Vice President and Country Rimaldi of Mission-Secondary, BCCA in the secretary.  Representatives from junior high, high school and four-year colleges and universities were also elected along with grant development officials.

   The overall mission and vision of the HTEC Council is to increase the number of skilled graduates available to fill critical jobs in the growing and evolving manufacturing industry through education and dissemination.

    Brown has been an instructor at South Georgia Technical College since 2017.  He is a 2005 graduate of the South Georgia Technical College Machine Tool Technology program and worked as a Machinist with the Marine Depot Maintenance Command at the Marine corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia, for 13 years.  He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Ashford University and attended Georgia Southwestern State University.  He is married to Dr. Jessica Smith Brown and they have two children.

   Brown believes that Precision Machining and Manufacturing is an exciting field where imagination is turned into reality.  Almost every product used on a daily basis has gone through a machining process of one type or another.

   At SGTC, Precision Machining and Manufacturing students learn how to create the parts that make technology work.  A machinist can take raw materials and produce a specialized finished product through knowledge that is a combination of theoretical information and hands-on experience.  With practical experience in bench work, assembly layout, manual machining and computer numerical control (CNC) programming, a student will be prepared to handle a wide range of responsibilities in the metalworking industry.  Machinists are in high demand the employment outlook is expected to grow.

   Students interested in pursing a Precision Machining and Manufacturing diploma can enroll in SGTC’s Fall C-term and earn 16 weeks of credit in eight weeks.  Classes begin October 11 and will conclude December 12.

   To apply to SGTC, visit the website at www.southgatech.edu and click on the Apply Now button.  For more information about Precision Machining and Manufacturing, contact Chad Brown at cbrown@southgatech.edu or 229-931-2573.