MTC and USC Collaborate for Design Challenge

Students from Midlands Technical College’s Machine Tool Technology program and the University of South Carolina Aerospace Engineering program completed a design challenge during the Fall semester. The program director for MTC Machine Tool Technology provided a first-person perspective on its success.

Our first collaborative project between Midlands Technical College and the University of South Carolina is completed. Outcomes exceeded expectations and I couldn’t be prouder of our students! 

On Monday, December 2, 2024, the Machine Tool Technology (MTT) students visited the Aerospace Engineering students at USC. This is where Midlands Tech students presented a finalized design package to their teams. The design package included a blueprint created in either Auto Cad, Solid Works or Master Cam. We teach all three, and our students were able to demonstrate proficiency in all drafting suites. This speaks highly for Jeremy Gilliam and Jacob Flake as they teach CAD and blueprint reading in our program. The results were obvious. Our students also submitted an inspection sheet to verify that dimensional specifications were met. Again, this reflects directly to our Industrial Quality Control class. We also submitted a costing / cost rollup sheet on the project. The costing was developed loosely on real world scenarios that included work-center labor rates, material and tooling costs as well as overheads. Basically, we created a virtual factory. Andrew Gross, Assistant Professor for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at USC and I bounced these numbers around quite a bit to come up with a challenge that was achievable. The USC students were held to a $600 budget per part. This required extensive communication between MTC and USC students to maintain budgetary constraints. I always use the machinist mantra “with enough time and money we can make anything.” The real world usually doesn’t have either time nor money. This was an eye opener for both colleges. A project like this brings out the validity to these considerations. We will incorporate this into our MTT program moving forward with our partnership with USC. The true definition of continuous improvement!

Test Time!

After we arrived, our students submitted the design package to their teams. This was the first time USC students were able to hold the final product. You could feel the excitement in the room as MTT students described the machining processes used to create the part to be tested. Friendships were developed! As an instructor, this is where the lightbulb comes on with the realization that these are the students that will shape our future! Andrew Gross would agree! The test was very specific with a load threshold of 6 tons of force before deformation. Many designs succeed. Some did not. That’s a good thing as we are firm believers that more knowledge can be gained from failures than successes. These lessons are not soon forgotten. We just do it in a safe manner. The MTT students had a friendly bet on the winner. While our bet didn’t reflect the outcome, it did fall under successful criteria. We also submitted a MTT sample. While not the top article, we fell within the acceptable parameters. We did good! Andrew Gross agreed to test our part to total destruction. After all the snap crackles and pops, our I-Beam failed at about 10 tons. Impressive! Both sides of the aisle could see the visual effects as well as the analytical data to support the test results. I believe ALL students left with a better understanding.

In closing, this project has payed in dividends. Not only has this been an exercise in collaboration and technical communication, it brings us all together. I stayed in the background and let our students have their moment. A well-deserved moment. They shined! The college can be proud! Not only did they represent MTT, they represented Midlands Technical College in the highest manner. We can certainly move forward with a better foundation than we started as this was our first run through. Things that worked: Andrew Gross and I have a great relationship. This bodes well for both colleges. We are on the same page. We will both incorporate this project into our curriculum. No doubt a big win for MTC and USC. 

P.S. 
I can not give enough gratitude to my support staff! Thanks to Laura (Davis), Ray (Thomas), and Benjamin (Gaston) and everyone who made this happen! We will take the Machine Tool Technology Program to the next level. These things don’t happen by accident. Thanks!

Progress continues.

Gary O. Shannon is Program Director for Machine Tool Technology at Midlands Technical College. Reach him at shannong (at) midlandstech.edu or (803) 738-7697.

USC News: "Collaboration brings together aerospace engineering and machine tool technology students"