RJG recently provided high school students with hands-on, real-world experience when it came to designing and launching a mold for use in the company’s North Carolina training facility.
To launch the mold, RJG’s TZERO team used a four-cavity puzzle mold to address all mold and part design issues through flow simulation before the mold was manufactured.
Progressive Components, one of the contributors on the project, donated eight rapid tooling inserts to the training facility for the project. Another contributor, Ameritech Die and Mold, also donated resources for building the mold through the Apprenticeship 2000 program.
The apprenticeship program allows junior and senior high school students apply for the pre-apprentice summer program. When they are accepted, a sponsor company like Ameritech pays the student to go to classes at a community college while receiving hands-on training at one of RJG’s facilities.
Once they complete the program, the students will receive an associate degree in mechatronics engineering technology, a Journeyman’s Certificate from the state of North Carolina and guaranteed employment with the company with a $36,000 annual salary.
Students like Casey Meyer, South Iredell High School junior, and Mike Merzka, a recent high school graduate, have been working with Ameritech mentors in this program.
“I got an in-depth look at each step of building a mold,” said Merzke. “I enjoyed seeing how each machine was used and how the molding process works.”
The students were also taken on a tour of the Ameritech facility to see what the Apprenticeship 2000 program does for its facility.
“I learned how to disassemble and reassemble mold,” said Meyer. “I learned all the features that a mold has to have in order to make a good part.”
“The mold trial was flawless,” said Marty Key, RJG Consultant. “With TZERO’s design, the manufacturing capabilities of Ameritech and the talented students of the Apprenticeship 2000 program, the mold produced quality components from the first cycle.”
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