Page 151 - 1987.Millard.North

Technology

Gives Shop

Helping

Hand

T Although
he shop was no longer just a place of
grease and wood chips.
these things were still present, the
computer started to make a showing. The
shop had two systems. The Computer As-
sisted Drafter and the Computerized Numeri-
cal Controlled lathe.
The CAD system allowed the drafting de-
partment to come into the twentieth century.
The hours of work bent over the drafting table
with pencil and ruler could be done in minutes
on the computer. In fact, as teacher George
Franke said, "A student does it without even
using a pencil."
The CNC lathe allowed a student to pro-
gram the shape he wanted and then let the
computer move the lathe. This reduced
errors and speeded up the process.
The students showed a great deal of in-
terest in the CAD system which saved them
time. In fact, the two work stations were not
enough and more were needed, but the SI::UXU
system did not come cheap, and it will be a
few years before another is purchased.
The CNC was introduced around Christ-
mas, but the computer needed to run. It was
not brought in until February, so students did
not have as much time to work with it. How-
ever, despite the lack of time, students still
showed great interest.
It was hoped the systems would help con-
tinue the tradition of the previous years at the
art fairs. The four fairs attended included:
Peru State, Kearney Stati. Goodland, Kansas,
and the Metropolitan Omahan Builders Asso-
ciation.
Before the introduction of the computers,
the school had practically controlled Peru
State by taking the over-all trophy for four
consecutive years.
In addition, the previous year brought the
school prizes from Kearney, for outstanding
freshmen and junior projects.
Unlike the other two which were open to
all categories, Goodland, Kansas was merely
open to drafting. For the third consecutive
year the school received over-all team cham-
pionship.
Finally , MOBA, which was also just draf-
ting, gave the school the highest total points
Teacher Dan Craney adjusts a lathe, just to give it the win. tN
one of the tools used to shape metal. (D. ROTHFUSS )
Biff Raleigh
Junior Doug Wingert and Senior Chris
Shearer draw their assignments from their books.
The new computers can practically make the process ob-
solete. (D. ROTHFUSS )

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