Ferris Maximizes Educational Opportunities

This continuing support includes the recent collaboration between Hurco of Indianapolis, ITW Drawform of Zeeland, Trans-Matic of Holland, Sandvik Coromant USA of Fairlawn, NJ, and Norchuk Tool Supply of Muskegon to make available to Ferris State a Hurco TM8 CNC slant-bed turning center. The TM8 allows for short-run versatility in a slant-bed lathe and will be utilized by all Manufacturing students in a hands-on applications lab located at the university’s Big Rapids, Michigan campus.
According to Ferris State Manufacturing associate professor Dean Krager, industry partnerships are an integral component of students’ educational experiences at Ferris.

“These long-term industry partnerships provide Ferris State students a network of knowledgeable industry professionals, continuing education for faculty, student scholarships, attendance at industry events and a wealth of career opportunities,” Krager said. “Additionally, financial support helps supply state-of-the-art equipment at discounted prices for student use in the classroom.

“On the flip side, our industry partners benefit from highly-skilled graduates ready to hit the ground running,” he added.
Ferris State Manufacturing faculty have been collaborating with industry partners such as Hurco for more than 25 years to make available the most current equipment for educational use in the classroom.

This tradition of excellence denotes the quality of our industry partners, Krager said, adding, “They’re always willing to go the extra mile to provide student learning opportunities.”

Such enhanced learning opportunities allow for the implementation of best practices and real-world applications, he said.
“Hurco’s machines are excellent learning tools for Ferris State Manufacturing students because they have a flexible, easy-to-use control which helps shorten the learning curve,” Krager says, “Everybody wins through these partnerships.”

Job opportunities are abundant for graduates of Ferris State’s Manufacturing programs. For graduates of the Manufacturing Technology associate degree, career opportunities include technician-level careers such as tool and die maker, machine builder, CNC programmer, manufacturing technician, quality technician and technical/sales representative. Graduates of the Manufacturing Engineering Technology bachelor’s degree have a broad array of engineering-level opportunities including manufacturing, applications, tool, process and industrial engineering.

The Manufacturing programs at Ferris State are very unique and known throughout the nation for their integration of real-world manufacturing applications – a draw for both students and employers.