3D Printers

Oakland Schools Technical Campus Wins 3D Printer

• By Leila Meyer
• 03/28/16

Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northeast in Pontiac, MI has been awarded an Afinia H800 3D printer to help promote student interest in the manufacturing industry and manufacturing careers.

The school district received the 3D printer from SME, a non-profit organization serving practitioners, companies, educators, governments and communities across the manufacturing spectrum. The award was in recognition of Oakland Schools' participation in SME manufacturing and career awareness activities, including Manufacturing Day, an event to create awareness of the shortage of skilled labor and other concerns and challenges facing the manufacturing industry.

The Career Focused Education team at Oakland Schools plans to integrate the Afinia H800 3D printer into its manufacturing-related curricula, according to a news release from SME. "The opportunity for students to experience advanced manufacturing technologies like 3D printing is a great way to generate interest in manufacturing and manufacturing careers," said Jeff Krause, chief executive officer of SME, in a prepared statement. "Having an Afinia H800 in their own facility is a great hands-on way to explore and learn about advanced manufacturing.

Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northeast is an intermediate school district (ISD) operated by a regional service agency to provide high school students in Oakland County with practical career technical education. Students spend part of their school day at their home district and the other part of the day participating in one of Oakland Schools' career clusters, which include engineering and emerging technologies; information technology, entrepreneurship and advanced marketing; health sciences; transportation technology; biotechnology and environmental science; construction technology; cosmetology and human services; culinary arts and hospitality; and visual imaging.