Mark Morris students shine in computer contest



By Carrie Pederson | Posted: Sunday, August 3, 2008 12:00 am | (0) Comments

Mark Morris High School students proved once again they are among the best in the nation in computer-aided design and computer-aided machining skills.

The Mark Morris team, made up of recent graduate Harrison Scarborough and incoming seniors Gavin Johnson begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting and Masen Furer, took third place in June's SkillsUSA competition in Kansas City, Mo.

It's the second time in three years a Mark Morris team has placed high in the contest, judged on industry standards.

Students make the program successful, said Stewart Smith, CAD-CAM and metal shop teacher at Mark Morris High School.

"I get some of the smartest kids in the school, and they excel," he said.

The three-member team competed against 35 high schools, including many technical schools where students have more training and up-to-date equipment, Smith said. The Mark Morris team also out-scored some community colleges, Johnson said.

In the CAD-CAM class at Mark Morris, students make signs, key chains or tool and machine parts. The lab has 60 computers and about seven computer-controlled machines, including four mill machines, a lathe, a wood router and cutting machines.

Smith said he allows students to decide what they want to make in the CAD-CAM class and learn from their mistakes.

"When you run into a problem, you have to figure it out yourself," Johnson said.

"A lot (of students) don't understand why I won't give them the answer, and they get mad at me," Stewart said. "But they will retain it longer and do it better if they do it on their own."

"That's the reason why we can compete against technical high schools where this is all they do," Furer said.

The national competition was eight grueling hours, participants say. The team was given a picture of motor housing and required to make a mold.

Furer drew the 3-D picture of the mold. Scarborough wrote a code in the computer to turn into coordinates. Johnson made the part using by a milling machine.

"It's modeling a real-world scenario, except we're timed and competing against other people," Furer said.

They made two 3-D parts perfectly, but they didn't have time to make the last two parts.

"More important than being fast is accuracy," said Johnson, adding that parts are measured to within 5 ten-thousandths of an inch.

Learning from the competition in 2005, when the Mark Morris team placed second, Smith said he advised his team to slow down and be accurate. Next year they will be looking to find the right balance between speed and accuracy, he said.

Mark Morris was the only high school in the state to compete at the state-level SkillsUSA competition. It's the only high school in the area with a CAD-CAM workshop, which is also open to students from R.A. Long High School, Smith said.

Smith said he started the class 15 years ago with another teacher. "We decided we better jump in early because that's the way industry was going," Smith said.

There aren't a lot of jobs for Computer Numerical Control machinists in this areas but nationwide there are "bucketloads," Smith said. "All of the trades are running out of men because baby boomers are retiring and leaving a void in the tech industry," he said.

Though Scarborough is planning to study mechanical engineering rather than custom machining at Washington State University next year, students say the background will be helpful.

"You can design better part if you are thinking about how to make them," Furer said.

Posted in Local on Sunday, August 3, 2008 12:00 am