To the participants of the NTI fall 2008 CSWA testing completed on Monday October 20, 2008;

Awesome job!!!!.

I have blogged several times about the CSWA exam but this time we had a group of people who completely annihilated the national passing average.  NTI had 12 of 13 students pass the exam and 3 perfect exams.  Those individuals are Jordan Lewis, Bill Jugovich and Nick Mickalek. 

In my course, I attempt to relay the importance of being able to quantify what you say.  Passing this exam is an example of being able to quantify your statement I know how to use SolidWorks Comprehensive 3D Design software.  Yesterday 12 people attained an industry recognized certificate that also helps them to quantify their skills.

For those of you who chose not to take the exam I am a little disappointed.  You came to NTI to get into the exciting and rewarding career of Product Design and Engineering Technology.  I work tirelessly to find new ways to help you set yourselves apart from other graduates in this field.  This exam is one opportunity for you to do just that.  You need to take every opportunity to set yourself apart from your competitors.

You will find in this field that their are many different certificates to be attained that will set you apart from your colleagues.  Those who take the initiative to prepare for and pass these certificates will find more rewards to come.  Those who chose not to take that kind of initiative will get left behind. 

With new innovations, technology and the every present global economy, we can never think we are no longer students.  If you are not learning you are falling behind and an exponential rate.  Over  the last year I can tell you that I have learned at least 5 new things a day.  Some of those lessons are taught to me by the students.  Others are from the research I have done to prepare curriculum that will engage a majority of my class.

Anyway, (enough soap box), I really want everyone in our building to congratulate our CSWA’s.  There are quite a few here now.  The new CSWA’s: Wayne Borden, Jenna Powers, John Henneman, Arlan Jobe, Sean Stoeckel, Issac Roberts, (One of the Gesch Brothers), Cory Christofferson, Carl Monson, Jordan Lewis, Bill Jugovich & Nick Mickalek.  These folks have earned my respect.

We are excited to announce our summer graduates! Click on the link below to download and/or print your personal copy. Inside you will learn about October 16, 2008 graduates.
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We are excited to announce our summer graduates! Click on the link below to download and/or print your personal copy. Inside you will learn about June 12, 2008 graduates.

Get your summer newsletter here!

Hello all,

Now that I am overcoming my illness I would like to take a little time to comment on the SolidWorks World User Conference 2008.

To start with I want to mention that I ran into several architectural users of SolidWorks.  Hmmmm.  When I asked why they are not using Revit, AutoCAD, Chief architect many of them commented on ease of use and ability to do more.  I wish they could have provided more detail to these comments but I did find them using the SolidWorks Weldment tool for stick framing and structural design.  Then using those models in the COSMOS analysis package to ensure they were meeting code.  When I sold SolidWorks I worked with many companies that designed glass curtain walls, spiral stair cases, and the structural design of commercial building for much the same reason.

I met with educators from around the world and discovered some very interesting things.  In Finland schooling is very vocational even down to the elementary school level.  The instructor that I met from Finland discussed how by the age of twelve their students were not only proficient in designing/analyzing in SolidWorks but also manufactured everything they designed.  That Is a country that is embracing technology and science to increase their global economic standing.  

For the students here, as you enter your chosen profession you need to work hard to make our country change gears and do more to encourage science and technology in schools.  you can do this many ways; mentor students, meet with government representatives, work with your company and encourage them to join organizations like FIRST http://www.usfirst.org/.  This organization gets companies to donate 6 weeks of their time to adopt a group of students from a school to design and build robots for a Superbowl style competition complete with vendors, sponsors, Presidential visits and prizes.  Last year the competition was so big it had to be held in the Georgia Dome.  Check it out.

I also picked up some great quotes.  I will focus on this one : “There is no partial credit in the machine shop”  translation for architecture students : “There is no partial credit on the job site”.

Lets examine this quote – At the end of the day if you have not put all of your effort into ensuring your design, documentation and communication is not 100% accurate with no chance of being misinterpreted your company will have lost money.  IN manufacturing as soon as the machining tool starts the customer owns that piece of material and the time.  If you did not locate all of your features, size all of your features, apply the appropriate tolerances as required for the design to work correctly, etc… or dimensioned your design in a way that can be interpreted as loosely as government laws, gossip or other prominent books that people follow you did not do your job.  This will reflect poorly when it comes time for review.  So, take a little extra time.  Review your work.  Ask your self over and over again “Why will this not work?”.  Have other review your work.  Ask them “Why will this not work?” When you think you are done get up.  Walk around.  Come Back ask one more time ” Why will this not work? and have I missed anything?”.  Then get it approved.  You are responsible for your own actions and work.  Be the best.

More to come

Chris MacCormack

This past week, students have been participating in real and mock interviews. Interviewers often start with simple questions, then move to tougher questions, like “How much money do you require?” or if you have been in the field a while, they often ask “How much money do you make?”

As an interviewer, I am looking for a straight, no-nonsense answer: “I expect to start at a wage that is comparable to others within your organization who have my education and experience,” is an acceptable first response, as long as the dollar follows: “$36,000 would be acceptable.”

But how do you get to a number? First of all, do your homework. Ask for informational interviews at the companies in which you want to work. Research the occupation. Go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Check out the averages. Then, know the statistics of those graduating from that college (NTI’s are posted on the web site).

Then, you need to know how much money you need. Go to the “Jobs Now Coalition” to do a little calculating. One of the reasons this is a good tool is that it lists things like medical care. This is good because you can use this to calculate the value of benefits a company offers. For example, health care for 1 adult in the 7 county metro area costs that person $134/month on average. This is how much the person pays out of his or her pocket, including deductibles. So if the employer pays 100% of medical deductibles, that is like money in your pocket. (See Carol.com to get an idea of medical costs)

Be aware that some costs are not listed on the above web site, so you’ll need to add some costs…like loan payments!

Let’s start with financial aid. How much did you borrow or are you planning on borrowing? The more you borrow, the more payments you’ll be making. Go to the “Financial Aid Calculator” if you don’t know the amount of your payment. The Federal Stafford Loan has a fixed interest rate of 6.8% and the Federal PLUS loan has a fixed rate of 8.5%. Perkins loans have a fixed interest rate of 5%. The max loan length is 10 years.

Want a new car? I hear that a lot from new graduates. It may not be the wisest decision. The average rate for a new car loan in the twin cities area is 8% for a $20,000 fixed-rate loan (assuming you have “very good” credit, which means making your student loan payments on time). Your payment would be $400 each month for 5 years. Let’s say you don’t have such good credit. See eLoan.com for up to date rates and payment calculations (based on your credit worthiness).

To summarize: don’t sit there like a deer in headlights when someone asks you how much money you want. Research both the pay of that job and your needs. This will help you make an informed decision and look prepared in the eyes of the interviewer.

-Amy

Even though the conference has not officially started yet, I have been incredibly busy.

Beginning @ around 10 am I met with Richard Doyle, who passes his condolences to my semester at NTI.  Actually, he expressed again how fantastic it was that the second semester students are dressed to impress.  We had a great discussion on this point with the theme that in the USA every individual has every right in the world to tattoo themselves, pierce what ever you want and look however you please.  It is nice to be in America.  However, that being said potential employers also reserve the right not to hire you.  If you attend an interview and they feel you do not look the part, no matter how good you are they may pass you over for someone with less talent but more fashion sense.

Next up was alpha testing for the COSMOS group.  Due to the fact that I signed a non-disclosure with my students lives at stake I cannot detail this out for you.  I can say, I know that I am teaching students extremely valuable skills and shortcut that will pay off in industry with productivity increases and more work in the graphic interface.

Finally I closed the night with Vince Adams, Hari Padmanaban and many other COSMOS stars.  It is always very humbling to be in the presence of mathematical genius much like hanging with Mr “D”.   Dinner conversations ranged from product discussions (which went right over my wife’s head) to complaints that the San Diego Chargers should not have to play in 20 degree weather.

Vince Adams, who visited the NTI campus last year, spoke very highly of our program to his associates.  We discussed some opportunities about how our students may help COSMOS and visa-versa.  For those who are not aware the COSMOS group is head quartered here in California.  Several of the gents I was dining with were very excited to here about our program and wished there was something like NTI in CA.  (Mr. Fossen are you listening? Ha ha ha ha.  Cheers!.

Well, time to get more networking done.  Students should check out the SolidMentor blog site.  Much like the yahoo forum this blog can provide tech support within 4 hours by some of the industries best. By the way, I spoke with several of the SolidWorks Bloggers yesterday and they all enjoyed the answer to Wesley’s turning and broaching question as much as I did.  hoo hoo hoo haa haa haa.   Al kidding aside, they are very anxious to help you all succeed not only in school but in the workforce as well.   Keep posting, asking questions and offering up your own experiences.  I t will pay off.

And so the journey begins. 

Commandment 1 – I am your classroom lord and wrathful God of education and I will always lead your from the front, not the rear.

Throughout the past 10 weeks we have worked together to ensure that we are prepared, we research, we solve problems, we engage the team we have created, we make things simple….

Over those same ten weeks I have been preparing for two 1 hour presentation of a worldwide audience.  Your research presentations were based on the style of research that I used to make these presentations.  I triple checked criteria to ensure that I had all of my notes in order, that my presentation would fit 45 minutes and would fully engage the audience.  Throughout both of my presentations I will be the expert, that being said I will use my audience for about 30 minutes of my time.  They will answer questions, they will provide feedback, they will share experiences and best of all they do not even know it.  Knowing that I am going to present 2 topics to anywhere from 50 – 150 people from all over the world I had to do my research.  Oh, and by the way that is 2 hours of being in front of those people.  I need to ensure that I am at the top of my game.  My preparation included research from when I began my career at Northwest Technical Institute.  I listened to and heard the students day by day.  I am using my experience with you all as the premise for my GD&T presentation.

Many of you experienced the pain and suffering I went through to make my presentations come to life.  Commandment 4 – I will punish thy minds because the more thy struggles in training the lest thy bleedest in industry. 

The preparation for this event is grueling, stressful and rewarding all at the same time. 

The stressful part is making sure all of my plans are set.  Hotel room, flight, schedule as well as making sure I do not end up in San Diego with only a pair of boxer shorts. 

Reward comes from some doors that have opened up for me in the last couple of weeks and doors that I am working on opening up to the students and alumni of Northwest Technical Institute.  I am hoping to meet and line up opportunities that reach beyond the borders of the Midwest.  I am hoping to schedule peoples time to visit the school and discuss what their companies do and where student like you would fit into their organization.  Last but not least – the greatest reward is knowing that I worked hard to make a great product that will not only teach something but open up great discussions where everyone can participate and create a moment of exponential knowledge.

More to come from San Diego.

We are excited to announce our Spring graduates! Click on the link below to download and/or print your personal copy. Inside you will learn about February 21, 2008 graduates.

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