Hypertherm, a U.S. based manufacturer of plasma, laser, and waterjet cutting systems and software, announced the recipients of its 2017 Spark Something Great Educational Grant. The winners, selected from a record 119 grant applications, represent ten high schools, vocational schools, and community colleges from throughout North America.
In its third year, the grant program aims to get the latest plasma technology into schools so the next generation of metalworkers can train on the equipment they will find once entering the workforce. Each school will receive a Hypertherm Powermax45 XP plasma system, Hypertherm’s AWS SENSE approved “Plasma Cutting Technology: Theory and Practice” curriculum kit, and in-person training from a Hypertherm industrial cutting expert.
“We are excited to get our systems into the hands of students who would not have the opportunity to learn plasma without a program like this,” said Betsy Van Duyne, who manages Hypertherm’s educational program. “Of particular note this year, none of our 10 grant recipients had a working plasma so it’s gratifying to know these students can now cut, gouge, and mark using a system as versatile as the Powermax45 XP.”
The 2017 Spark Something Great grant recipients are as follows:
Judith Nyman Secondary School - Brampton, ON (Canada)
Universidad Tecnológica del Centro de Veracruz - Cuitláhuac, Veracruz (Mexico)
Escambia County High School - Atmore, AL
Magazine High School - Magazine, AR
Alamosa High School - Alamosa, CO
Zane Trace High School - Chillicothe, OH
Central High School - Independence, OR
Salt Lake Community College - Salt Lake City, UT
Auburn High School - Auburn, WA
Magnolia High School - New Martinsville, WV
In addition to its Spark Something Great Grant, Hypertherm supports schools by offering educational discounts to both teachers and students, and by making all ten hours of its plasma curriculum available for free download to teachers. To date, teachers from more than 1,200 schools have acquired the lesson plans helping standardize the teaching of plasma cutting to thousands of students. Hypertherm also offers its ProNest for Education program which places its ProNest CAD/CAM nesting software in schools. Since launching the program last spring, Hypertherm has donated 41 ProNest packages valued at more than $6 million dollars.
