Not so many years ago, Haas Technical Education Centres (HTECs) in Poland were only at the most important universities, such as those in Warsaw, Kracow, Wrocław and Rzeszów.
However, the development of technical education in Poland has come a long way recently, a fact highlighted by the opening of the country’s 19th HTEC earlier this year — more than in any other European country.
Poland’s large number of HTECs comes from the consistent efforts of Abplanalp, a distributor with more than 15 years’ experience of selling and supporting Haas CNC products.
The HTECs allow managers and engineers from local manufacturing companies to see and test the latest Haas CNC machine tools and consult with technical staff — and students can practise on machines that are the same as those being used in industry.
Moreover, manufacturers now frequently organise technical workshops to help incorporate their industry experience into the school curriculum.
As for the future, Abplanalp is planning to open 10 more HTEC schools by 2020, and another three every year thereafter, taking care to ensure equal distribution across Poland.