Teaching machining technology in Hertfordshire

Founded in 1921, Oaklands College has been offering ‘responsive and transformative education’ for over 100 years, having opened its doors to both men and women equally. Today, the Hertfordshire college adheres to its mission to ‘Prepare every learner for work, a rewarding career, and life’s opportunities’.

Students at the college can choose from over 1,500 full-time and part-time courses covering a broad range of subjects, sectors, and industries. At the Welwyn Garden City campus, which is home to its engineering programmes, Government funding has supported upgrades to T Level equipment, in turn boosting the college’s technical training capabilities and reflecting its commitment to providing ‘high-quality education that aligns with the evolving demands of the engineering sector’.

Richard Thomas, the college’s curriculum team manager in engineering apprenticeships, who is keen to for his students to experience real engineering in the classroom, said the established CNC machines were designed for training purposes, but felt it would be more appropriate to have machines commonly used in everyday production. Funding awarded to the college allowed it to purchase four new Haas machines and simulators supplied Norwich-based Haas Automation.

Future-proofed facility
Mr Thomas said: “We now have everything necessary to cover all the skills we aim to teach — and more. We have future-proofed the facility, thereby ensuring that our students will be able to meet the needs of local employers from day one.

“The training facility now houses a TM-0P Toolroom Mill with a 10-pocket tool changer, a VF-2 vertical machining centre paired with a TRT160 trunnion unit for full five-axis capability, an ST-10 turning centre with a bolt-on turret, and an ST-10Y Y-axis turning centre featuring a 6,000rev/min spindle and high-torque live tooling. This suite of advanced equipment ensures students receive hands-on experience with the tools and technologies used in modern manufacturing environments.”

“Moreover, having production machines on-site is a major attraction for our students. We teach real-world engineering skills, covering everything from mechanical operations to CAD/CAM software and programming. Our Level 2 course includes three to six months of hands-on training with the machines; and this year, our T Level students will be designing and building their own prototypes.”

Exceptional support
Mr Thomas continued: “The addition of four Haas CNC simulators has also been incredibly beneficial. They have essentially doubled our capacity, allowing half of the students to work directly on the machines while the others use the simulators to focus on programming. When we put the contract out for tender, Haas offered exceptional support and was always available to answer our questions. They have more than delivered on their promises — even scheduling on-site training around our teachers’ availability. Overall, the package Haas created for us has been an ideal fit for our needs.”

In addition to supplying apprentices to smaller local CNC machine shops, Oaklands College has established partnerships with major engineering firms — such as Airbus and Liebherr — to offer students practical work-experience placements.

He added: “We are seeing a growing local demand for skilled staff, and the fact that we now use industry-standard CNC machines as the foundation of our teaching has attracted significant interest. Our focus on real-world equipment is aligning perfectly with the needs of employers, making our students more competitive in the job market.

“We also included probing on all the machines, as this allows users to quickly and easily define work-offset coordinates, set tool length offsets — and perform in-process inspection. Moreover, this probing comes with easy-to-use templates that help reduce set-up time and increase accuracy.

“This capability gives us peace of mind, knowing that students can get more hands-on experience without risking damage to the equipment. The setup allows them to tackle a wider variety of one-off jobs and accelerate their learning; and with the ST-10Y turning centre offering a Y axis and live tooling, students can switch seamlessly between turning and milling operations, allowing them to produce more complex parts independently.”

Mr Thomas concluded: “By the end of the course, students will be confident in using the Haas five-axis trunnion to produce an award they have designed for themselves, marking the pinnacle of their achievements and time spent with Oaklands.”