Located in the northeast wing of the Kinsley Engineering Center is a 5,550-square foot facility equipped with large and small machine tools, portable power tools, hand tools, and a variety of materials for fabrication. The Machining Technology Lab is a teaching facility as well as a full support facility for academic courses such as EPADS (Engineering Practice and Design Studio), Materials Science, Strength of Materials, Machine Design and culminating in Capstone Design I and II.
During their freshman year, engineering students are taught basic machine shop practice with the primary focus on shop safety. See the KEC Shop Safety Manual. Students learn the basic operation of the drill press, horizontal band saw, vertical band saw, engine lathe, vertical and horizontal milling machine, stationary belt/disk grinders, drilling and tapping, and die grinding.
Student progress from basic machine operations to computer numerical control (CNC) machinery which can produce parts designed with SolidWorks 3D CAD system.
TOOL ROOM: The tool room houses precision tooling, indicators, and gages for the manual and CNC machine tools, a wide assortment of hardware, taps, dies, drill bits, reamers, die grinders, cordless power tools, hand tools, and diamond wheel grinder for sharpening carbide tooling.
WOOD SHOP: The wood shop houses portable and floor model woodworking machines (band saw, table saw, drill press, thickness planer, combination belt/disk sander, router, jig saws, hot-wire styrofoam cutter, belt and random orbital sanders, pad sander, circular saw, dust collection, air filtration) and workbenches for student and faculty use, as well as wood and plastic project material.
WELD SHOP: The weld room contains a variety of brazing and welding equipment (oxy/acetylene gas welding and cutting torches, arc welding, MIG welding, TIG welding), plasma cutting, welding benches, weld fume extraction system, welding apparel and supplies.