Building a Remote-Controlled Car

The Alexandria Area High School's advanced curriculum provides students a non-traditional approach to meet their physics/chemistry science requirement for graduation by offering a "Physics in Manufacturing" class. Students get hands-on experience learning from several manufacturing experts located in Alexandria and the surrounding communities.

Our team of Alexandria Industries' engineers had a great time teaching the class about the manufacturing process of aluminum extrusions and CNC machining, using lectures, hands-on learning and facility tours, to show them how we make products for our customers. Combining the laws of physics with advanced automation technology, the engineers helped the students design a bumper bracket for remote-controlled cars. They also taught them how to program the CNC machining operations to make the part.

When asked who has more fun in class, Todd Carlson, an Alexandria Industries' senior manufacturing engineer said, "There's no way to know if it's us or the students. We definitely have a blast teaching the class and we value the time we get to work directly with the students. It's a great opportunity for them to learn by doing. The students are also surprised to learn that manufacturing isn't dark and dirty and they're super impressed with the technology and opportunities to be innovative. Plus, they get to make something fun that they can actually use."

The kids also get to work with Alexandria Industries' toolmakers to build their brackets, as well as the quality team to measure their part's dimensions using a coordinate measuring machine. They are taught how to test the accuracy of CNC machining by comparing the part's actual dimensions against the CAD designs.

Alexandria Industries values the opportunity to teach students and encourage them to develop a genuine interest in manufacturing. They could be our next generation of skilled workers.