Close to a decade ago, John Hersey High School (JHHS) in Arlington Heights, Illinois, made a transition from a traditional classroom-based pre-engineering program. The new program is geared towards helping students understand the entire manufacturing process. Previously, a JHHS student would design a project in computer-aided design (CAD) software…

In this article, the author describes how students in Kirk Marshall's industrial technology class at Bloomsburg Area High School, Pennsylvania, designed and manufactured battling robots (BattleBots) and their participation in an annual national robotics competition. According to Marshall, designing and building a complex robot would be virtually…

Chances are that many high school students would not know how to use drafting instruments, but some might want to gain competence in computer-assisted design (CAD) and possibly computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM). These students are often attracted to tech courses by the availability of CAD/CAM instructions, and many go on to impress employers…