A Summer Intern's Project Impacting Manufacturing Training Across the Country

A one-stop-shop toolkit for America's Cutting Edge CNC machining training program aims to benefit IACMI-led training for thousands of students

GREENSBORO, N.C., Feb. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine going from no experience in CNC machining to working on a project that will impact manufacturing students around the country.

Although that may not have been her original intent, America's Cutting Edge (ACE) alumna Mama Salla began laying the groundwork the moment she landed a summer 2023 internship with industrial supply company MSC, a leading North American distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations products and services. Salla locked down the MSC internship after completing the ACE machine tool program in North Carolina. 

ACE, backed by the U.S. Defense Department and by the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), is designed to engage the next generation of machinists and create talent pipelines for the precision manufacturing industry in the U.S.

Salla, who describes herself as someone interested in building things, says ACE gave her an opportunity to envision building really big things with a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine.

"Let's say, a plane," said Salla, North Carolina A&T State University senior. "How cool would it be to be like, 'I made that part for the plane?' I like the little bits and pieces because they make up the big piece."

Like other machine tool bootcamp participants, Salla spent five days getting hands-on experience after completing the online course.

"It set me up for success," said Salla.

Her ACE experience grew into something larger as she worked to become one of the teaching assistants for future bootcamps. Simultaneously, she dived into the MSC internship.

Salla's work revolved around developing a one-stop-shop ACE toolkit, complete with all the components needed for ACE bootcamps. It's a resource that could make implementing ACE far easier for thousands of students at more than 25 regional ACE machine tools innovation and workforce development centers across the U.S. Since its beginning in 2020, ACE has provided online CNC training to 8,000+ students from all 50 states and trained 1,000+ students in week-long bootcamps.

"The new toolkit contains a variety of tools necessary for machining and assembling components to build an oscillating ACE air engine," said Michael Gomez, senior innovation research and development engineer for MSC. "Thanks to Mama's efforts, the toolkit is a cost-effective option that will ensure machining and assembly of the air engine components during the ACE training program is more efficient."

Creating the toolkit helped Salla build on the knowledge she acquired with ACE.

"I learned a lot," said Salla. "There's more to machining than machining the part."

JaCynthia Little, DEI director for MSC, says this is exactly the result they hope for as interns work with them.

"Our early career program drives both personal and professional growth in an inclusive environment and prepares future leaders for a successful career," said Little. "Having students like Salla allows us to gain new perspectives and innovative ideas in solving our customers' most mission-critical challenges."

Gomez worked with Salla during her internship as her mentor. He had opportunities to work with her one on one and says it's exciting to see the fruits of her labor.

"Her having the ACE experience and leveraging the things she learned there into her internship at MSC is extremely rewarding," he said. "I think it's a nice testament to the ACE program."

"It takes a lot for somebody to give you a chance," said Salla. "If I went anywhere else for my internship, it wouldn't have ended up like this."

As for where Salla heads to next, that's still to be determined, but MSC is leaving a door open.

"She can always work for MSC," said Gomez.

About IACMI and ACE

IACMI-The Composites Institute, backed by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office and, leads a 140+ member consortium of industry, academia, and government agencies for U.S. manufacturing advancement. IACMI focuses on technology innovation, product creation, and workforce development. Recognized for shaping America's future manufacturing workforce, IACMI, in collaboration with the Department of Defense's Innovation Capability and Modernization office, created America's Cutting Edge to reestablish U.S. leadership in the machine tool industry. ACE brings together the scientific expertise of the DOE's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, advanced training tools and techniques developed by Engineering Professor Tony Schmitz at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the workforce development leadership of IACMI.

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SOURCE IACMI - The Composites Institute