Moraine Park Mechanical Design Technology Instructor, Kim Olson, has been involved in several international presentations for Formlabs, a 3D printing manufacturer.

Earlier this spring, Olson presented for Formlabs about Injection Mold Design. There were 1100 registrants and over 360 live attendants from all around the world. 

In June, he gave his second presentation titled Considerations for Injection Molding with 3D Printed Molds vs. Metal Molds. There were over 300 attendees.

In both of these presentations, there were 90-minute Q&A portions where attendees could ask Olson direct questions about his work and 3D printed molds.

His most recent presentation was last week, Oct. 26-27, for the Formlabs Global User Summit. He was one of 40 presenters from countries all around the world.

“There is additive manufacturing and there is subtractive manufacturing,” Olson said. “Think of subtractive manufacturing as carving away at clay. You keep taking clay away until you’ve created something. Additive manufacturing is creating something by building up from nothing. That’s where Formlabs and 3D printing comes in.”

Olson has been teaching at Moraine Park’s West Bend campus for the past 25 years. Some of his classes include AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Jig and Fixture Design, Tool Design and Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerance. 

Before bringing his expertise to Moraine Park, Olson designed zinc cast dies for an automotive lock manufacturer in Milwaukee for 15 years.

Over the last 3-4 years he’s gained a significant amount of experience using Formlabs with Moraine Park students.

“We’re all passionate about what we do,” Olson said. “The satisfying part comes when we get the opportunity to share what we do with others.”

For more information on Moraine Park’s Mechanical Design Technology program, visit https://www.morainepark.edu/academics/programs/mechanical-design-technology/.

Moraine Park Technical College’s nursing program is working to help students adapt to the increased utilization of telehealth technology. The Wisconsin Technical College System identified this need in 2013 and approved a grant to help implement this learning into the curriculum.

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought forward the importance of offering patient care remotely, and Moraine Park continues to utilize this vital technology. To aid in these efforts, Moraine Park partnered with GrandCare, a provider of telehealth systems, in 2013.

The College’s partnership with GrandCare is coming to an end this year. However, GrandCare made a generous contribution to aid telehealth education for both present and future students. The original grant afforded the College the usage of GrandCare’s telehealth unit, and this last fall, GrandCare donated the unit to Moraine Park, allowing students the opportunity to continue to interact with the equipment.

“We are grateful to GrandCare for their partnership,” Kelly Shafaie, Associate Dean of Nursing at Moraine Park, said. “They have been a vital part of our telehealth teachings, and our faculty and students will benefit from their generosity for years to come.”

For more information on Moraine Park’s nursing program, visit morainepark.edu/nursing.

Moraine Park Technical College Foundation will be able to award 15 students with one-time scholarships thanks to the success of The Ledge Games 2018, which raised $7,500.

This family-friendly competition, held in Eden, challenges participants in a series of lumberjack activities such as caber toss, hammer toss, archery, keg toss, speed chop, and ax throw. One hundred percent of event proceeds support The Ledge Games scholarship, established through the Moraine Park Foundation, which focuses on engineering, manufacturing, and technology programs at Moraine Park. The event is co-founded by Josh Michels, of Fond du Lac and Tyler Oestreich, of Eden.

“Both Josh and I are in the manufacturing industry, ” said Tyler Oestreich, co-founder of The Ledge Games. “We are proud to contribute the proceeds to Moraine Park. Our local economy greatly depends on manufacturing skill sets, and we see the value in educating and supporting the manufacturing workforce locally. Moraine Park’s students take the skill sets they learn to local manufacturing companies in Fond du Lac and the surrounding areas to continue to innovate and keep the local economy strong.”

Students enrolling in engineering, manufacturing or technology for the 2019-2020 school year are eligible to apply for this scholarship. To be considered for a Foundation scholarship, students must have a Moraine Park Technical College cumulative or high school GPA of 2.75 or higher and enroll in a minimum of six credits per semester. Application deadline is April 15 for high school seniors and May 26 for all other applicants.

To apply for The Ledge Games scholarship, or for more information on other Moraine Park scholarships, visit morainepark.edu/scholarships.

The 2019 Ledge Games are scheduled for Saturday, September 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on this event and how to help benefit this scholarship, visit theledgegames.com.

Moraine Park Technical College will be able to award 15 students with one-time scholarships thanks to the success of the 2017 Man of the Ledge event, which raised nearly $8,000.

The family-friendly competition, held in Eden, challenges participants in a series of lumberjack activities. One hundred percent of event proceeds support the Man of the Ledge Scholarship, established through the Moraine Park Foundation. This scholarship, which works to make education more accessible and affordable for students, focuses on engineering, manufacturing, and technology at Moraine Park.

“We started this event because we have a lot of fun doing it, ” said Tyler Oestreich, co-founder of Man of the Ledge. “It’s hard to beat spending a Saturday in October outside with great people, competing in out of the ordinary events, all while raising money for local tech education.”

Man of the Ledge 2018 is scheduled for Saturday, October 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on this event and how to help benefit the Man of the Ledge scholarship, please visit manoftheledge.com.

Individuals enrolling in engineering, manufacturing or technology for the 2018-2019 school year are eligible to apply for this scholarship.  To be considered for a Foundation scholarship, students must have a Moraine Park Technical College cumulative or high school GPA of 2.75 or higher and enroll in a minimum of six credits per semester. Application deadline is April 15 for high school seniors and May 26 for all other applicants.

For more information on Moraine Park scholarships or to apply online, visit morainepark.edu/scholarships.

It was John F. Kennedy that once said “Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all,” and we’d argue those words remain as true today as when they were uttered more than a half-century ago.

But what has changed significantly, though, are computers themselves, so we thought it would be fun to look back at the changing technology our College’s staff and students have used over the years.

Continue reading

Have you wanted to learn to use Excel even more efficiently? Moraine Park can help–We offer Excel (103-180) and Advanced Excel (103-190) classes in a convenient, hybrid format.

Students may work online or in the classroom, with the support of an instructor. Registration for these classes is still open, so register today or contact smurrewolf@morainepark.edu for more information.

Regardless, we wanted to pass along a few quick tips to help you right now! Check them out:  Continue reading

As you can see by the danger sign in the picture, high voltage is new to the automotive industry.

And here at Moraine Park Technical College, with advances in automotive technology and hybrid vehicles aging, we are exposing our students to hybrid and electric vehicle technology.  Continue reading

The size of diagnostic equipment has changed a lot over the years as new technologies have been introduced into the automotive field.

But as the old adage goes, “size doesn’t matter.” Continue reading

It’s safe to assume you’re reading this on some sort of modern computer, or tablet or phone. Something that can probably do everything short of buttering your toast in the morning (but maybe there’s an app for that, too?!). Alas, the device you’re currently staring at can send Tweets and emails. It surfs the ever-rolling waves of the worldwide web. It can play Candy Crush. You know, important stuff. Continue reading