A few years ago, one of our engineers, Chantelle, graduated from Portland Community College with an Associate of Arts and Sciences in Mechanical Engineering Technology. As part of her continued efforts to support the next generation of engineers, Chantelle served her 2-year term as Chair of the PCC Civil and Mechanical Engineering Technology (CMET) Advisory Committee. Committee members comprise industry professionals and PCC staff. The committee works diligently to make changes to the program, which PCC later implemented.

Over the years, Chantelle stayed in touch with the CMET program and current PCC instructor, Peter Kazarinoff, who teaches Civil Engineering. He brought a few students over to NW Rapid for a tour. We showed them around our office, production, and second-ops buildings to introduce them to our team and an example of a day in the life of an SLS printer.

First, Chantelle met the group in our conference room, where we showed them some design examples.

In production, we had some hands-on time with what we refer to as “cake.” Chantelle explained the printing process and what goes into ensuring parts are ready for our clients’ end-use, including tensile strength testing.

From there, we proceeded to second ops, where we conducted post-production activities. At this stage, printed designs can get some additional love. In the finishing process, parts can be tumbled, painted, plated, and dyed before they’re shipped. We can also install inserts or tap threads to facilitate assemblies. While designs can be printed with built-in threads, plastic threads break down quickly and are only suitable for a limited number of uses; therefore, we recommend using threaded inserts for a longer-lasting screw thread.

To conclude our tour, we visited the area where our parts usually end up before being shipped to their new homes. Bud allowed us into his domain to showcase our shipping area, where parts are prepped and shipped to clients. Sometimes delicate, we must take proper care to ensure our parts reach their final destination intact.

We’re so encouraged to see today’s youth interested in engineering and SLS printing, and we’re happy to show them what SLS can do. Do you know someone interested in pursuing a career in this field? Please send them our way!

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