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UMS seeking help for Hi-tech equipment |
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Wednesday, 17 January 2007 |
By Buck Traxler
I-O Editor
Utterback Middle School industrial arts educator Dan Brown was the featured speaker at the Conrad Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday.
His presentation was a reminiscence of “show and tell” days in school as well as a pitch for help in the UMS shop class being able to purchase a piece of Hi-tech equipment.
Brown talked about and showed the end results of what students had accomplished using Computer Aided Design (CAD), passing around three-dimensional drawings of a project and then the completed project.
Students have been using the CAD program for about five years now, generating plans for wood projects instead of using the older method of pencil and paper on a drafting board.
Now, Brown would like to add a MicroRouter as a new component to the middle school curriculum. He has, through a colleague, access to a machine that has been used as a demo model in trade shows.
The cost, new, would be in excess of $18,000. However, the demo model could be taken for $10,000, says Brown, which includes all the software to run it.
He cited a number of benefits to middle school students if the machine were purchased, including giving them a new exposure to possible interest in some field of engineering or manufacturing. It would open a window to how manufacturing is done today in industry, would give students a hands-on use of technology today, rather than just reading about it and give them a skill that would enable them to compete in today’s job market, not to mention a huge advantage over other students who have not used this technology.
For more information, or to help out, Brown can be contacted through the middle school at 278-3227, or check out the machine at www.denford.com .
In other reports, Jim Christensen from the hospital said that, “Flu has hit Montana and it is not too late to get a shot.” He noted that (patient) volume at the PMC had improved last month and a new doctor would be added to the staff shortly. Watch the I-O for more on this.
Cheryl Curry from the Port Authority commented that a regional group from the Great Falls Development Authority would be visiting the PA to let them know what they have to offer.
Lynn Utterback, District 10 School Superintendent commented that a committee of 10-12 people will be appointed to evaluate the school system.
While he didn’t speak at the CofC meeting, Gerald Miller, a board member of the Pondera County Canal and Reservoir Co., and VP of the CofC commented on a couple of projects the PCCR has going and has completed.
Currently the company is working on a project in District 5, which takes in the Dry Forks to the Conrad area.
The project is costing about $551,000 and involves a new diverging structure to move and extend water in different directions from a common point, Lake Frances. This will divert water out of the creek into the canal. “We’re pouring a lot of concrete,” he said.
Miller noted the PCCR has some 500 miles of canals and ditches and the company and shareholders own Lake Frances and Swift Dam.
A Phase I project behind the south side of the dam at the lake is completed and involved installing drain tiles and putting down and compacting sand.
Phase II will be replacing the tower behind the dam in the lake, which controlled the water to Districts 3-4-5. The two phases, “Are quite a project,” he said, “costing about $3 million.” The PCCR borrowed funds for part of the projects while shareholders picked up the rest.
There will be no luncheon meeting next month due to the CofC annual banquet-taking place on Feb. 27 at Norley Hall in Blue Sky Villa. |
