BCIT opens Gene Haas Manufacturing Lab

(From left) Stephen McMillan, associate dean, mechanical engineering, BCIT School of Energy; Jennifer Figner, provost and vice-president, academic, BCIT; Kathy Looman, director of education grants, Gene Haas Foundation; and Andrea Frisque, dean, BCIT School of Energy.

The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has opened the Gene Haas Manufacturing Lab, a move that was made possible by a $1 million donation from the Gene Haas Foundation.

This training facility is a complete modernization and expansion of the Machinist Workshop at the BCIT Burnaby, B.C., campus. Its goal is to enhance the applied learning experience of the school’s machinist students by equipping them with leading-edge skills for careers in machining while meeting the growing need for a skilled workforce in the province’s manufacturing sector.

The new Gene Haas Manufacturing Lab reflects the technological advancements and professional settings of the manufacturing sector. It has a newly designated CNC machinist training area and integrates new equipment that enables collaborative and interdisciplinary training with mechanical engineering students. The lab also will strengthen industry partnerships and work with other post-secondary institutions.

“This revitalized space will help us create a state-of-the-art learning environment that is conducive to excellence in machining and manufacturing education. The new Gene Haas Manufacturing Lab will not only equip current machining students with the most up-to-date training in metal fabrication in a learning environment that mirrors the workplace, but also attract new learners to this growing field,” said Andrea Frisque, dean, BCIT School of Energy.

With an estimated 85,000 new trades jobs needed to be filled over the next 10 years in B.C., the Gene Haas Manufacturing Lab should help alleviate waitlists by increasing learning opportunities in the machining field. As the only provider of machinist apprenticeship training in B.C., BCIT will now be able to take on an additional 45 students per year as a result of the expanded training facility.

BCIT has a longstanding partnership with the Gene Haas Foundation. As advocates of skills building and education in Canada, the organization has generously supported machinist programs at the BCIT School of Energy since the 1980s.

“BCIT is vital to the development of well-educated workers who will become leaders in industry. The Gene Haas Manufacturing Lab will play an important role. Students will learn on best-in-class equipment within a very welcoming and professional facility. Thomas Skinner continues to support investment in polytech facilities as well as the provincial and national skills competitions. A commitment to education is written into our mission statement and it is part of our culture,” said Ross McDonald, president, Thomas Skinner (a Haas Factory Outlet).