Northeast Metro Business VHEDC 2018 | Page 46

CENTURY FAB LAB STUDENTS INTERNS ENGINEERED PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS FOR INNOVIZE & REFINED THEIR GOALS C entury College, the first college in the region to install and implement a Digital Fab Lab and incorporate a Massachusetts Institute of Technology initiative across its curriculum in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), has an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program: Additive and Digital Manufacturing (ADM). Nowadays, companies that digitally manufacture for themselves or with other industries that employ them – such as Innovize in Vadnais Heights – require skilled workers with a focus on higher-level computer design, simulation and automation. Three ADM students had full-time engineering internships the summer of 2017 with Innovize. The internships allowed them to put their classroom knowledge “to the test” and refine their professional goals. Top photo: Pao Thao; Bottom photos, from left: Michael Fisher and Zach Gunelson 46 Vadnais Heights Business Guide & Community Profile And, according to John Sopp, Innovize’s Vice President of Operations, “The students from the Century College Fab Lab made an incredible impact at Innovize. Not only did they make major contributions with building some of our most challenging medical products, they also collectively engineered productivity improvements that will save Innovize over $50,000 per year.”