Haas Automation Europe reports that it conducted a highly successful HTEC (Haas Technical Education Centre) Conference near Stuttgart, Germany on November 3rd – 4th 2015. A number of high profile delegates attended the two-day event from both the industrial and education sectors, all of whom were able to benefit from informative presentations and workshops, as well as a visit to the local Mercedes Benz plant.
High quality participants and a vibrant atmosphere were among the ingredients that made this year’s HTEC Conference a not-to-be-missed event. The key themes included addressing the challenge of how schools can successfully reach out to industry, and how they can attract more students into CNC education.
The conference programme, which was staged at the host HTEC of BFW Schömberg, in Stuttgart, saw Dipl.-Psych. Hr.Kremer of the Fraunhofer Institute deliver a presentation on the changing demands on professionals arising from furtherdigitisation in production. Among other presentations, Egon Fenrich, BU Manager at BFW Schömberg gave an informative talk on NC training, skills shortages and qualifications.
On the topic of training, Haas Automation Europe took the opportunity to announce its new teacher training programme. The goal of teacher training programme is to give teachers with Haas machines all the knowledge they need to use the Haas machine to the fullest.
With a pilot planned for spring 2016, Haas is pledging to pay between 50 and 70% of the teacher training costs.
Following presentations and the announcement by Haas, conference delegates were able to attend a series of technology workshops in the afternoon of the first day delivered by Haas partner companies, including metrology specialist Renishaw, tooling giant Iscar, workholding expert Schunk, CADCAM specialists DP Technology and Autodesk, and coolant expert Cimcool. The HTEC Conference 2015 concluded on the second day with the opportunity to gain a rare glimpse inside the Mercedes Benz plant at nearby Sindelfingen.
Among the executives from Haas Automation attending the HTEC Conference were Peter Zierhut (VP Motorsport Marketing and HTEC), Uwe Grünwitz (Sales Manager at Haas Süddeutschland), Marc Springstein (Business Manager DACH) and Simon Vanmaekelbergh (HTEC & Educational Partnership Coordinator). From BFW Schömberg there was Wolfgang Martens (Director Products and Qualification) and Markus Homburg (Director Education), while representatives from partner companies included Patrick Burgun (General Manager, DP Technology Germany) and Kurt Brenner (Manager of Production, Design, Coaching and Universities at Iscar Germany).
