MCC celebration spotlights Gene Haas Advanced Manufacturing Center
College and Haas officials join students and alumni in the ribbon-cutting ceremony
at the MCC Gene Haas Advanced Manufacturing Center.
There’s a saying that good things come to those who wait. And that phrase has a familiar ring to it when Meridian Community College hosted a ribbon-cutting.
The event celebrated the grand opening of the MCC Gene Haas Advanced Manufacturing Center. “This is a celebration of MCC being awarded the namesake grant from the Haas Center and building a new, state-of-the-art advanced machining lab,” said Brian Warren, industrial division chair and instructor and coordinator of the Precision Machining Program.
A ribbon-cutting and grand opening was delayed because of the original COVID outbreak.
Haas Automation Inc., America’s leading builder of CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) machine tools, started in 1983 and is now a billion-dollar company. The company has 39 officially sanctioned Haas Training Centers worldwide.
In addition, its foundation, the Gene Haas Foundation, partners with schools and organizations to expose students to careers in manufacturing and provide means for them to pursue those opportunities.
MCC received a Haas grant in 2020 for $250,000 as a namesake award. “We are the only machining program in our region to be named after Mr. Gene Haas. This is a huge honor for not only myself but our college, city, and county. It speaks to the quality of our program graduates and the training capabilities our program possesses to train for the advanced manufacturing jobs of today and tomorrow,” Warren said.
The lab features nine Haas CNC machine tools and 14 Haas CNC simulators. The centerpieces for the lab include a 5-axis Haas UMC-500SS and Multitasking Haas ST-30Y turning center with Y-axis and live tooling. Four additional Haas mills, two additional Haas CNC lathes, a Tsugami B205 Swiss turn lathe, Zeiss CMM, and numerous manual lathes, mills, drill presses, and band saws round out the lab.
The foundation has also issued $40,000 in grants primarily for student scholarships to help pay a portion or all of the student cost to enroll in Precision Machining at The Gene Haas Advanced Manufacturing Center at MCC.
“We’re extremely grateful to the Gene Haas Foundation for this generous gift,” said Brian S. Warren, division chair of Industrial Technology and Precision Machining Program instructor at MCC. “This validates our program is having a positive impact on filling the skills gap and will help fund efforts to expand our program to include advanced courses such as 5-axis milling and multitasking with Y-axis turning centers.”
MCC’s Precision Machining Program boasts a long track record of producing quality graduates who go on to have successful careers as CNC operators and programmers. Since 2015, MCC students have won all CNC SkillsUSA competitions at the state level, with one student earning a Silver Medal at the 2019 SkillsUSA Nationals. With high-tech jobs in solid demand throughout the region, nearly all enrolled students are offered positions before graduation and begin their careers immediately afterward.
“The Gene Haas Foundation selects the best programs in the country to apply for naming rights gifts. This award and honor show Meridian Community College is an outstanding program, not just in Mississippi, but in the country,” added Toni Neary, director of education at Morris Group, Inc.’s Haas Tower. “Brian is a fantastic partner to us and an active member in the HTEC network. He has continuously demonstrated this through his outstanding relationship with industry, high quality of graduates, and of course, their performance at SkillsUSA in the CNC competitions. Trident Southeast is proud to work with Meridian Community College and look forward to highlighting amazing careers available, right here in Mississippi.”
College administrators noted the grant is a game-changer. MCC President Dr. Thomas Huebner said the Haas Foundation had invested scholarship dollars for MCC students for years, for the foundation to put the resources into the program is exciting. “These resources, along with our new facility, excellent faculty, and employment opportunities for our graduates, further set us apart as a premier program, and I could not be more excited about our future," Dr. Huebner said.
MCC offers one-year and two-year programs with three levels of completion, including an associate of applied science degree. In a typical year, the Precision Machining Program educates 20 full-time technical certificate and degree-credit students and ten part-time evening non-credit students involved in workforce training.
High-tech jobs in Mississippi and neighboring Alabama come from various industries,
including aerospace, automotive, medical and durable goods and equipment. Manufacturing
hubs in the region fall within 100 miles of MCC, making it ideal for students and
manufacturers.