Hypertherm Granting Air Plasma Systems to 12 North American Schools

Hypertherm Associates is now accepting applications for its Spark Something Great educational grant program. The program, now in its ninth year, will provide 12 North American schools with a Powermax45 XP air plasma system and in-person training from a Hypertherm product expert. This year, applications are due on or before April 1 with grant decisions communicated by May 1. More information, including instructions for applying, is available at www.hypertherm.com/grant.

The Spark Something Great grant program is meant to support the next generation of welders and metal fabricators by making the newest generation of plasma cutting equipment and standardized instruction available to schools, according to company officials. To date, the company has awarded systems to 88 schools.

In addition to the grant program, Hypertherm Associates will continue to make all 10 hr. of its AWS Sense approved Plasma Cutting Technology: Theory and Practice curriculum available for free download to teachers. The curriculum covers the plasma cutting process, common industrial uses for plasma systems, the differences between various cutting methods and safety procedures, as well as proper setup and operation. Electronic versions of each lesson, a facilitator’s guide, student workbook, and supporting reference material are all available at www.hypertherm.com/plasmaeducation.

“The current skills gap and labor shortage has placed increased demand on North American vocational schools,” says Stephen Bruner, manager of Hypertherm Associates’ educational program. “An influx of new students coupled with teacher shortages mean that we have fewer instructors teaching more students without a corresponding increase in equipment. We’ve encountered numerous programs in which dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of students are forced to share a single system. Our program hopes to help those schools by providing a versatile system instructors can use to teach handheld and mechanized cutting, as well as applications such as gouging, flush cutting and marking.”

See also: Hypertherm, Inc.

Technologies: Cutting

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