Tag: Curtis Elliott

PLTW Teacher, ECC Adjunct Recognized Nationally

September 22, 2022 | Campus News

East Central College adjunct instructor and St. Clair High School engineering teacher Maurice Gritzman is being recognized nationally for the work he is doing with engineering students.

Gritzman was named an Outstanding Engineering Teacher by the National Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a not-for-profit organization that promotes transformative learning experiences for students. More than 12,400 schools offer PLTW to millions of students across the country.

The SCHS PLTW is a unique program due to the collaborative partnership between the high school and ECC. Four days a week, Gritzman leads his students through their engineering studies at both SCHS and in the labs in ECC’s Business and Industry Center (BIC).

He noted that the National PLTW award brings to light the work that SCHS and ECC are doing together, and how it greatly benefits his students.

“This award gives recognition to the St. Clair program, and it highlights what ECC is doing to benefit students. It also shows the kind of post-secondary opportunities students will find at ECC,” he said. “I am very happy for these students because a recognition like this showcases what they have been able to accomplish — without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

The students learn to model projects using Solidworks (computer-aided drawing and engineering application) in the BIC labs, and then they build their projects using the college’s Precision Machining equipment.

“PLTW helps us link to all of the resources these students have available, and it has helped us develop relationships that can be used to gain real-world experience,” Gritzman added.

In addition to utilizing equipment and technology that is unavailable at the high school, the SCHS students also earn ECC dual credit courses for college.

To learn more about PLTW-e and the collaboration between ECC and SCHS, visit www.eastcentral.edu/blog/video-ecc-and-st-clair-high-school-engineering-partnership-continues/.

VIDEO: ECC and St. Clair High School Engineering Partnership Continues

August 30, 2022 | Campus News

A collaboration between East Central College and St. Clair High School continues to grow. This year marks the third year of the Project Lead The Way-Engineering (PLTW-E) program — a partnership between the College and SCHS.

The high school’s PLTW-E program, in conjunction with ECC’s advanced manufacturing center, has organically grown into what is now a collaborative lab-sharing project. SCHS students use the labs and equipment at ECC to further enhance their PLTW-E program.

Since 2019, Maurice Gritzman, PLTW-E instructor at SCHS, has jumped on a bus with his students four days a week to make the trip during the fall and spring semesters to the College’s Business and Industry Center (BIC). Gritzman, a former engineer, leads his students through engineering studies at SCHS and at ECC.

While at ECC his students learn to model projects using Solidworks (computer-aided drawing and engineering application) and then they build their projects using Precision Machining equipment. Students in this program also utilize industrial precision machines and other related software. In addition to utilizing equipment and technology that is unavailable at the high school, the SCHS students also earn ECC dual credit courses for college.

This year there are eight SCHS students involved in the PLTW-e. In 2020, all three SHCS grads in the program came to ECC the following year. Last year, there were 15 students, five of whom were seniors in the program — two came to ECC after graduating high school and three went onto Missouri S&T in Rolla.

Collaboration

The collaboration between SCHS and ECC began four years ago, according to Dr. Richard Hudanick, Dean of Career and Technical Education. Gritzman brought students to the BIC labs for ECC’s Annual Manufacturing Days Event in 2019.

The event showcases ECC’s faculty, labs and programs focused on HVAC, Industrials Engineering Technology, Precision Machinery, and Welding.

It was at Manufacturing Days that Gritzman and SCHS Advisor Holly Click met Nathan Esbeck, Industrial Engineering Technology (IET) program director; Curtis Elliott, Precision Machining program coordinator; and Hudanick.

At the time, Gritzman had his eyes on one of IET’s robotic trainers, according to Hudanick. “Maurice said, ‘I wish I had one of these.”

“I told him that ‘our labs are your labs’,” Hudanick added. “At this point the ball was in Maurice’s court and from that moment his relationship with ECC, and Esbeck and Elliott, has been nothing but a success.”

This collaborative project satisfies many needs of the community while allowing students to discover engineering and advanced manufacturing career paths.

ECC’s IET and Precision Machinery programs offer such an opportunity for this discovery.

“Neither of these programs are well known outside manufacturing itself and with good paying careers for those who travel their paths,” Hudanick added. “What a novel way to build a collaborative adventure with high school student’s career-future at the center.”

He explained that the high schools work toward developing pathways, like PLTW, for their students, while trying to engage them is career ideas.

“It’s a win-win when high school engineering and industrials arts programs are supported by their community colleges,” Hudanick added. “ECC has the lab resources to include state-of-the-art equipment and industry software, and we are preparing these high school students for their next step after graduation.

Precision Machining Coordinator Recipient of Award

December 8, 2020 | Campus News

Curtis Elliott, Precision Machining program coordinator at East Central College, recently received the “Governor’s Award” from the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) for his work at a local manufacturer.

The award was presented to Elliott for “Outstanding Performance” after he completed a successful project with Klauber Machine and Gear (KMG), Pacific, to streamline efficiency and production.

Dr. Richard Hudanick, Dean of Career and Technical Education, said the efforts of Elliott and Dr. Edward Shelton, director for CWD at ECC, helped reduce waste and saved the manufacturer time and money.

“It is certainly an honor to work with Curtis and all the faculty in our advanced manufacturing center,” he said. “I knew great efforts were coming to fruition at Klauber I just didn’t realize how big the impact would be.”

According to Elliott, the applied American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is the standard needed at Klauber.

“This immediately improved efficiency and production.,” he said. “Due to the nature of the manufacturing processes Mastercam training was a big part of the plan as well.”

“Overall, I am really happy with the project outcome,” Elliott added. “The reduction in waste and improved production process reduced the lead-time from 12 weeks to two — the company has had its best production report due to this project in its history.”

Elliott’s award was presented following a visit to Klauber by Gov. Mike Parson in October.

CWD Faculty/Staff

Hudanick added that Elliott and other manufacturing faculty members are successful, in part, because of their experience in the manufacturing field.

“They all started in the industry before giving back to the community through ECC,” he said. “They are a great group of very knowledgeable experts in their field and it is exciting to watch them craft their trade.”

KMG utilized Missouri One Start program customized training assistance which has helped to develop its workforce.

ECC has taken a unique approach to this training partnership by developing a mentor/instruction method. Under this method, Elliott worked with Klauber employees on the production line twice a week and gave an assessment of the operator’s skills.

Learn more about the Precision Machining program at www.eastcentral.edu/business/precision-machining-technology/, or visit https://www.eastcentral.edu/cwd/ to learn about industry training offered by ECC.