Teaching

Since my freshman year, I’ve had the privilege of working as a teaching assistant in the Washburn Machine Shops. I started as just a helper but quickly found my pace and learned rapidly. As I steadily improved my skills and knowledge in machining, I encountered a major challenge: developing a three-part workshop series to teach mill CNC machining fundamentals. To a large extent I pioneered this initiative, which inspired another teaching assistant to create a similar series for lathes. I personally taught these workshops many times over the course of more than six months before training other teaching assistants to teach it themselves.

Unfortunately, I don't have photos from the workshops themselves, as I was fully immersed in the moment. The workshops became a huge success, attracting more sign-ups than we shop assistants could accommodate. To ensure students could still participate, I held a special session exclusively for the club I’m part of. Fortunately, I do have a few pictures from this High Power Rocketry Club (HPRC) Special Session.

I genuinely enjoy machining and often serve as an external specialist, assisting various sub-teams within the HPRC with their machining needs. Whether I’m supervising, mentoring, or directly involved in the process, I find great satisfaction in passing down knowledge. There’s something incredibly rewarding about seeing the light of understanding in someone’s eyes when a  concept clicks. Teaching is a passion of mine.

I Enjoy Being Both in Front of the Class and the Machines

If it’s a challenging part to machine, tight tolerances, or an opportunity to push the machine to its top speed – just a hair still within its safe limits – I’m all in.

Click here for a machining parody video