About the course
Many machinists in the Valley learned CNC by watching someone else press Cycle Start. This course fills in what they missed. You will write programs by hand before you touch CAM, so that when CAM output goes wrong you can read it and fix it. Each three-hour session is about one-third lecture at the whiteboard and two-thirds work at a machine or the simulator.
The shop has two 3-axis vertical machining centers and a 2-axis turning center, the same machine families used in machine tool technology courses, plus twelve simulator seats in the CAM lab next door. Every program is proved out in the simulator before it is run on a machine.
Who should enroll
- Operators and setup technicians who want to edit and write programs, not only run them
- Manual machinists moving to CNC work
- Manufacturing engineers and quality technicians who need to read a program to understand a part problem
Prerequisites: you can read a part print and use calipers and a micrometer, and you are comfortable with shop trigonometry (we review it on night one). Bring safety glasses with side shields and wear closed-toe shoes. We provide everything else.
Dates, format and fee
| Section | Dates | Meets | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section A | Nov. 3–Dec. 10, 2026 (no class Nov. 26) | Tue & Thu, 6–9 p.m. | Founders Hall machine shop and CAM lab |
| Section B | Feb. 2–Mar. 9, 2027 | Tue & Thu, 6–9 p.m. | Founders Hall machine shop and CAM lab |
- Format
- In person, evenings; 11 sessions
- Contact hours
- 33
- CEUs
- 3.3
- Fee
- $1,295, including tooling, stock and a course binder
- Seats
- 12 per section
What you will do
| Sessions | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | Machine axes, coordinate systems, absolute and incremental moves, program structure, safety lines |
| 3–4 | Work offsets, tool length and diameter compensation, touching off tools; first program in the simulator |
| 5–6 | Linear and circular interpolation, feeds and speeds from the tool catalog, chip load |
| 7–8 | Canned drilling, tapping and boring cycles; subprograms; turning basics on the lathe |
| 9 | Introduction to CAM: toolpaths, post-processors, and reading the code CAM produces |
| 10–11 | Final part: program, set up, prove out and run a two-operation aluminum bracket, then inspect it against the print |
Instructor
The course is led by Dr. Everett Fontaine, professor of manufacturing and industrial engineering, whose tool-wear research appears in the research spotlight on CNC tool-wear prediction. Shop nights are run by Dale Ostrom, a CNC programmer with 19 years at Redgranite Precision Components. Dale does most of the actual teaching, and he says so himself.
Employer pricing and registration
The list fee is $1,295 per person. Professional Education invoices employers directly on net-30 terms and provides the completion letter and attendance record that tuition-assistance programs ask for.
| Enrollment | Price per person |
|---|---|
| 1–2 people from one employer | $1,295 |
| 3–5 people from one employer, same section | $1,166 (10% off) |
| 6 or more people from one employer | $1,101 (15% off) |
| Porter alumni (not combined with group pricing) | $1,166 |
| Private cohort of up to 16, at your site or ours | Quoted; usually 70–80% of 16 list-price seats |
Employers with fewer than 250 workers in Porter County and the five neighboring counties may qualify for a Valley Workforce Board incumbent-worker grant that covers up to half the fee. We will help with the paperwork. Completers who later enroll in a credit program can ask for prior learning assessment toward an introductory CNC course. Register online or by phone. The full policy on cancellations, substitutions and weather is on the Professional Education page.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This course, its dates, fees, CEUs, instructors and the Valley Workforce Board grant are invented; there is nothing to register for and no certificate to earn. The machines, the bracket and Dale Ostrom are invented too.