Long-used processes play a major role in high-tech innovations, and a group of professionals from several states and another country have been in Pittsburg for the past week learning about the lost wax process.
The Kansas Technology Center at Pittsburg State University features a world-class foundry where students put into practice what they are learning, and where industry professionals who may know the theory but haven't practiced the application are able to come and learn each summer.
Russ Rosmait, the university professor who directs the Investment Casting Training Center, said this year's class members could be learning about the process in order to make anything from hip replacements to gun triggers to jet engine turbo blades for the aerospace industry.
"It is professionals who are trying to understand the process better," Rosmait said, adding that some of them work in the foundries in their companies, and others are involved in areas such as sales or customer service.
"We've partnered with the Investment Casting Institute," Rosmait said, adding that the facility at Pittsburg State is one-of-a-kind for training. "We also partner with some big-name companies."
"The reason they come here is we have world-class equipment," Rosmait said, adding that some of those companies have helped the university arrive at that point.
Students taking part in the course learned each part of the process, beginning with a wax creation of the eventual product, that is aided by a wax injection machine recently given to the university by MPI International.
Rosmait said the process can be equated to food, and food has been used in demonstrations to show the amount of detail the process can capture.
"It's like taking a strawberry and dipping it in chocolate," Rosmait said of the wax and ceramic.
He then displayed a metal strawberry, with every seed and leaf intact, which was formed when the original strawberry was burned out of the mold and the mold was filled with liquid metal.
"It goes from the basic to the most high tech," Rosmait said. "This has a variety of applications."
Investment Casting Institute students had a packed visit to Pittsburg as they learned all about the process.
"We've been spending the entire eight days going through every detail of the process," Rosmait said. "They will take some of this information back to help them in their jobs."
The final step took place for the investment casting class on Tuesday when the molds filled with trinkets such as ice cream scoops and bottle openers with were placed in a super-heated furnace.
Once the wax melted away, students took turns practicing retrieval of the molds from the furnace and pouring the liquid metal which is ground to a flour which, when melted, is able to pick up fine details.
Marty Deters is a resident engineer for Tenneco in Peoria, Ill., and said the awareness and knowledge he gained from the course will provide him better communication with suppliers.
“I’ve learned an overall start-to-finish overview,” he said of the week.
He said the company assembles Caterpillar emission modules and his learning will help him identify potential cost-savings and produce a better quality product for suppliers.
“It will help me continue better design collaboration with the customer,” he said.
Kevin Schwenk, who is the quality coordinator in post production for his employer in Myerstown, Penn., said it gave him a better understanding of the ins and outs of the process.
“I had a general understanding of the entire process coming in,” he said, adding that he works in his company’s foundry.
But, he added that his learning will help to understand why things are done a particular way as the company turns out pumps or valves.
Helena Alfonzo said her company makes artificial hips and knees, and she is a process quality engineer.
“I’ve gained a better understanding of how the process works,” she said. “This gives me a little more background for troubleshooting.”
Lewis Reid traveled the farthest for this year’s session, coming to Pittsburg from New Zealand to learn about the casting process.
He said the class is quite intense, but it has been valuable for his firm.
“The firm I work with, this is the second year they’ve sent people here,” he said.
The relationships the university forms with companies across the country and around the world also bolsters opportunities for traditional students at PSU.
“They’re shocked when they see the Kansas Technology Center,” Rosmait said of the visiting students’ reactions to the wealth of technology housed there.
Ethan Clouse, a student assistant for the program, said the connections between the university and workforce are very helpful as students leave college and look for jobs.
“As a student coming in, it’s good to get your name out to industry,” he said.
Rosmait said three PSU students are taking the course, and this gives them networking opportunities that could help with job placement in the future.
“That’s a big thing for employment,” Rosmait said. “That’s very beneficial for our students as well.”
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