$1 million grant to buy new machines, fund lab upgrades

De Anza College’s Design and Manufacturing Technologies program received a $1 million grant by the Gene Haas Foundation to expand its classrooms and labs.

The program was created in Fall 2015 when the Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing and Computer Numerical Control departments merged.

“We deeply appreciate this gift from the Gene Haas Foundation,” said De Anza President Brian Murphy in the February Campus Memo.

The grant will be used to renovate the E2 building and expand the area for machines and inspection rooms, said Mike Appio, DMT department head and De Anza ‘84 alumni.

More than 1,500 students enroll each year in the DMT program, which is only one of few in California, according to the memo.

The program’s quality and reputation within the local industry is one of the reasons DMT received the grant, Appio said.

Max Gilliland, computer lab instructional coordinator, credited the $1 million grant to Appio’s hard work.

Many former De Anza students work for companies that have a high demand for skilled workers capable of operating high-end machines, like Apple, Google, NASA and Tesla.

Companies hire former students because they are part of the DMT program’s advisory board, Appio said, adding that many former students now represent these companies.

De Anza is one of four colleges nationwide that offer training in manufacturing technologies to teachers every summer. The teachers are eligible for $2,000 scholarships from Haas Foundation, Appio said. The foundation also entrusted its latest cutting-edge machines to the DMT department, he said.

College administrators have provided the DMT program with much support, Appio said.

The program will soon add a 3-unit course, survey on manufacturing and fabrication, which is a survey of various technologies like 3D industrial printing, CNC Machining and computer aided design.