The Voice

Issue date: 2/12/07 Section: Science & Technology

Media Credit: Brittany Fear WCC students work on one of the machine tools in the relocated machine shop.

Anyone looking for the WCC machine shop will now have to trek over to the Storage and Receiving Building to find it. Because of renovations that are being made to facilities in the TI Building, the machine shop has been relocated.

It will be a matter of years before it moves back again, Industrial Technology Department staff member Thomas Penird said. He seemed to view the changes as a welcome improvement, noting that these are the first renovations the shop has undergone since the 60's or 70's, when the TI Building was originally built.

The shop's old location in TI 105 will be given a second floor, he said. He added that students will have to adjust to working in an area with an 11-foot ceiling instead of a 20-foot one. Floor space will remain about the same, he said.

He explained that the lower ceiling will make it more of a garage-like setting. "It'll be a different environment," he said.

Penird also stated that the shop will get new lighting, which he described as a "significant upgrade." Additionally, he said the wiring and ventilation system will be housed above the machines as opposed to under the floor. "That'll be a significant improvement," he said.

He also added that the third floor will serve as a "penthouse for all the mechanics."

Classes specializing in fluid power, pneumatics, computerized machining, robotics, and traditional machining and tools, Penird said, use the machine shop.

He listed grinders, saws, conveyor systems, automated and programmable machine tools, and pneumatic and hydraulic trainers as some of the equipment stored in the shop.

He stated that work on the flooring is supposed to start in February or March.

Overall, it will be about two years before the renovations are finished and the machine shop moves back to its former location in the TI Building, Penird said.

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