Hyperthem Expands Support of STEM Initiatives

The advanced cutting system manufacturer supports STEM programs like Math Counts, the Upper Valley Business and Education Partnership, First Robotics and more.

Hypertherm (Hanover, NH), a manufacturer of advanced cutting systems, recently announced expanded support of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) initiatives.

Those initiatives include a five-year commitment by the company’s HOPE (Hypertherm Owners Philanthropic Endeavors) Foundation to fund the Montshire Museum’s School Partnership Initiative. The program, run by the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vermont, aims to improve the science curriculum available to rural schools.

“Many of the rural school districts found in Northern New England are too small to support the infrastructure needed for outstanding science programs. They simply don’t have the resources to hire professional staff dedicated to developing and coordinating a high-quality, district-wide science curriculum,” said Greg DeFrancis, director of education at the Montshire Museum. “The Montshire Museum works together with these schools by providing teacher professional development, curriculum resources, and classroom support over an extended period of time.”

This commitment follows Hypertherm’s support of “How People Make Things,” a traveling exhibition at the Museum during the first half of 2013. The exhibit, inspired by Mister Roger’s Neighborhood television series, tells the story of how people, ideas, and technology transformed raw materials into finished products. The exhibit offered hands-on activities modeled after real manufacturing tools and machines and included an afternoon of live cutting demonstrations with Hypertherm’s Powermax30.

”Education has always been a strong focus for Hypertherm and our HOPE Foundation,” said Barbara Couch, Hypertherm’s vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility. “As a company with a long history of innovation and technology, we have strong convictions about the importance of STEM programs to our future. Our goal is to expose and engage students in grades K-12 to STEM disciplines while also raising the level of awareness regarding rewarding careers in the advanced manufacturing field.”

More than 10 percent of Hypertherm associates are engineers who generously donate their time to schools in an effort to build enthusiasm among kids for engineering. In addition, Hypertherm supports STEM programs like Math Counts, the Upper Valley Business and Education Partnership, First Robotics and more.

Hypertherm designs and manufactures advanced cutting products for use in a variety of industries such as shipbuilding, manufacturing, and automotive repair. Its product line includes handheld and mechanized plasma systems and consumables, as well as fiber laser and now waterjet products, in addition to CNC motion and height controls and CAM cutting software.

Hypertherm systems are trusted for performance and reliability that result in increased productivity and profitability for hundreds of thousands of businesses. The New Hampshire based company’s reputation for cutting innovation dates back more than 40 years, to 1968, with Hypertherm’s invention of water injection plasma cutting. The associate owned company, consistently named one of the best places to work in America, has more than 1,300 associates along with operations and partner representation worldwide.

www.hypertherm.com