Sandvik Coromant Continues Partnership with NAIT

Sandvik Coromant (Mississauga, ON) and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT; Edmonton, AB) recently extended their decade-long partnership with a new contract extension that will be in effect until December 31, 2022. A partnership renewal ceremony was held on April 19, 2018, at the NAIT Sandvik Coromant Centre for Machinist Technology in Edmonton. Thomas Henry, the Americas Partner marketing manager, and Randy Bossie, the Canada Country manager, were present from Sandvik Coromant.

“I want to thank Sandvik Coromant for their incredible support of our Machinist program – they are both a friend and partner of ours,” stated Dr. Glenn Feltham, the president and chief executive officer of NAIT. “Through their gift, they are ensuring our students are learning on the very latest equipment and they have the support needed to pursue their education by establishing scholarships.”

The three-part gift to the polytechnic includes a Gift in Kind for equipment, funds to support capital and operating needs for the NAIT Machinist Program and a scholarship program. A total of 12 scholarships are available to students each year for the five-year period. Eleven awards per year are available to first- through fourth-year students based on academic achievement. The 12th award is the Sandvik Coromant Leadership award, which is granted to the top student who demonstrates initiative, creativity, leadership with their fellow students and enthusiasm in conjunction with academic achievement.

The NAIT Sandvik Coromant Centre for Machinist Technology is a state-of-the-art facility used for all Machinist programs for hands-on training, machine time and coursework. The Centre includes four CNC machinist labs, a metrology lab and a centralized tool crib, as well as smart classrooms, computer labs and office for instructors and support staff.

“The instructors at NAIT are highly qualified and do a great job preparing students for careers in manufacturing,” noted Bossie. “These modern facilities show students the high-tech and contemporary side of machining that they may not associate with manufacturing. We see first-hand the benefit of the training the students receive at NAIT as one of our technical sales engineers out of Edmonton, Mike Oostenbrink, is a graduate of the NAIT Machinist Apprentice program with a Red Seal Journeyman Certification. His education makes him an invaluable employee and a vital technical resource for our customers.”

“We see the intrinsic value of the education and solid foundation the students receive from NAIT,” added Henry. “They are prepared to start working on day one when entering the workforce, and we are pleased that our support provides an immediate impact to the program. Programs like this Machinist Apprenticeship go a long way to refute the future skills gap that we are all anticipating, and we are proud to be a part of that.”

www.sandvik.coromant.com