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November 2024

Join us to tour Olympus Surgical Technologies America, in Brooklyn Park, on Wednesday November 20.  NDA Required.  Details and RSVP information is contained in our November bulletin.  Click here FFI.

October 2024

Join us to tour Integer's Brooklyn Park Campus on Tuesday, October 22.  Details and RSVP information are contained in the October Bulletin:  Click here!

September 2024

We were unable to offer a tour in September, but our bulletin has an update on the CoBot our chapter purchased for the Manufacturing Engineering Technology Program at St. Cloud State University.
Click here for September News and Notes.

May through August 2024

Despite contacting multiple companies, we were unable to secure a tour for May.  Our apologies.  We will be on summer break, enjoying the Minnesota great outdoors, until September.  Look for a September bulletin with a tour invitation shortly after Labor Day.  Thanks for being a Minnesota SME member!

May bulletin available here.
 

April 17 tour of Emerson / Rosemount in Shakopee, Minnesota

Join us on April 17 for a tour of Rosemount/Emerson to learn about the manufacture of pressure, temperature, level, and flow instrumentation used to ensure safety and reliability in industrial processes.

Full details and registration information is available in our bulletin: click here.

March 12 Tour of Wanner Engineering, Minneapolis

Join us after work on Tuesday, March 12 to tour Wanner Engineering in Minneapolis.  Wanner is a leading manufacturer of industrial pumps and fluid handling equipment.

February 12 Tour of UPS Package Sorting Facility in Maple Grove
Join us bright and early on Monday, February 12 to tour the UPS package sorting facility in Maple Grove.  We'll be joined by the robotics students from St. Michael Albertville High School as we see automation and process controls in action during the daily sort.

January 17 Annual Chapter Celebration
Join us on Wednesday, January 17 to learn about The Future of AI Enable Elder Care with guest speaker and Minnesota Futurist Warren D. Poole.  We'll also present 2023 chapter awards, do officer installation, and enjoy pizza and pop (Adult beverages available for purchase).

SME Minnesota State-Wide Donates Band Saw
Over the years, our chapter has made donations and grants to the Technology Education and Engineering department at St. Michael Albertville High School. Recently, the department found themselves in need of a new bandsaw. Theirs was in constant use and, more importantly, wasn’t up to current safety standards. So we stepped in and bought a new one for their metal shop and robotics students. Here’s some information about  their programs and what our donation supported:

The St. Michael-Albertville TEE (Technology Education & Engineering) Department is providing multiple opportunities for students to explore interests in the trades and manufacturing careers. Over 1,200 students in 2023-2024 are registered to take classes within the department.
The recent donation of the vertical bandsaw will be used exclusively in our metal shop. Our metals program currently includes 3 levels of classes that offer a wide array of experiences. Metals 1 is an introductory class that provides exposure to machining, sheet metal working and foundry. Metals 2 has the students expand on basic skills by completing several projects that combine multiple processes. Metals 3 is a self-directed machining and fabrication course where students can design their own personal projects. Over 250 students will participate in these three levels of coursework in 2023-2024.
Use of the metal shop equipment does not stop at the end of the school day. STMA’s robotics team also utilizes this area. The robotics team meets throughout the fall and winter months designing, fabricating and programming a robot for the FIRST Robotics competition. Over 40 STMA students are involved with this competitive robotics club.            

October 25 Networking Event
Join us for some good old-fashioned networking at BlackStack Brewing. You’ll find BlackStack in an historic manufacturing building: the 1889 American Can building. It’s in the Midway-Hamline neighborhood, right down the street from Menards. Meet there between 5:30 –7:30 pm

September 26 Tour of Evolve Additive Solutions
Details and registration information for this tour can be found in the September edition of Manufacturing News and Notes, which you can download here.

May 9 Tour of Chandler Industries New Blaine Facility
Details for this tour were in the May edition of Manufacturing News and Notes which was emailed to our members.  Unfortunately, there was an attendance limit on the tour, and it is full.

Meet our Minnesota SME Scholarship recipients for 2023-24
These two outstanding students are enrolled in the Manufacturing Engineering Technology
program at St. Cloud State University:
 

March 27 Tour of Cretex Medical

On Monday, March 27 we toured Cretex Medical's new facility in Brooklyn Park:
Cretex Medical is a family-owned contract manufacturer that operates within the medical device market. Cretex has been under ownership of the Bailey family for over 100 years and originally specialized in concrete and construction materials. Today, Cretex is comprised of three operating companies: RMS Company, QTS, and CDT. These companies are all Minnesota based and operate together to bring end to end solutions to our customers.  A full summary of the tour can be found on page 4 of our April bulletin (see link above to download).

Wyoming Machine, Inc November Tour Recap

Wyoming Machine is a family-owned machining and metal fabricating house lead by second generation co-presidents Lori and Traci Tapani. The company’s expertise lies in low volume high mix production, complex welded assemblies, processing of very thin steel plate, and managing large projects that are shipped as kits. Wyoming’s “secret to success” lies in the quality and complex fabrications their employees know how to create using off-the-shelf machines and press brakes. Customers describe the company as producing high quality assemblies and being trustworthy!

On our tour, we did indeed see complex formed and welded assemblies. And a state-of-the-art press brake that had an automatic tool changer. Various forming blocks can be called up by the program, and the machine slides them out of the tool matrix and puts them in place at the front of the machine while the operator watches! The automated safety curtains are a far cry from the old days of wrist straps and double push-button activation for presses. SME member John Hanenburg gave us a presentation on how fabricated assemblies are costed and estimated. CAD models or prints can be used; Solidworks can produce a complete flat blank from a 3-D file. We learned that John is a whiz at theoretical mathematics, and can program complex algorithms into Excel spreadsheets! Our sincere thanks and appreciation go to Lori and Traci Tapani, Bob Loder, Alex Van Osdel, Steve Hegge, and Jason Oldenberg for hosting us for this event.

Meet our 2022-23 Scholarship Recipients
For the first time, we are sponsoring two scholarships for St. Cloud State University students enrolled in the Manufacturing Engineering Technology degree program. We’re proud to introduce you to Anson Hanna and Jason Johnson:

Anson Hanna is originally from Elk River, Minnesota.  Anson is interested in pursuing a career in manufacturing engineering “because it’s my ultimate goal to provide for others throughout my lifetime.  Not only does this mean my direct family, but also everyone I interact with and the entirety of the population…I have come to believe that manufacturing engineering is the most direct way in which I can provide for others throughout my work, as I will be manufacturing directly for consumers.”  Anson has already interned with Tecsom/Emerson, a manufacturer of pressure regulators.

Jason Johnson is a junior in the program.  He chose the St. Cloud program because it is ABET accredited, so he knew he was going to get the best education possible.  Jason is a full time student, works 25 hours a week, and is married and raising 18 month old twins.  His goal is to get a job where he can use what he’s learned in school.  He likes working behind the scenes to make processes or practice runs smoot!her and/or faster.  He finds it “just awesome” to know he's accomplished something like that.

Both Anson and Jason thank the chapter for helping them attain their education goals


NEW:  Follow us on Linked In!
As our chapter continues to evolve and look for new ways to engage our members, we have started a LinkedIn group to help network across more platforms. Please join us & follow us as another way of hearing about our tours and finding other members in our area.

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14109571/



CELEBRATE! SME Chapter 11 was Chartered 85 Years Ago!

A fair number of members turned out May 4, 2022, to share pizza and catch up face to face after 26 months of pandemic-induced separation.  The pizza was good, the conversation better, and the networking best!  It was so nice to catch up with those we’ve missed!

 Chapter Business

We are still seeking a Chair and Chair Elect for 2023 and beyond.  Other open volunteer positions include programming assistant.  Contact any of the officers listed in the Contact Box on the right side of this page to learn how the Chapter can help you develop your leadership skills.


SME Minnesota State-Wide 2021 Chapter Awards:

Jim Stertz is recognized for his years of service as Treasurer, and for his enthusiasm for all things related to sensible automation.  Enjoy your upcoming retirement, Jim!
 
Tim Lange is the recipient of the 2021 Chapter Chair’s Award.  A long-time SME member, Tim is always finding new ways to contribute.  This year’s opportunities include being ready with manufacturing related jokes and cartoons, taking minutes, proofreading bulletins, and, most importantly, always being present at leadership meetings and willing to offer wise and valuable council to his colleagues.  Thank you so much, Tim, we truly appreciate your passion for, and dedication to, SME!
                                             

Welcome to SME Minnesota State-Wide Chapter 11!
 

Members, Associates, and Friends:  You will find information about our next general meeting at the top of this column, along with a link that will allow you to download our most recent newsletter.  As of January 2023, we have resumed meeting in person, when we can find a company willing to host us for a tour or speaker.  If you or your employer are able to offer us a tour or speaker, we would be deeply appreciative.

Our leadership team meets on the first Tuesday of each month (except June and July). We invite you to join us; usually in person for pizza, or via Zoom.  Send an email to our chair for next meeting time and location.  

SME Minnesota Chapter 11 is passionate about local manufacturing!  Our strategic & tactical plans for the current year can be found here.

We thank the following companies for supporting our chapter:




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