IPFW has a new educational center that will provide students access to state-of-the-art tooling machinery.

The Haas Technical Education Center is the newest addition to the College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science.

The center uses state-of-the-art equipment, provided by Haas Automation, to enhance students' machinery knowledge in fields such as orthopedics, biomedical, communications and transportation. Haas is the “largest CNC (computer numerical controlled) machine tool builder in the western world,” according to its Web site.

“This basically opens up all kinds of possibilities,” said Gerard Voland, dean of the College of Engineering, Technology and Computer Science.

Haas has about 50 centers similar to IPFW's around the country in high schools and various colleges. The centers provide a showroom for the company and allow students to work on machines not generally available to them. Some of the equipment includes a CNC production lathe and a CNC super speed production mill. The total cost is near $300,000.

“It basically gives the work force another outlet to learn a trade,” said Jeff Holtzapple, Haas' local adviser to the center. “It benefits the community because it gives the labor force another outlet to apply their skills.”

The center is not up and running yet, but Voland said it will be after it is dedicated during a special ceremony Wednesday. He said probably only a few students will use it this summer, but in the fall, at least 200 students should be using it on a regular basis.

“I'm very excited about this,” Voland said.