To support the advancement of local education, Stiles Machinery Inc. contributed a $40,000 Heian CNC router to the East Kentwood High School to use in their engineering classes. East Kentwood High School is located near the company’s corporate headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich. The gift also includes technical support and service. In addition, Planit Solutions donated $25,000 worth of AlphaCam software. 

 

"We are excited about the recent donation from Stiles Machinery," says Randy Smith, program coordinator for East Kentwood High School. "We are grateful that Stiles is reaching out to East Kentwood High School with a generous and supportive gesture. It is going to allow our engineering and material sciences programs to provide real world experience on a machine that would be found in the production woodworking industry. We currently have training units, but they are manually programmed. Having access to the Alphacam software will enable our entire student body to gain experience from the design stage to full woodworking computer numerical control machining. Our students will have an advantage over competing schools as they move on to advanced education and training. Stiles has provided set up of the machine, installation of the software and numerous hours of technical support that have allowed our students to be very comfortable in a short period of time with both the software application and operation of the machine. Our students and community are a better place for having Stiles as a partner."

 

East Kentwood has already begun using the machine and will fully implement it in fall classes. “By providing this kind of educational opportunity, we are doing our part to help grow our industry’s business community so it has the strength to survive and prosper,” said Steve Waltman, vice president at Stiles, during a press event at the school earlier this week.