Pierce County Skills Center CMA Tacoma (TA) Visit

On May 19^th and 20^th, employees of Toray Composites Materials of America (CMA) based out of Tacoma, WA volunteered at Pierce County Skills Center’s (PCSC) Aerospace Composites program led by Mr. Paul Smith. The course is a one to two-year Aerospace Composite Technician program where high school Juniors and Seniors can earn a locally-developed Manufacturing Certificate. CMA employees volunteer throughout the year to mentor students in the Aerospace Composites program and explain how their newly acquired skills apply to real work applications. The students get to showcase their knowledge of laying up on caul plates and use of compression curing by creating clipboards with recycled unidirectional tape, core and plain weave. This year the students highlighted their water jet skills on their plain weave templates creating clocks and key chains. The students have high awareness of the importance of work orders, safety with chemicals, proper edge tool use, and PPE. Mr. Paul Smith and the students of PCSC have again awakened our sense of gratitude to these programs. PCSC and their Aerospace Composite students truly are the future of the aerospace composite’s world and CMA is proud to be a part of their growth.