BRTC Students Create Medals for the BRTC Scholarship 5K

Zane Clark, BRTC student, and Instructor Rick Barker

PARAGOULD, AR April 26— BRTC’s Machine Tool Technology students have been busy making the medals for the annual BRTC Scholarship 5K that will take place on the BRTC Paragould Campus on May 14 at 8:00 a.m.

Rick Barker, BRTC Machine Tool Technology Instructor, and his students have made over 50 custom 5K medals for the overall and age division winners that will be recognized during an awards ceremony at the conclusion of the race. The Scholarship 5K, a professionally timed race, is a BRTC Foundation fundraiser for student scholarships and academic programs.

BRTC’s Machine Tool Technology students with the help of Instructor Barker create the 5k custom medals by first designing the medals via Solidworks software. Once the design was approved, they started writing conventional G & M coding to run on the Haas CNC mill. As part of the learning exercise, the students had to determine if the correct material needed was on hand. After the initial set-up was complete, a dry run was made to ensure no errors were found in the code and it was safe to run. After a successful dry run was complete, the class started machining the medals on the Haas CNC milling machine.

BRTC invites the community to participate in this year’s 5K. To sign up for a chance at winning a student-created custom medal, visit https://blackrivertech.org/brtc-foundation/brtc5k.

The BRTC Foundation would like to thank Triple B Electric, the Greene County Industrial Training Center, and the Student Government Association for sponsoring the event. Call Elizabeth Collins at 870-248-4000 ext. 5120 if interested in supporting BRTC students by sponsoring the 2022 5K.