Hypertherm Associates accepting applications for Spark Something Great grant program

Hypertherm Associates, Hanover, N.H., is now accepting applications for its Spark Something Great educational grant program. The program, now in its ninth year, will provide 12 North American schools with a Powermax45 XP air plasma system and in-person training.

To date, the company has awarded systems to 88 schools. This year, applications are due on or before April 1, with grant decisions communicated by May 1.

“The current skills gap and labor shortage has placed increased demand on North American vocational schools,” said Stephen Bruner, who manages the company’s educational program. “An influx of new students coupled with teacher shortages mean you have fewer instructors teaching more students without a corresponding increase in equipment. We’ve encountered numerous programs in which dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of students are forced to share a single system. Our program hopes to help those schools by providing a versatile system instructors can use to teach hand-held and mechanized cutting, as well as applications such as gouging, flush cutting, and marking.”

In addition to the grant program, Hypertherm Associates will continue to make all 10 hours of its AWS SENSE-approved Plasma Cutting Technology: Theory and Practice curriculum available for free download to teachers. The curriculum covers the plasma cutting process, common industrial uses for plasma systems, the differences among various cutting methods, safety procedures, and proper setup and operation. It includes electronic versions of each lesson, a facilitator’s guide, student workbook, and supporting reference material.