MCC Students Invited for Tour of Local Manufacturing Company

A leader of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, Middlesex Community College guides students on their paths to long-lasting careers with experiences inside and outside of the classroom. In December 2022, MCC Computer Aided Design (CAD) students had the opportunity to tour Cirtronics Corporation, an advanced manufacturing company for medical, robotics and defense applications in Milford, N.H.

“This tour was fascinating, said Marie Tupaj, MCC’s Associate Professor of Computing and Engineering Technology and Interim Dean of STEM. “We saw the equipment and process used to fabricate PCBs, starting from the computer-based models and ending with final boards like the ones we create in class at a larger scale. This provides us an additional perspective and projects to think about in the future.”

“Providing students an opportunity to experience a business environment, meet the employees, see the equipment and feel the energy can help grow their understanding of what Cirtronics – or any business – does,” said Jessica Kinsey, Career Development Manager at Cirtronics. “By opening our doors to visits and tours, we hope to spark a new area of interest, grow their understanding of our industry, or open their minds to opportunities they may not have considered previously. As a successful business, we want to help motivate and inspire the next generation of employees and encourage all learners to consider manufacturing as a career path.”

Cirtronics employees showed students each step of the production throughout the hour-long tour to explain the part of the process they worked on, including inspection, lay-out and testing. The final boards are packaged in devices used for heart monitoring, pain free cavity filling, breast cancer detection, telework robots, and military robots.

During the visit, Cirtronics also provided a brief history of the company and what they do. This included a hands-on demonstration of the company’s electromechanical drone submarine used for underwater measurements.

MCC CAD student Sophol Chey, from Lowell, enjoyed the experience of touring Cirtronics. Working as a full-time Test Technician while taking classes, Chey was interested in learning all of the steps of the process and how it relates to the job and classes.

“The tour is relevant to the course because it shows how the PCBS we design in class are manufactured and the high-tech equipment used in the process in the modern day,” Chey said. “This is important because it gives the designer insight into the manufacturing process and how it relates to the design and layout.