ECC receives $1M gift from Gene Haas Foundation to support CNC education

Elgin Community College has received a $1 million gift from the Gene Haas Foundation to support and enhance CNC programming and training at the college’s new Manufacturing and Technology Center. ECC celebrated the grand opening and ribbon-cutting of the 150,000-square-foot center, which opened for classes this fall, on Sept. 24. The facility provides specialized training space for students preparing for careers in advanced manufacturing and related fields with dedicated laboratories and instructional spaces for CNC machining, industrial maintenance, welding, HVAC and energy, automation and robotics and green energy. The center’s CNC Machining Lab has been named the Gene Haas CNC Machining Lab in recognition of the investment.