Rapid Gear helps train the next generation of gear experts

Students with the University of Waterloo's engineering program are working with Rapid Gear.

With more than 40 years of expertise in machining and gears, Rapid Gear has a lot of valuable knowledge to offer to young people who want a head start in machine-designing careers. This Kitchener, Ont. company enjoys close, active relationships with several local educational institutions, from high school to university, training students with co-op programs, apprenticeships, and more.

Design projects in progress

For the past two years, Rapid Gear has employed co-op students from the engineering programs at Conestoga College in Kitchener and the University of Waterloo (U of W). Conestoga runs more than 50 programs with co-op components, including programs in machinery and design.

Rapid Gear also has long-time working relationships with the U of W and McMaster University in Hamilton. The firm has provided design and manufacturing help to McMaster’s electric-vehicle project, for example, and assisted three of the U of W’s car teams – its Baja Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) team, Formula SAE team, and Midnight Sun Solar team.

Undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines have been joining the U of W’s Baja SAE team, an educational engineering project, for more than 30 years to build off-road vehicles to race in SAE events. Similarly, the Formula team designs and builds open-wheel race cars for the SAE Formula Competition; the team focuses mainly on lightweighting each vehicle, refining its design, increasing its component integration and improving its reliability.

Currently, Rapid Gear is involved with four design projects at the U of W. Four students are involved with RapidPlan: Automated Scheduling System for Rapid Gear Manufacturing, a project to upgrade the company’s job scheduling to an automated system based on historical information on job duration, queuing and lag time, and number of operators. This project will not only ease the company’s production schedule, but also give valuable experience to these students. There are also two teams working on gear-design projects, plus another project on gearbox housing design.

By maintaining strong bonds with education, Rapid Gear ensures that the next generation of machinists and gear producers will maintain its high standards for quality.

For more information, contact Rapid Gear.

• Tweet