(MARSHALL) – Texas State Technical College has been granted $10,000 from the Gene Haas Foundation to award Precision Machining Technology students with scholarships.

The program will award 10 new students with $1,000 each — $500 for the fall semester and the other half for the spring.

TSTC’s Precision Machining program will begin hosting weekly Lunch and Learn sessions on the program beginning Friday, July 6, and continuing through Friday, Aug. 10. Potential students must attend one of these sessions and enroll in the program to be eligible to receive the scholarship.

The Gene Haas Foundation, which is headquartered in Oxnard, California, was established in 1999. Haas started Haas Automation Inc., a builder of computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools, in 1983. Aware of the “Skills Gap,” a lack of skilled workers to fill jobs in the U.S., Haas directed the board of his foundation to focus on scholarships in manufacturing education.

Daniel Nixon, head of TSTC’s Precision Machining department, hopes the scholarships will help boost enrollment in the program and said now is an opportune time to join the machining industry.

“Right now there is a shortage of good machinists not just statewide, but nationally and worldwide,” he said. “It’s a good time for a young person to get in at the ground level and build themselves into a career.”

Nixon elaborated on some positions that may be available after receiving training in the field.

“Some of the job descriptions they would be looking for after they graduate are CNC operator, CNC machinist or just machinist in general,” he said. “In the job, employees will be modifying and repairing tools, using precision instruments to measure products and organizing leadership while following safety protocols.”

O*NET OnLine predicts a healthy 15 percent increase in machining jobs, or 90 new jobs annually, in Texas through 2024.

For more information on TSTC’s Precision Machining Technology program, visit tstc.edu.