Donation assists TCHS engineering program

The Gene Haas Foundation made another sizable contribution to the engineering program at Temescal Canyon High School. Through its financial support, the foundation has helped the school provide an elite engineering education for its students.

The $15,000 contribution for this school year reflects its annual support for the past five years. The Gene Haas Foundation has donated a total of $70,000 to the TCHS engineering program over those five years and has funded four Haas CNC milling machines, internships for seniors, field trips, certifications for students and the addition of curriculum that allows students to earn several industry certifications.

“Being a part of the Society of Women Engineers and Scientists Club and the TCHS engineering program has provided me with countless opportunities and has helped prepare me for my future in college,” Brianna Martilla, a Canyon Lake resident who graduated from the school this summer and who will be studying at UCLA, said.

Students from the TCHS engineering program have gone on to study at schools such as MIT, CalTech, Cal Poly San Luis Opisbo, Cal Poly Pomona, Harvard University, Princeton University, the United States Naval Academy, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, San Diego State and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Several of these students have been residents of Canyon Lake.

Temescal Canyon has been offering engineering classes on campus for 15 years. It is a four-year program that teaches students how to use SolidWorks CAD software and MasterCAM CNC programming, as well as how to set up and operate CNC machines.

“Our focus is on preparing students to continue into two- and four-year colleges to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and math,” Robert Parks, head of the TCHS engineering program, said.

For this reason, the Titan Engineering & Technology Academy was recently opened. This program combines engineering, computer science, robotics, math and science classes. While in the engineering program, students earn college credit via Norco College as well as certifications in CAD, CAM, CNC machining and OSHA safety.

The funding that the engineering program has received has allowed for the creation of the Society of Women Engineers and Scientists Club as well as the funding of several field trips. Over the years, engineering students have toured southern California universities and have gone on engineering-related trips to aerospace engineering companies, foundries, a steel mill, Space-X, Oakley eyewear, the Miramar Airshow and the NHRA drag races.