CNC Machining - Ingram Hall Makerspace Student Worker | Fall 2026
The Ingram School of Engineering Makerspace is where engineering leaves the textbook and lands in your hands. Our industrial space (machine shop) is where designs become parts, where a model on a screen turns into aluminum, steel, or polymer held to a few thousandths of an inch. We run CNC mills and lathes driven by MasterCAM, and we're looking for students who want to explore further: dialing in feeds and speeds, building clean toolpaths, and understanding what's actually happening at the tool-workpiece interface. We're a space built by Bobcats, for Bobcats, and it runs on what students like you bring to it. You'll have premium tools and facilities, monthly credits for your personal projects, and a team that cares about getting better at engineering together.
What We're Looking For
Curiosity and rigor. This is more advanced work than most student roles — a fast-moving spindle and a bad line of G-code don't forgive much, so we care that you respect the machines, sweat the details, and want to understand the "why" behind every setup. Real machining experience helps here more than it does elsewhere, but a sharp, careful student who's eager to learn the craft can go a long way. The rest we can teach.
Show us what you've built
Parts you've machined, models you've designed, CAM programs you've written, competition or shop work, anything you can put in our hands or on a screen tells us more than a resume ever could. This is a competitive spot, and the students who stand out can point to something they made and walk us through how they made it, the fixturing, the tooling, the tradeoffs.
AI
We use AI tools every day and we're all for it, but there's a difference between using a tool and hiding behind one. Machining punishes hand-waving; the numbers have to be right and the physics doesn't care what a chatbot said. Understand the tech underneath - how it works, why it works, and when it's wrong. AI fluency isn't required and it's no substitute for the fundamentals. Use it, be smart about it, be transparent.
Summary
The student technician supports daily shop operations while programming, setting up, and running CNC equipment. Under the guidance of experienced makerspace staff and students, you'll take parts from CAD through CAM to finished stock — generating and verifying toolpaths in MasterCAM, selecting tooling and cutting parameters, setting work offsets, and running mills and lathes safely. You'll train and mentor fellow students, document your setups so others can repeat them, and help maintain the machines and tooling that keep the shop running. The best fit treats this like a junior machinist role: precise, methodical, safety-obsessed, and genuinely curious about the process.
Responsibilities:
- Provide support and manage daily operations of the machine shop
- Program parts in MasterCAM — toolpath generation, tool selection, feeds/speeds, and post-processing to G-code
- Setup and operate CNC mills and lathes: work offsets, tool length offsets, workholding, and tool-library management
- Verify programs before cutting — simulation, dry runs, and first-article inspection
- Train students on CAM workflows, safe machine operation, and shop protocols
- Assist users with fixturing, material selection, and troubleshooting surface finish or dimensional issues
- Perform routine maintenance — tool changes, cleaning, coolant, and basic calibration checks
- Document setups, programs, and tooling so work is repeatable across the team
- Monitor and maintain inventory of stock material, tooling, and consumables
- Maintain equipment and enforce safety protocols at all times
Required Qualifications:
- Punctuality, reliability, and a strong work ethic
- A safety-first mindset and the discipline to follow setup and lockout procedures exactly
- Excellent attention to detail — comfort working to tolerances and reading dimensioned drawings
- A creative, problem-solving approach and eagerness to master the craft
- Strong communication skills — able to explain a setup or process to fellow students
- A portfolio of past work — machined parts, CAD models, CAM programs, or shop/competition projects you can show and talk through
- Hands-on CNC experience
- MasterCAM experience (or comparable CAM: Fusion 360, NX CAM, etc.)
- Ability to read and interpret G-code/M-code and edit programs at the control
- CAD proficiency (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or similar) and the ability to work from engineering drawings
- Working knowledge of GD&T, feeds and speeds, and tool/material selection
- Familiarity with metrology tools — calipers, micrometers, indicators, gauge blocks
- Manual machining experience (mill, lathe) as a foundation for CNC work
On-Campus Location: Bruce and Gloria Ingram Hall, Rm1201
Direct Supervisor: Abhimanyu Sharotry; absharotry@txstate.edu
Work Schedule: The students in this position are expected to work 15+ hours per week and must be available to work on Fridays.
Evaluation Process: Interview selection and decisions will be communicated to applicants through Handshake.
Timeline:
- Review Submissions: All submissions will be reviewed by Aug 30
- Initial Interviews: Schedule interviews continuously as applications come in
- Final Decision: Make the final decision by Sep 7
Post-Hiring:
- Supervisor will hold weekly meetings to assess student performance
- Detailed evaluations will be conducted at the end of each long semester
- Pay Rate Determination: The starting pay rate is $15.50/hr., based on relevant skills and experience with makerspace equipment. Increases may occur based on performance or a positive evaluation after one semester.