BIG KAISER donates to National Robotics League

At the first general session of National Tooling & Machining Association’s (NTMA) annual meeting near Jacksonville, Florida, Chris Kaiser, president/CEO of BIG KAISER, presented a donation for $4,100 to benefit the NTMA’s National Robotics League (NRL).

The donation was the result of a year-end promotion by BIG KAISER, giving back to the association a percentage of every order by an NTMA member company. Manufacturers placed their orders for cutting tools, tool holders, and workholding products and were earning funds for the NRL at the same time.

“The promotion was a way for us to support our customers and members in the NTMA, and to promote workforce development and STEM programs through the National Robotics League,” Kaiser explains.

“The NRL is all about the community collaborating together to engage manufacturing's next generation. We truly appreciate BIG KAISER's generous contribution and their continued leadership in supporting initiatives to close the manufacturing skills gap,” says Bill Padnos, NTMA director of youth engagement. “We are also grateful to all of the NTMA members who participated in this program.” 

The NRL is a manufacturing workforce development program of the NTMA where students design and build remote controlled robots (Bots) to face-off in a gladiator-style competition. Through the manufacturing process of Bot building, students’ imaginations are captured as they design, build and compete with their own robotic creations. Through this hands-on effort along with industry partnerships, students gain practical knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) – all essential skills for manufacturing.