CNC Education Is INCONSISTENT.

In the 20+ years that our SIMPLY CNC team has served our education community with CNC & CAD/CAM solutions, and more recently with laser technology, the one constant that we have seen is INCONSISTENCY. Unlike the world of academia, trades and technology have struggled to create a standardized, structured approach to teaching these critical manufacturing skills to our students, much to their disservice.


I believe that there are several factors to which we can attribute this:

  • While we have been encouraged by the recent push towards the trades at a provincial/state level, there is a shortage of teachers who are qualified to teach these skills. This is also largely in part due to a lack of common resources across schools, creating a lack of interest in teaching these important trades. With no standardized curriculum for the teacher to absorb, there is a lack of confidence in their ability to educate the students.
  • Constant changes in administrations and faculty, as we see a new generation of educators carrying the responsibility of teaching skilled trades. We have seen this magnified in particular since COVID: new faculty arriving in a shop or classroom, with no curriculum in place for the previous generation to pass along. Programs become disjointed, and often times cancelled as a result of this. Expensive equipment now lies dormant and collecting dust (instead of MAKING sawdust).
  • The lack of manufacturer/supplier training resources to teach CNC and laser technology in a proper fashion (we like to think we have not been one of these companies, but we will leave that up to you). While these resources may be present in many other fields, we have seen this as a significant challenge in our world of digital manufacturing. This lack of supplier-provided support has led to a “shotgun” approach to teaching CNC and laser technologies, often initiated by the instructor or administrator, and typically based on the teacher’s pre-disposed skills/knowledge.

We need a standardized strategy to provide teachers with the necessary training resources. We also need a structured approach to teaching CAD/CAM and machining techniques to instructors, along with a method of measuring their understanding of the fundamental skills necessary to equip students for potential careers in industrial manufacturing.

In a word… CURRICULUM!

To that end, Simply CNC is honoured to provide our education clients with our INTRODUCTION TO CNC & CAD/CAM curriculum.


This teaching resource consists of a 16 module curriculum, providing an overview of fundamentals in 2D and 2.5D design, as well as machining strategies using VCarve Pro (regardless of which CNC router you are utilizing).

The curriculum is available as a board-wide license, but will only be costed to schools who are currently teaching CNC in their shops or classrooms. All teachers will complete the curriculum and a review test, hosted on our Leaning Management System. Once passed, the instructor will receive a Certificate of Competency from SIMPLY CNC, along with a copy sent to the board administrator of technical education.

We have included pricing structures for board-wide licensing, as well as a sample module for your viewing (in PPTX and PDF format).

I would encourage you to contact our curriculum specialist David Logan for more information, and to discuss how we can help structure your CNC, Laser, and CAD/CAM programs!