A young CNC operator had the skills. ACE helped him trust them.
Sept. 4, 2026 (Columbus, Miss.) – Ethan Hodges is only about a year into his CNC machining career, but he already understands something experienced machinists know well: confidence matters.
Ethan works as a CNC operator at Aurora Flight Sciences in Columbus, Mississippi. It’s his first job out of community college, where he earned a precision machining degree and built the technical foundation for the work he does today.
But early in a manufacturing career, there’s the potential for a gap between having knowledge and trusting yourself to use it.
That’s what made America’s Cutting Edge training valuable for Ethan. After going through the program last fall, it reinforced what he already knew and helped him feel more confident in his skills.
“It reassured me a lot,” Ethan said. “This being my first big CNC machining job, it gave me the confidence to know what I’m doing.”
For Ethan, that confidence isn’t separate from the work. It’s part of becoming the kind of operator who can keep learning, keep improving and keep contributing in a fast-moving manufacturing environment.
Confidence in speaking the same language
Matthew Jiles found value in ACE from a different perspective.
As a manufacturing engineer at Aurora, Matthew doesn’t primarily work on CNC machines. But when he had the chance to learn more about the machining process, he took it.
“I love learning new things,” he said.
Through ACE, participants spend a week in classroom-style instruction, CAM training and hands-on work with CNC machines, all at no cost to them.
For Matthew, the experience helped him better understand the CNC machining process and the terminology machinists use every day.
“Since going through ACE training, my interactions with customers has changed,” Matthew said, adding that he can “understand technical terms better,” enabling him to better communicate with customers and coworkers.
That matters because manufacturing depends on how well operators, engineers, customers and supervisors understand one another.
That kind of shared understanding is exactly what Aurora looks for in training opportunities, said Jacob Bean, manufacturing training and development project manager at Aurora.
He learned last year that America’s Cutting Edge training was available at Mississippi State University, about 20 miles away in Starkville.
Although ACE CNC machining training focuses primarily on metals manufacturing, Jacob said it still offered value for Aurora, which works primarily with composites.
“ACE gives a lot of background into the CNC machining process that isn’t covered in standard curriculum,” Jacob said.
That background is useful not only for machinists, but also for others who work with them. Jacob said sending engineers like Matthew matters because they often “build the recipes” machinists later use on the shop floor.
“Getting them the valuable skillset of CNC machining is really important,” Jacob said, because it helps bridge the gap between the two roles.
Confidence in Aurora’s future
The work Aurora is doing with upskilling employees won’t stop any time soon.
Luke Colville, vice president of manufacturing at Aurora, says the skills of yesterday are quickly becoming dated.
As manufacturing moves into the future, Ross Smith, IDEELab director and ACE program manager at Mississippi State University, says it’s important that today’s workforce keeps up to date with technology.
“Companies have to adapt,” Ross said. “They have to keep up with technology, and that’s where a lot of the work we do can support them. ACE gives us the opportunity to give companies high-impact training to their workforce.”
To Luke, taking advantage of a program that provides the tools of tomorrow at no cost to the company is a no-brainer.
“The ACE program is helping us develop a workforce that can support the overall mission we’re trying to accomplish,” Luke said. “We want to move into the future.”
You can also take advantage of ACE’s free training. Sign up for an online course here. Then find a bootcamp near you here.