Cal Poly Machine Shops

Engineering Manufacturing Training Servicesmachineshops.calpoly.edu

Cal Poly Machine Shops is a College of Engineering educational facility operating two locations (Mustang '60 and Aero Hangar) in San Luis Obispo that provides Cal Poly students across 40+ majors with tiered-certified access to manual and CNC machining, welding, waterjet, laser cutting, and 3D printing equipment under the Learn by Doing pedagogy.

Company typePrivate
Founded-
HeadquartersSan Luis Obispo, United States
Headcount51–100
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What Cal Poly Machine Shops does

Cal Poly Machine Shops is an educational fabrication facility operated by the College of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. It operates two physical locations, Mustang '60 (Building 197) and Aero Hangar (Building 004), providing Cal Poly students across 40+ majors with hands-on access to woodworking equipment, manual and CNC mills and lathes, TIG and MIG welding stations, waterjet cutting, laser cutters, FDM 3D printers, sheet metal tools, and composites work areas. The facility functions as the primary hands-on manufacturing resource supporting the university's 'Learn by Doing' pedagogical approach and serves senior projects, class assignments, engineering club builds, and personal skill development.

Access is gated through a tiered certification system: Red Tag (entry-level safety covering basic metal working, woodworking, and laser cutters), Yellow Tag (Intermediate Skills Trainings including Mill 101, Lathe 101, Welding 101, and Entry-Level CNC), and Blue Tag (advanced CNC machining requiring 100+ shop hours and a mentor recommendation). The facility is staffed by approximately 70 student shop safety technicians annually under permanent supervisory direction, and supplemental fee-for-service CNC machining is offered at $50/hr minimum labor plus materials for school-related projects. Notable equipment includes a Haas VF3 milling machine and water TIG welder, supported by a partnership with Haas Automation.

The business model is non-commercial and institutionally funded. Primary revenue comes from Cal Poly College of Engineering operating budget allocations covering operational costs and student technician salaries, with auxiliary income from fee-for-service CNC machining and a corporate sponsorship tier at $7,500+ that funds a named tech salary in exchange for logo placement, alongside a 'Caccia' fund for smaller donations. Distribution is direct-to-student via a Picktime reservation system, with awareness driven by organic social media (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest), engineering advising referrals, and occasional CENG Connection newsletter features. The facility is not an investable enterprise: it is a government state entity with no equity, no funding rounds, and no external ownership.

Cal Poly Machine Shops firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Cal Poly Machine Shops
Legal name: California Polytechnic State University - College of Engineering Machine Shops
Website: https://machineshops.calpoly.edu
Company type: Private
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 51–100 employees
Short description: Cal Poly Machine Shops is a College of Engineering educational facility operating two locations (Mustang '60 and Aero Hangar) in San Luis Obispo that provides Cal Poly students across 40+ majors with tiered-certified access to manual and CNC machining, welding, waterjet, laser cutting, and 3D printing equipment under the Learn by Doing pedagogy.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Cal Poly Machine Shops industry classification

Industry

Product category: Engineering Manufacturing Training Services
NAICS: Machine Shops (33271)
SIC: Special Industry Machinery (No Metalworking Machinery) (3550)
akta.pro primary industry: Robotics Kits, Parts & Lab Equipment Providers (Education-Focused) (EDAMADAN)
akta.pro secondary industry: Conferences, Workshops & Industry Events (AM Knowledge Sharing) (IMAAAJAL)

Keywords

Student machine shop
CNC machining training
Welding certification programs
Fabrication lab services
Engineering training facility

Where Cal Poly Machine Shops is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: San Luis Obispo
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

Cal Poly Machine Shops business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

University Funding: Primary funding from Cal Poly College of Engineering for operational costs and student technician salaries
Fee for Service CNC Work: CNC machining services for school-related projects at $50/hr labor minimum, plus material and tooling costs. Provides revenue for complex project fabrication.
Donations and Sponsorships: Individual and corporate donations including $7,500+ sponsorship for tech salary support with company logo on apparel. 'Caccia' fund for smaller donations.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Usage-based	Pay-as-you-go	CNC Fee for Service - $50/hr minimum labor
One time/ perpetual license	Multi-year contract	Tech Sponsorship - $7,500+
Other	Pay-as-you-go	General Donations - Under $7,500

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Cal Poly Machine Shops product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Cal Poly Machine Shops is a university-operated educational facility that provides hands-on manufacturing training, safety certifications, and equipment access to Cal Poly engineering students across two locations (Mustang '60 and Aero Hangar). It delivers a tiered certification system (Red Tag, Yellow Tag, Blue Tag), structured skills trainings in machining, welding, CNC, composites, woodworking, and digital fabrication, plus fee-for-service CNC, waterjet, laser, and 3D printing services for school-related projects.

Product overview

Cal Poly Machine Shops is an educational facility operated by the College of Engineering that provides hands-on Learn by Doing training across two locations: Mustang '60 (Building 197) and Aero Hangar (Building 4). The operation is structured as a tiered certification system where students progress through Red Tag (entry), Yellow Tag/Intermediate Skills (Mill 101, Lathe 101, Welding 101, CNC basics), and Blue Tag (advanced CNC) certifications. Beyond training, the shops offer fee-for-service machining, waterjet cutting, 3D printing, and laser cutting services. The facility features woodworking, metalworking, welding, CNC machining, composites, and additive manufacturing equipment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Red Tag Certification Entry-level safety certification granting Cal Poly students access to wood shops, basic metal working equipment, and laser cutters. Includes a 45-minute Canvas course, a 3-hour tour at the Aero Hangar facility, and a 50-question test.
Yellow Tag Certification (Intermediate Skills Trainings) Advanced certification tier including Mill 101, Lathe 101, Welding 101, and Entry-Level CNC Mill Training. Requires 2 hours of prior shop experience and 1 hour of cleanup.
Blue Tag Certification (CNC Machining) CNC machining certification requiring Yellow Tag or Mill 101, over 100 shop hours, manual machining experience, and letter of recommendation. Involves finding a CNC mentor, machining 3 unique parts, and an interview.
Mill 101 Training Two-hour introductory manual milling course covering Bridgeport-style mills, vice setup, tool setup, and first cuts on aluminum. Located at Aero Hangar.
Lathe 101 Training Two-hour introductory manual turning course covering head-style lathes, chuck setup, tool setup, and first cuts on aluminum cylinders. Located at Aero Hangar.
Welding 101 Training Two-hour introductory welding course covering TIG and MIG welding terminology, torch setup, machine settings, and work holding for steel. Located at Mustang '60.
Entry-Level CNC Mill Training Four 2-hour sessions focusing on CNC machinery familiarization and safe operation. Requires Mill 101 certification. Minimal CAD-CAM instruction included.
Composites 101 Training Two-hour composites safety orientation covering procedures, setup, clean-up, and disposal. Includes Canvas course. Located at Aero Hangar Annex.
Welding 201 Training (AC TIG Aluminum) Advanced TIG welding course focusing on aluminum welding, various positions, and different material thicknesses. Two hours at Mustang '60.
Welding 202 Training (MIG) Advanced MIG welding course covering techniques for tight spaces, various positions, and different material thicknesses. Two hours at Mustang '60.
Wood 101 Training Two-hour introductory wood shop course covering table saw, miter saw, scroll saw, and drill presses. Students learn to select proper machines and square a wooden block. Located at Mustang '60.
DFAB 101 (3D Printers) One-hour course guiding students through exporting designs to PrusaSlicer, optimizing print settings, and starting prints. Located at Mustang '60.
DFAB 102 (Laser Cutters) Laser cutter training covering the blue laser (Butch Cassidy) and grey laser (Sundance Kid) in Mustang '60. Covers rastering and cutting various materials.
DFAB 202 (Laser Cutters with Rotary Attachment) Two-hour advanced course on setting up and operating the rotary attachment on the Butch Cassidy blue laser. Requires DFAB 102 certification.
Fee for Service CNC Work CNC machining service for school-related projects where students work with student technicians. Requires engineering drawing, SolidWorks files, and costs $50/hr labor plus materials.
Waterjet Cutting Service Waterjet cutting service available at Mustang '60. Requires 2D .dxf file and bringing stock material. Submitted via Google Forms request.
3D Printing Service First-come-first-served 3D printing using PLA filament. School-related projects are free; personal prints over 0.5kg require donating a roll of filament or bringing own material.
Laser Cutting Service Laser cutting using blue and grey lasers at Mustang '60. Available via Picktime reservation system. Covers rastering and cutting various materials.

Quantifiable outcome

1,663 Red Tag Certifications issued annually
+3 more outcomes

Companies that use Cal Poly Machine Shops

Customer profile

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Cal Poly Machine Shops technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Cal Poly Machine Shops partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

Haas AutomationcoreTechnology or IntegrationGenerous partner providing CNC machining equipment for the machine shops. Haas Automation's equipment enables student training on professional-grade CNC machinery for school-related projects.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Cal Poly Machine Shops competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Purdue Polytechnic Makerspace: Purdue's network of makerspaces within the Polytechnic Institute providing hands-on fabrication training and equipment access to students, with comparable certification-based access models.
UC Berkeley Jacobs Hall Makerspace: UC Berkeley's College of Engineering makerspace offering fabrication tools and training to engineering students. Comparable in providing university-affiliated shop access for project-based learning.
Georgia Tech Invention Studio: Georgia Tech's student-run makerspace providing 3D printing, laser cutting, woodworking, and electronics fabrication with a peer-supervised model. Directly comparable community-led access approach for engineering students.
Carnegie Mellon Tech Spark: CMU's makerspace offering fabrication equipment, safety training, and student project support. Operates a similar tiered certification and student-staffed model within a College of Engineering.
MIT Pappalardo Lab and MakerWorks: MIT's student-run machine shop providing hands-on fabrication training, CNC access, and safety certification programs to MIT students across disciplines. Operates an equivalent educational makerspace model with tiered access and student technician staffing.
University of Michigan Wilson Student Team Project Center: UMich's College of Engineering facility providing machine shop access, welding, and fabrication resources primarily for student competition teams. Comparable as a hands-on fabrication hub serving engineering projects.
Cornell Engineering Maker Space: Cornell's College of Engineering fabrication facility serving mechanical and aerospace engineering students with machining, welding, and 3D printing resources under supervised access.
Stanford Product Realization Lab: Stanford's College of Engineering hands-on fabrication facility offering CNC machining, welding, and prototyping to students. Closely comparable mission of integrating 'maker' skill-building into a research university engineering curriculum.

Others

Fab Foundation / Fab Lab Network: Global network of digital fabrication labs (Fab Labs) providing standardized maker equipment access. Adjacent ecosystem organization that influences university makerspace standards and certifications, but operates at a smaller, more distributed scale than Cal Poly's shop.

Broad incumbents

Haas Technical Education Centers: Haas Automation's network of factory-certified CNC training centers at community colleges and universities nationwide. Indirectly comparable as a CNC-specific training infrastructure that Cal Poly's shop depends on for equipment standards.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Cal Poly Machine Shops financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Cal Poly Machine Shops leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Cal Poly Machine Shops funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Cal Poly Machine Shops M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cal Poly Machine Shops

What does Cal Poly Machine Shops do?

Is Cal Poly Machine Shops a public or private company?

Cal Poly Machine Shops is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.

When was Cal Poly Machine Shops founded?

Cal Poly Machine Shops was founded in -1. It employs 51 to 100 people.

Where is Cal Poly Machine Shops based?

Cal Poly Machine Shops is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, United States, in the North America region.

How does Cal Poly Machine Shops make money?

Three revenue lines are on record. University Funding is the primary driver. The others are fee for Service CNC Work and donations and Sponsorships.

Who are Cal Poly Machine Shops's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Purdue Polytechnic Makerspace, UC Berkeley Jacobs Hall Makerspace, Georgia Tech Invention Studio, Carnegie Mellon Tech Spark, MIT Pappalardo Lab and MakerWorks, University of Michigan Wilson Student Team Project Center, Cornell Engineering Maker Space and Stanford Product Realization Lab. Fab Foundation / Fab Lab Network is listed as an others. Haas Technical Education Centers is listed as a broad incumbent.

Does Cal Poly Machine Shops have an API?

No public API is recorded for Cal Poly Machine Shops.

What industry is Cal Poly Machine Shops in?

Cal Poly Machine Shops's product category is Engineering Manufacturing Training Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMADAN, Robotics Kits, Parts & Lab Equipment Providers (Education-Focused), with a secondary code of IMAAAJAL, Conferences, Workshops & Industry Events (AM Knowledge Sharing). Its NAICS code is 33271 and its SIC code is 3550.