March 2023 - Southwestern Illinois College

The Screening of The Final 19

Southwestern Illinois College’s Veteran Services will host a screening event for the documentary, The Final 19.

The film follows the harrowing true story of Sergeant Dan Hefel and his journey as one of the final 19 prisoners of war to return from Vietnam. The film depicts his 1143 days spent in captivity, while also touching on life after the Vietnam War. In addition, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.

The event will be hosted March 30 at SWIC’s Belleville Campus, in the Main Complex Theatre. Listed below is the schedule for the screening and panel discussion of The Final 19 with Sergeant Dan Hefel.

  • Meet and Greet with Sergeant Dan Hefel and Director Tim Breitbach.
  • 11 a.m. – Screening “A” and Q&A
  • 1 p.m. – Veteran Discussion Panel
  • 2 p.m. – Screening “B” and Q&A

“Hosting an event such as the screening of The Final 19 helps bring the community together,” said Veteran Services Coordinator Dan Nagel. “SWIC is honored to be a place where veterans can feel both seen and heard.”

SWIC has over 1500 enrolled Veterans as part of the GI Bill.

For more details about the screening of The Final 19, please contact Veteran Services Coordinator Dan Nagel at daniel.nagel@swic.edu

SWIC wins 1st in Mastercam Wildest Parts competition

SWIC Precision Machining Instructor, David Berry recently placed 1st in the Mastercam Wildest Parts competition!

Wildest Parts is a global event sponsored by Mastercam that gives both students and professionals opportunities to learn skills and earn prizes through CAD/CAM.

Within the Professional division, David Berry placed first among all of the participants! For his submission, Berry designed and created a desk piece, featuring a 12 blade, large wheel, compressor design. The part took a total of 2 weeks to fully create. One week was spent programming the parts and the next was spent proofing the program on the machine.

When creating a part from a blank piece of material, the machine needs about 10 hours to finish the project. Yet, despite the many hours spent on the part, Berry noted that the process helped broaden his knowledge of CAD when creating something with a multi-axis.

For more information on the Precision Machining Technology program, click here.