Not every training program is built for the way manufacturers work. Broad surveys of general concepts have their place, but most engineers and operators are looking for something more precise — a specific gap to close or a specific application giving them trouble. MPMA’s education lineup is built on exactly that premise.
Whether the goal is filling a knowledge gap on the floor, sharpening skills ahead of a new project, or building technical depth before the fall season, MPMA has courses running through July and August that fit a range of schedules, learning styles, and experience levels. The full catalog is available at motionpower.org.
On-Demand: Foundational Knowledge, Anytime
For MPMA members, the on-demand library includes free access to foundational courses covering the most essential topics in gear manufacturing: gear fundamentals, hobbing, and parallel gear inspection. Take them in any order, on your schedule. They’re ideal for onboarding newer team members or for anyone in sales or support who wants a stronger grounding in the industry.
Live Online: Focused Topics, No Travel Required
MPMA’s live online courses bring the structure and interaction of a classroom into a format that works for engineers and technicians who can’t leave the facility for days at a time. July is particularly well stocked with targeted, single-topic offerings.
- Design Basics of Spur and Helical Gears covers the geometry and design fundamentals behind the most common gear forms in industrial applications.
- Involute Spline Design and Rating addresses the often-overlooked connection interface that has significant bearing on system performance.
- Basic Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis Theory examines how load is distributed across gear mesh and why it matters for both design and diagnostics.
- The month closes with Operator Gear Grinding, a practical course aimed at the people running the machines.
Each course covers a specific subject. Attendees can select exactly the training relevant to their work without sitting through content that doesn’t apply. That precision matters when time is the constraint.
In-Person: Immersive Learning for Complex Topics
Some topics benefit from the depth and peer interaction that only an in-person setting can provide. In August, two three-day courses run concurrently: Fundamentals of Worm and Crossed Axial Helical Gearing and Essential Concepts of Bearing Technology.
- Worm and Crossed Axial Helical Gearing addresses gear forms that appear regularly in industrial applications but receive far less structured training attention than spur and helical configurations. For engineers who design or specify these systems, expert-led instruction provides a depth of coverage no half-day webinar can match.
- Essential Concepts of Bearing Technology offers comparable immersion on the bearing side, covering the principles behind selection, rating, and application across a wide range of bearing types.
In-person training also creates something the other formats can’t replicate: the opportunity to work through problems in real time with instructors and peers facing the same challenges. The conversations that happen around the course material are often as valuable as the curriculum itself.
Onsite: Customized Training on Your Terms
When standard formats don’t fit, onsite training is available. MPMA can come to you with an existing course, customize one to your needs, or develop something entirely new. It’s an effective way to ensure employees get exactly the training they need — with no travel costs and scheduling that works for your operation.
The Right Format for the Right Situation
MPMA’s summer lineup isn’t asking manufacturers to choose between training and productivity. On-demand learning fits into existing schedules. Live online courses deliver expert instruction on targeted topics without requiring travel. In-person courses offer deep immersion when the subject demands it.
The full course calendar is at motionpower.org. The industry isn’t standing still — the teams that invest in technical development now will be better positioned when the pace picks back up in the fall.
Upcoming Courses
Design Basics of Spur and Helical Gears
July 13 | Online
Learn how to develop and understand customer gear drive application specifications and target performance expectations. Review, calculate, and select basic gear terminology variables and design parameters that define tooth bending and contact rating safety factors on two real-life examples. Learn how to optimize gear fatigue safety factors for a given target design life and fit new gear designs and ratios into existing center distance using profile shift. Use commercially available software to develop gear geometry factors and calculate and optimize gear set power density and performance. Review common gear failure modes if the design or final accuracy does not meet application requirements.
Involute Spline Design and Rating
July 14-15 | Online
This course will address both geometry and rating of involute splines of various types. The types of spline joints and their applications will be discussed. Spline configuration variations, including half depth, full depth, and special function designs will be addressed. Both fixed and flexible spline configurations will be examined in terms of usage and design. Lubrication methods, including grease, oil bath, and flowing oil, as well as coatings appropriate for various spline applications, are examined. Shear and compressive stress rating methods are discussed with analyses methodology presented in both equation and graphical methodology via various rating charts.
Basic Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis Theory
July 16 | Online
Evaluation of loaded tooth contact and development of tooth modifications using commercially available software to improve and apply a realistic load distribution factor Km in gear rating calculations. Two real life gearing examples will be presented in the course, one will have a cantilever mounted pinion, the other a shaft pinion straddled non-symmetrically by bearings. Both examples demonstrate component deflections under load, which significantly reduce tooth mesh contact, which is then corrected with developed helix and profile modifications. Other gear performance optimization tools will also be presented: material and heat-treatment selection, profile shift, isotropic finishing, shot peening, and accuracy.
Operator Gear Grinding
July 21-22, 2026 | Online
Explore precision gear grinding processes, machine input variables, kinematics and gear geometry in Part A, and grinding simulator, machine alignment, setup errors, pitfalls, common gear fatigue failures and expectations related to finish ground gearing in Part B. Learn definitions of gearing component features, application loads, and process steps from blanking through heat treatment to finished part ready to ship. Study aspects of quality assurance, inspection documentation, and corrective actions for measured non-conformances. Understand pre-heat treat, heat-treatment distortion, and post-heat-treatment operations including the hows and whys to produce finished gears that conform and perform to end user expectations. Calculate gear form grinding cycle times for real-life examples for various accuracy levels on commercially available software.
Fundamentals of Worm and Crossed Axial Helical Gearing
August 4-6, 2026 | Charlotte, North Carolina
This course is intended to be both an overview of worm and wheel gearing, as well as an introduction to the application, design considerations, practical development techniques for manufacturing, and finally how best to apply worm and wheel technology. We will cover some design development, lubrication considerations, and failure modes and causes.
Essential Concepts of Bearing Technology
August 4-6, 2026 | Charlotte, North Carolina
This course is specially designed for engineers and others with technical backgrounds who have had limited exposure to rolling element bearings and need to adapt their technical training to bearings or seek an upgrade to their technical knowledge. The essentials course focuses on understanding basic internal geometry, tribology, bearing attributes, and applications and explores the basic concepts around manufacturing methods, loads, internal load contacts, lubrication, and failure.
Gearbox System Design
August 18-27, 2026 | Online
This course focuses on the supporting elements of a gearbox that allow gears and bearings to do their jobs most efficiently. Learn about seals, lubrication, lubricants, housings, breathers, and other details that go into designing gearbox systems.
How to Read and Interpret a Gear Inspection Report
September 1-2, 2026 | Online
This new and expanded one-day online course is intended to provide a thorough understanding of the attributes of a gear and its design, which are critical to ensure the required operation and function of the gear system as expected. The features and attributes of importance to function of the gear system will be discussed and explained in terms of how to measure and inspect them. We will cover measurement techniques and inspection interpretations as a precursor to the operation of a gear measurement machine (GMM). We will also explore the differences and similarities between a GMM and a coordinate measurement machine (CMM).
Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing
September 28 – October 2, 2026 | Bloomingdale, Illinois
Learn the fundamentals of gear manufacturing in this hands-on course. Gain an understanding of gearing and nomenclature, principles of inspection, gear-manufacturing methods, and hobbing and shaping. Using manual machines, develop a deeper breadth of perspective and understanding of the process and physics of making a gear as well as the ability to apply this knowledge in working with CNC equipment commonly in use.
