This fall, Yavapai College Pre-Engineering Degree students will have the opportunity to put their skills to work with Yavapai County companies. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Yavapai College’s CTEC Campus an $855,350 Advanced Technical Education grant to create semester-long internships with local firms. The award will fund “Engineered for Success: Engineering Technician Training for Rural Arizona,” a three-year project designed to expand capacity for high quality engineering technician training in Central and Northern Arizona.
YC’s Associate of applied Science Degree in Applied Pre-Engineering is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of engineering concepts. The degree emphasis real-world engineering applications, allowing students to see and learn the benefit of applied math and science in the engineering field. Students earning an associate’s degree will also be able to leave the program with seven separate industry certifications.
Yavapai College certificates include:
- CNC Machines Set up (HAAS)
- CNC Machining (HAAS)
- 3D programming and Rapid Prototyping (Feature Cam)
- Computer aided programming for CNC (Feature Cam)
- Digital Electronics International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians (ISCET)
- Electrical Instrumentation Technician
- Robot Programmer/Operator from (GE FANUC, world leader in robotics).
“In a nutshell, the mission of YC’s Applied Pre-Engineering program is to get students excited about, and prepared for, careers in engineering.” Program Director Rick Peters said. “This includes helping them to understand what engineering is, and the level of rigor necessary for them to succeed. Because engineering is such a team sport, we concentrate on team projects. We divide our students into groups that include lead and specialty engineers, and we treat them as if they were engineers.” This approach has proven hugely beneficial to students when they transfer to universities.
“We push these kids hard to get them ready for the rigor of engineering classes,” Peters said. “We have been highly successful in this, particularly with students who transfer to ASU. Our transfer former students routinely email us to let us know how much better prepared they are compared to their classmates. Engineers solve problems; technicians are reactive problem solvers, and engineers are proactive problem solvers. That is, we provide solutions to problems where there were none before. We cannot look up a solution to a new problem on the web; we need to apply engineering principles, and our gray mater to come up with novel solutions.”
With this in mind, troubleshooting is one of the keystone of the Applied Pre-Engineering program. “We present our students with both reactive and proactive problems and ask that they solve them,” Peters said. “It’s an interesting learning curve. Some adapt to it naturally; others do not. We consider it a success in either case.” Some students learn that engineering is not for them. “And this is the place to discover it,” Peters added, “instead of the costly universities.”
The NSF Grant provides paid internships to seven Applied Pre-Engineering students each semester. YC’s ability to combine paid practical work experience with the quality training in the Applied Pre-Engineering degree is a win-win for both YC students and Yavapai County employers. QCBN
By Linda Brannock, YC Career Coach
If you would like to discuss the possibility of updating your employment skills, Yavapai College is here to help. Contact Yavapai College Career Coaches Linda Brannock at 928-776-2170, or James Voska at 928-717-7726.
Linda Brannock is a Yavapai College Career Coach.