Manufacturing careers combine technology and imagination
By Toby Chabon-Berger
Looking for a career in an innovative industry? Palm Beach Community College's Machinery Technology Department has the opportunity for you. The career offers young students and re-careering adults - male and female - high-paying and high-tech jobs.
Added attractions of this program are small classes, DVDs, and the Web-based tutorial-instructional techniques used to maintain students' interest. In addition, the program offers cooperative education for earning while learning.
Larry Rutkowski, PBCC program manager for machining technology; welding technology; and the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVA/C-R) programs at PBCC's Lake Worth Campus, said, "Programs are described in detail on our Web site (www.pbcc.edu/machining.xml).
"Course content includes safety issues of the manufacturing environment, associated math and blueprint-reading skills, computer-numerical control (CNC) programming, manufacturing planning/methods, inspection methods, coordinate-measuring-machine (CMM) use, and related machining concepts and theories," he added.
Shop or laboratory activities are an integral part of the program and provide instruction in the various machine tools, machine accessories and programming techniques related to current technologies.
Manufacturing careers combine imagination and skill with the hottest technologies to make better things for our society by changing raw or processed material into products we use every day.
"PBCC awards students who complete the machining-technology program with a postsecondary adult vocational-training certificate. They can also receive 24 credit hours toward an industrial (operations) management associate of applied science degree, so they begin employment as machinists, tool-and-die makers, CNC operators, programmers or quality-control inspectors," Rutkowski explained.
Joe Martinez, chairman of the PBCC Business Partners Advisory Committee, said, "As partners, we are committed to hiring and eventually providing on-the-job training and/or cooperative work experiences for eligible PBCC machining-technology students."
Martinez is the senior technology leader of configuration product development at Belcan Corp. in Palm Beach Gardens. The company's parts are used by Pratt Whitney, General Electric and Rolls-Royce, among others.
Andrew Geppart, instructor of machining technology, speaks with pride and passion about this amazing opportunity right here in Palm Beach County: "More than 400,000 Floridians statewide earn an average annual wage of $43,732 at more than 16,000 manufacturing companies carrying the label 'Made in Florida.' Machinist-trained workers with the necessary higher math, computer, spatial and mechanical abilities look forward to $50,000 to $80,000 a year.
"Not all manufacturing jobs have disappeared in this country. On the contrary, high-tech, complex parts production, where wages are rising, is still a part of the U.S. economy. The remaining jobs require higher skills than those outsourced to other countries," Geppart added.
He continued, "Manufacturing careers combine imagination and skill with the hottest technologies to make better things for our society by changing raw or processed material into products used every day. Rims on wheels, the juices we drink, and even musical instruments and motorcycle parts are among the finished products of machinists' skills.
"Local employers are manufacturing biological and medical devices, electronic devices, and parts for aviation and aeronautics. Most machinists work in small shops or in manufacturing industries, including machine manufacturing and transportation-equipment manufacturing (e.g., motor-vehicle and aerospace products and parts)," Geppart said.
"Graduates are placed in medical-device-manufacturing jobs, small aerospace shops with contracts with NASA, and NASA itself. Our business partners, who are engaged in this type of manufacturing, tell us of the difficulty in finding skilled workers," added Geppart.
As baby boomers retire, they leave a large void. Experienced and well-trained machinists with supervisory experience and mentoring skills are not available for new hires. The industry predicts an even greater demand for workers.
In 2005, 90 percent of manufacturers surveyed by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) reported 'moderate to severe' shortages of skilled production workers, while 65 percent indicated 'moderate to severe' shortages of scientists and engineers.
PBCC also offers high-quality, low-cost continuing-education (CE) courses to meet the needs of the community. Trade and industry continuing-ed courses are designed to provide training for individuals wanting to upgrade job skills or to explore new career fields. The CE courses are non-credit. Financial aid and other forms of state-sponsored tuition assistance are available to qualified applicants.
Many programs offer transfer agreements with other colleges and universities that allow students to transfer course or program credits into a four-year program.
Geppart and Rutkowski both feel that one aspect of a satisfying career for those in the machinery industry is knowing you played a part in creating new products. Doing so gives one a feeling of empowerment.
For information about machining-technology departments, the following Web sites are available.
Made in Florida:
www.madeinflorida.org
Florida Center for Manufacturing Education: www.fl-ate.org
Manufacturers Association of Florida: www.mafmfg.com
Atlantic Technical Center:
www.atlantictechcenter.com
Manatee Technical Institute:
www.manateetechnicalinstitute.org
Hillsborough Community College: www.hccfl.edu
Indian River Community College: www.ircc.edu
Florida Atlantic University:
www.fau.edu
Florida International University:
www.fiu.edu
From the Palm Beach Post – Sunday, December 16, 2007 |
