The Montcalm Community College Foundation provided funding to the college’s welding and automation programs to upgrade existing equipment and purchase new equipment that will benefit students as they learn skills for their future careers.
The Montcalm Community College Foundation has allocated $95,000 to equipment upgrades and updates for the school’s welding and automation programs via its Developing Talent Fund, which aims to help the school stay able to provide career training opportunities in in-demand fields. Of the funding allocated, $80,000 was given to the automation program and $15,000 was given to the welding program.
According to an article on Montcalm Community College’s website, Adam Yuhas, who serves as the school’s Industrial Technology Lab Coordinator, was quoted as saying of the Montcalm Community College Foundation’s funding to the automation and welding programs, “It shows that we’re cared about. I think the Foundation sees the need for industry, the community sees the need for industry. When we can get the equipment that we need to stay current and to train people properly to go out into the workforce, it’s a win-win for everybody. We’re creating a better, more prepared worker. It’s giving students a leg up. It’s removed part of that learning curve from when they walk onto a job site.”
Among the equipment purchased for the automation program is a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Trainer, bringing the program’s total number of PLCs to six, a Basic Electrical Trainer, and a Pneumatic Instrumentation Module. These additions will allow more students to work on the equipment at a time, cutting down on wait times during labs, and reducing the necessity of additional staffed hours to accommodate the students using the equipment. Additionally, the program received a mobile modular electrical sensor system and a FaultPro Troubleshooting Training System.
The welding program received a Rhino Cart Fixture Table, which helps keep tools and equipment secure while working. Of this piece of equipment, Yuhas said, “The fixture table has allowed a lot of forward progress with project-based learning. It’s exposed the students to something they will work with every day in the welding field and it’s something we’ve never had before.”
The welding program has also purchased a 20-ton hydraulic break, a cold cut saw, a mag drill, and a Fronius iWave TIG welding machine. In addition to the new equipment, some of the funding was used to repair an older item of technology the program has already been using: generator welder, which is now functional thanks to the purchase of new grounds and leads for it.
“The welder is outside; it is run off a generator with fuel in it. The settings are going to be a little different, doing something in an open-air environment. It’s going to expose students to something that, depending on which way they go, they will absolutely have to deal with out in the workforce. It’s nice because it’s been a piece of equipment that we’ve had for some time but, due to budgetary restraints, we haven’t been able to implement it in our classes,” said Yuhas.
For more information about Montcalm Community College, visit the school’s website.