Local radio personality finds new career path after chance interview with Lorain County Community College professor

After spending years in broadcast radio, Matt Douglass was considering a career change that would allow him to work steadier hours so that he could spend more time with his growing family. Then, in 2018, Douglass ended up interviewing Associate Professor Johnny Vanderford from Lorain County Community College about the newly formed Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS) program. Vanderford's enthusiasm about the program stuck with Douglass so he decided to investigate further. Douglass has now completed the program and is now working as an intern at LCCC.

MEMS is a growing technological field that creates mechanical devices such as sensors, gears, and valves using micro and sub-micro electronic components. The MEMS program at LCCC offers a one-semester certificate, a one-year certificate, an associate degree, and a bachelor of applied science (the first of its kind in Ohio). It also boasts paid internships available through the Training Recruitment Acceleration Innovation Network of Ohio.

Douglass started his career with WEOL as an assistant on the sales team and worked his way up to having his own afternoon show. Douglass also coordinated the station's website and produced the station's high school football program. His experiences in radio gave him a degree of technical aptitude, which gave him a solid foundation in pursuing a technical career. After learning about the program. Douglass talked to his wife, with whom he has three small children. They decided that enrolling in the program could provide the family with greater financial security and a job that would allow Douglass to work more family-friendly hours. As Douglass said in a news release from LCCC, "I thought this was a way I could advance my career. If you can love doing something else and get paid a little more, then it's worth giving it a try."

Douglass finished the associate program in December and is now working as an intern at the Desich SMART Center at LCCC and contemplating pursuing his bachelor degree in MEMS. Vanderford is both an associate professor in the MEMS program and director of the Manufacturing Electronics & Rework Institute for Training (MERIT) in the Desich SMART Center, which trains students in high-volume printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing. Vanderford said of Douglass, "Matt's combination of the technical understanding of electronics coupled with his background in radio broadcasting makes him a valuable worker on both the engineering as well as sales sides of SMART Microsystem's team."

Douglass seems to have nothing but good things to say about the MEMS program at LCCC and would encourage others to consider the program, "You can walk into a career and feel like you are ready. No matter what aspect of the program you like, you get the hands-on experience in the clean room labs here to really prepare you."