There’s more than corn in Iowa. Baseball fans who cherish the 1989 classic Field of Dreams will remember a baseball diamond forged out of a corn field outside Dyersville, Iowa, that brought the ghosts of former baseball greats out to play ball.
Today, just down the road from Dyersville, you’ll find an institution that was built to bring together another group of people: those looking to gain the knowledge and skills they need to embark on successful careers. Northeast Iowa Community College (“NICC”) now serves thousands of students across eight counties in northeast Iowa.
Michael Wilfer, an instructor at NICC, recently attended Smart Factory Mechatronics instructor training at the Amatrol Technical Training Institute (ATTI) in Jeffersonville, Indiana, to prepare for the upcoming school year. Wilfer uses Amatrol’s Smart Factory as part of his Industrial Automation and Mechatronics advanced manufacturing program.
According to the NICC website, Industrial Automation and Mechatronics students pursuing their Associate of Applied Science degree “will develop comprehensive knowledge of different mechanical, hydraulic, electrical and automation processes…and have skills and qualifications to perform at a higher level in an industrial automation maintenance position.”
Wilfer knows that the industrial employers in his area “want workers with the higher-end technical skill sets…someone who understands how a PLC works.” His program provides those skills, and the students reap the benefits when they find a satisfying career. Wilfer always advises his students that “the more skills they have, they can leverage themselves to better paying jobs.”
Wilfer’s program teaches the “skills for installation, preventive maintenance, diagnostics and equipment repair” that are in high demand in his area due to “increased automation, robotics and mechatronics technologies in the workplace.” For his students, this means that “employment opportunities as an industrial automation maintenance technician are excellent.” Indeed, his students regularly find employment in a variety of settings, including “hospitals, schools, manufacturing, industrial/processing, as well as on general building maintenance sites.”
Wilfer also leads NICC’s Industrial Maintenance Technician advanced manufacturing program, which prepares students “for a growing, globally in-demand industrial maintenance career in businesses and organizations everywhere including hospitals, schools and manufacturing companies.”
Students completing the Industrial Maintenance Technician program “will have the knowledge and high-level technical skills to troubleshoot electrical circuits and fluid power circuits, compare different mechanical drives and interpret gauge readings for overall system operation.” They also enjoy a “95 percent job placement rate.”
In WIlfer’s Industrial Maintenance Technician program, students learn in multiple ways, with approximately 60% via hands-on learning and 40% via lecture and demonstrations. Wilfer uses Amatrol’s eLearning curriculum “extensively” for his lectures. “Amatrol’s eLearning is excellent,” says Wilfer. “I use Amatrol for everything I can.”
Wilfer focuses on diagnosis and troubleshooting in his classes. When they complete the program and achieve their Associate of Applied Science degree, students “will be able to:
- identify safety concerns;
- demonstrate knowledge of electrical circuits;
- compare different mechanical drives;
- explain motor theory;
- demonstrate the ability to troubleshoot fluid power circuits; and
- interpret pump data for proper system operation.”
Click below to watch an overview video of Wilfer’s Industrial Maintenance Technician program at NICC:
About Duane Bolin
Duane Bolin is a former curriculum developer and education specialist. He is currently a Marketing Content Developer in the technical training solutions market.
