The Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM) of Northeast State Community College continues moving apprentices forward with new program signees and graduates.
The most recent apprentice graduate is Tyler Byrd who completed the Mechantronics apprenticeship this year. The Kingsport native started his electrical apprenticeship with Eastman in 2014. He later moved to the Primester company. When an offer to join the company’s mechanical apprentice pathway opened, Byrd didn’t hesitate to pursue it.
I’ve always been interested in mechanical and electrical skills, love fixing things with my hands,” said Byrd. “This furthers my education deeper into what I do every day at work.”
As reliability technician, Byrd and his team at Primester maintain all operations of mechanical equipment and electrical equipment. The responsibility required Byrd complete both the mechanical in addition to his electrical apprenticeship curricula to fulfill the apprenticeship requirements. Byrd said his experiences learning those skilled technical applications paved the way to complete his apprenticeship certification.
“The only intimidating part of coming to a news place and learning new faces,” he said. “It is worth it in the end. It is time-consuming and a lot of work but it is well, well worth it.”
RCAM unites technical education and regional economic development. RCAM worked with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Apprenticeship to establish the Northeast State Community College / RCAM Group Registered Apprenticeship Program. This initiative enables RCAM to partner with employers to provide Advanced Manufacturing registered apprenticeships to Build the 21st-Century Workforce.
RCAM is a registered apprenticeship sponsor, meaning it can put together a training package – per DOL guidelines – for companies of any size. This training is especially valuable for smaller companies and entrepreneurs that might not otherwise be able to offer or sustain an apprenticeship program. At the end of the program, the workers receive a DOL certificate of completion.
Byrd’s wife delivers care to the community as a nurse practitioner. She, their two children and his parents were on-hand at his apprenticeship graduation held at RCAM in October. An aspect of the apprenticeship program not lost on the RCAM staff family.
“When I think about the time our apprentices invest, which is some 8,000 hours from enrollment to graduation, that dedication to your craft is really something to be proud of,” said Dr. Sam Rowell, vice president for Economic and Workforce Development at Northeast State.
RCAM teaching labs feature models of the equipment used on-site plant facilities. Byrd said the move from analog equipment to digital equipment accelerated in recent years as vendors introduced the most efficient technology available to deploy in manufacturing setting.
“Our instructors at RCAM are usually on top of everything and the people to know what they are doing to teach it,” said Byrd. “It is very thorough and there is a lot of knowledge to take in.”
Mechatronics – a discipline known familiarly as Electromechanical Technology – combines the knowledge of mechanical technology with the knowledge of electrical technology and electronic circuits. Mechatronics technicians perform critical maintenance and repairs on complex systems that use robotics, Programmable Logic Controllers, hydraulics/pneumatics, and electrical/electronic circuits.
RCAM sponsored their first apprenticeship program in the spring of 2017. As the apprenticeship sponsor, RCAM provides the structure and processes for employers to take advantage of this proven workforce development model.
The modern apprentice takes up tool and technique from experienced craftsmen who teach ever-evolving technical skills to a new generation. The apprenticeship program presently trains the occupations of Mechatronics Technician and Industrial Manufacturing Technician and others upon request.
U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship has more than 1,100 occupations approved for apprenticeships. Visit https://www.doleta.gov/OA/apprenticeship.cfm to get information and view a complete list of occupations. The RCAM is located at 305 W. Main St. in downtown Kingsport. For more information, visit www.manufacturingfuture.net.
“There’s nothing about this is easy; it is a lot of time, and a lot of work,” said Byrd. “If you start something like that that’s really what you want to do, stick with it and see it to the end.”
The Regional Center for Advanced Manufacturing (RCAM) of Northeast State Community College continues moving apprentices forward with new program signees and graduates.
The most recent apprentice graduate is Tyler Byrd who completed the Mechantronics apprenticeship this year. The Kingsport native started his electrical apprenticeship with Eastman in 2014. He later moved to the Primester company. When an offer to join the company’s mechanical apprentice pathway opened, Byrd didn’t hesitate to pursue it.
I’ve always been interested in mechanical and electrical skills, love fixing things with my hands,” said Byrd. “This furthers my education deeper into what I do every day at work.”
As reliability technician, Byrd and his team at Primester maintain all operations of mechanical equipment and electrical equipment. The responsibility required Byrd complete both the mechanical in addition to his electrical apprenticeship curricula to fulfill the apprenticeship requirements. Byrd said his experiences learning those skilled technical applications paved the way to complete his apprenticeship certification.
“The only intimidating part of coming to a news place and learning new faces,” he said. “It is worth it in the end. It is time-consuming and a lot of work but it is well, well worth it.”
RCAM unites technical education and regional economic development. RCAM worked with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Apprenticeship to establish the Northeast State Community College / RCAM Group Registered Apprenticeship Program. This initiative enables RCAM to partner with employers to provide Advanced Manufacturing registered apprenticeships to Build the 21st-Century Workforce.
RCAM is a registered apprenticeship sponsor, meaning it can put together a training package – per DOL guidelines – for companies of any size. This training is especially valuable for smaller companies and entrepreneurs that might not otherwise be able to offer or sustain an apprenticeship program. At the end of the program, the workers receive a DOL certificate of completion.
Byrd’s wife delivers care to the community as a nurse practitioner. She, their two children and his parents were on-hand at his apprenticeship graduation held at RCAM in October. An aspect of the apprenticeship program not lost on the RCAM staff family.
“When I think about the time our apprentices invest, which is some 8,000 hours from enrollment to graduation, that dedication to your craft is really something to be proud of,” said Dr. Sam Rowell, vice president for Economic and Workforce Development at Northeast State.
RCAM teaching labs feature models of the equipment used on-site plant facilities. Byrd said the move from analog equipment to digital equipment accelerated in recent years as vendors introduced the most efficient technology available to deploy in manufacturing setting.
“Our instructors at RCAM are usually on top of everything and the people to know what they are doing to teach it,” said Byrd. “It is very thorough and there is a lot of knowledge to take in.”
Mechatronics – a discipline known familiarly as Electromechanical Technology – combines the knowledge of mechanical technology with the knowledge of electrical technology and electronic circuits. Mechatronics technicians perform critical maintenance and repairs on complex systems that use robotics, Programmable Logic Controllers, hydraulics/pneumatics, and electrical/electronic circuits.
RCAM sponsored their first apprenticeship program in the spring of 2017. As the apprenticeship sponsor, RCAM provides the structure and processes for employers to take advantage of this proven workforce development model.
The modern apprentice takes up tool and technique from experienced craftsmen who teach ever-evolving technical skills to a new generation. The apprenticeship program presently trains the occupations of Mechatronics Technician and Industrial Manufacturing Technician and others upon request.
U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship has more than 1,100 occupations approved for apprenticeships. Visit https://www.doleta.gov/OA/apprenticeship.cfm to get information and view a complete list of occupations. The RCAM is located at 305 W. Main St. in downtown Kingsport. For more information, visit www.manufacturingfuture.net.
“There’s nothing about this is easy; it is a lot of time, and a lot of work,” said Byrd. “If you start something like that that’s really what you want to do, stick with it and see it to the end.”
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