Tech Unlocked
Unlocking Opportunities in Career & Technical Education
Tech Unlocked
Industrial Mechanics- Healthcare for Machines.
In this episode, host Dr. Eric Ward talks with former SouthernTech Industrial Mechanics student Dominyk Jones and current industry expert Tim Miller about the benefits of enrolling in an Industrial Mechanics Program.
Welcome to Tech Unlocked, where we explore all things tech related. Today's special guest, Tim Miller, Reliability Manager at Circulus, a subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, and Dominic Jones, a Southern Tech student. Now for our special guest and host, Dr. Eric Ward.
SPEAKER_01:You know, even this is our third one and I'm still a special guest.
SPEAKER_00:Well, any more. We've got to go with what we've got to go with here. We have special guests. We've got Tim and Dominic.
SPEAKER_01:I like it. Well, welcome, everybody. Thank you all for joining us today. And a special thank you to Dominic, who is a current student here at Southern Tech, and Tim Miller, who is currently working for Circulus, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical. You said it right. I like it. Ah, man. That was a one take. I like it. I like that. So let's get it started. with Dominic. And if you can just introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about you. And you were in the industrial mechanics program. Yeah, that's true. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_04:I just want to start off by saying that. Absolutely. But yeah, my name is Dominic Jones. I go to Armour High School and I'm in the robotics program right now. But last year I was in the industrial mechanics program.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. How did you, what made you get into the industrial mechanics program?
SPEAKER_04:Well, my dad works at Valero. And he has spent his years in the engineering field. And I kind of want to follow up from there. And when in my middle school, before I moved out to Oklahoma, I took a shop class, which really gave me some hands-on with machines and really gave me a love for that. Okay. Where'd you move here from? Texas, Humboldt, Texas. Okay. Okay. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01:And so before joining the industrial mechanics program and the, I guess... your dad's career history. Any other experience with industrial machinery, or you just thought that this was just a really good fit for you, or? Well,
SPEAKER_04:before I came here to the Southern Tech, I had little experience. You know, I've worked in machines before with my shop class, but there was more I had to learn, and I knew I could get it from Southern Tech Industrial Machinery Program. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And so let me turn it over to Tim. Tim Miller, join us today. is in the workforce in that industry and is looking to hire qualified folks to work at Circulus. Tim, give us just a quick introduction on you and a little bit on your background and really just how you've seen this industry change even over the past five or 10 years.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, thanks. Tim Miller, work for Circulus currently. I've got about almost 22 years of industrial experience in manufacturing with my previous time with Michelin. And it's went from a single skill to even wanting more dual skilled. And I was just sitting thinking that this is more comparative to what doctors, you know, a nurse becoming or a CNA becoming a nurse and then becoming a doctor. It's almost like that what we're looking for. We're looking for people that come in at the CNA level for the mechanical aptitude and knowledge and then graduate into nursing as a technician and maybe on into the doctor field when they go to leading a team of people. to care for these machines because it really is machinery health. It's what we call it in the industry. We're looking for people to help us keep these machines healthy so that whatever product we're making can make it out the door safely first with the high quality at the demand that's coming to our teams.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So what are some of those initial skills or foundational skills, I guess, you would be looking for from a student, from anybody coming into your industry at an entry level?
SPEAKER_03:Well, obviously, just like Dominic talked about, it's a passion for taking care of machinery, just like any other job. Being able to see the machines move, be able to interact with them safely, and to be able to diagnose them if they're not doing the proper action at the proper time.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So, Dominic, was it ever described to you that way, like health care for machines?
SPEAKER_04:Not at first, but when I got through the program and started going through more of the subjects, it was a big thing that kept bringing up along with safety is that we got to learn how to identify the problem with a machine and learn how to fix it and also how to manage and take care of the machine, but also the workspace around it as well.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. And so as we're just kind of digging into this industrial mechanics program that we have here at Southern Tech, a lot of times this program is not a full program. And I think it's because a lot of times students really don't even know what that is and what happens in that program. So if you were to talk to, say, somebody you know at Ardmore or just somebody in the community, what would you tell them about this program to get them involved? interested in it?
SPEAKER_04:I'll say that a lot of people, at least the ones I hang with, are really into hands-on work. And you get a lot of that throughout industrial machinery. It gives you a hand in each field. It shows you different things from electrical to machining and to safety. It gives you a bunch of experience. So if you want to go to any field of engineering, it at least gets you a little bit of knowledge for each
SPEAKER_01:one.
UNKNOWN:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And so overall, this program covers safety, machining, mechanical systems, power systems. Which was, when you were taking the program, what was probably the most exciting or most challenging for you?
SPEAKER_04:I'd say machining or electrical. Because with machining, at first, we just took our aluminum blocks and we had to work on chamfering angles and doing things like that. And then whenever we got... Deeper into the year, we had to look at blueprints and have to go off the blueprint and make our piece off that using things like the CNC machine or the drill press. Okay. But with electrical, that was a little bit tougher because we had to work on the electrical box trainer, and we had to go through a book for that one, and it took a minute, but it was fun, though.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. And so, Tim, we were talking earlier before we got on, and just the difference between even like residential electricians and the type of acumen you have to have for this side of the industry. What are those significant differences?
SPEAKER_03:Well, when I think about the industrial, you're talking about the code, the way things are put in to make them function from the beginning. But once it's running, the next thing is to see what piece is not there to make the machine move properly and being able to use, you know, testing equipment to determine where there's a voltage missing or where there's actually a failed, you know, electrical component based on readings or functions. You see a lot out there where just a part's changed without very much diagnostics and that's very, very expensive for a company to handle depending upon the electrical component. So, The hands-on part is what we're looking for, really a diagnostic mindset from a standpoint of whether it's electrical or mechanical. But the electrical with testing equipment and with voltage being not more dangerous than mechanical, but a lot of people are apprehensive about being in an electrical field. But same thing with anything else is the safety precautions that go ahead of it. But mechanical is also a very, you know, fluid thing with moving parts to understand what's moving from point A to B, maintain your safety. And then, again, like we talked about seeing it, it doesn't move from A to B. Why? You know, it's always the question of why it didn't work like it was supposed to when it comes to that. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And, Dominic, so thinking about the industrial mechanics program, what would a typical day look like if you were to describe that to a student who has no idea what we're talking about? A typical day, what would that look like? And then, Tim, I'm going to ask you, what would a typical day look like in industry and see how close we are?
SPEAKER_04:I'd say through the mid-year, the typical day would be you come in at 8 o'clock, you come in, and you get to your desk. He'll run you through some theory for what the day is. He'll run you through what you were going to be doing today, what's the project for today. And he'll have us run through the theory part, and then have us go out to the shop for a time to work on it. And I say when we was working through the electrical trainers, when we first started working on electrical trainers, he explained everything to us, each electrical term and what things do. And then he'd have us go out there with a partner, have us work on that. And then that would be pretty much the day of that, just to work, get your theory in, make sure always that you're practicing safety and making sure you're not doing anything like, trying to shock one of your classmates or something. He'll always have us practicing safety and working throughout the day. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And you mentioned before about how a lot of the people that you know really want hands-on learning. Yeah. How much of the class was hands-on versus, like, say, theory or even book work?
SPEAKER_04:I'd say about... 70% was hands-on. We did a lot of hands-on. We spent a little bit of time in the class because, you know, you come into the engineering workforce or field and you expect to do a lot of hands-on things. You can learn as much as you want, but if you have no experience actually doing it with your hands, then it doesn't amount to much. So he'll have us outside in the shop a lot throughout the day and have us in the classes as little as possible, but still having to get all that stuff that you need, all that theory work you needed.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. You know, and I'm looking at Tim because something that has, I don't know, come up in other conversations is employers end up hiring people with engineering degrees, but they've never actually engineered anything. And so I turned that over to Tim and, you know, like, how does that look on the circular side? And as a student like Dominic would be coming into your industry, how much of that does overlap? How much is... do you expect to have to coach him up when he gets into a place like Circulus?
SPEAKER_03:Well, what I've seen with Southern Tech students, they don't need to be coached too much into that because, like Dominic said, there is that hands-on part of it. And I think the expectation set in the classes from this level is that you will go hands-on. I have seen others from two-year colleges and stuff that expect to come in and be an engineer and get a rude awakening. But so far we've had good things come out of the system here as far as people being– Understanding that hands-on is, at the end of the day, that's where it's applied. But back to his point about there has to be the educational side of it as well. You come into the industry, there's a lot of learning to do. So if you're unconditioned to research or read up on things to then go practice, it's going to be a long road for you as an employee.
SPEAKER_01:And so as an employee in this role, what does their day-to-day look like?
SPEAKER_03:So... Most industries have two different roles. That of the troubleshooter, which is usually your entry level from this aspect as you're on the floor, on the grind every day, making sure the machines are up right now. It's really a right now type of maintenance. If it breaks, you fix it right now, which typically you come in like he talked about and you do a turnover to know what happened on the last 12-hour shift and then get a briefing if there's a shift briefing from any other reasons to know what maybe the objectives of the shift are. Even from a production standpoint, typically the maintenance guy has to be really involved in understanding what the production for the day or what we call bottlenecks or the problem points are, potentially problem points are to get you through the night. And then you have your preventive maintenance team, which is really a lot like what he explained. You come in, you get your daily briefing, you go over what your tasks are for the day, your projects are for the day, whether it be inspections of the machines to ensure that they're What should be working is working properly and everything. We like to look at stuff ahead of the failure. So proactive maintenance a lot with our preventative maintenance teams. And then on to the potential during the day to do maintenance or do research to find out why something is failing or even correcting or making our preventative systems better by what they're seeing every day and evaluating those set systems that most industries have.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
UNKNOWN:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And, you know, a lot of it is hands-on, but ultimately are there certifications that you guys look for? So
SPEAKER_03:for my 22 years, we really haven't looked for certifications. Okay. I think it's a good segue into the interview. Then you sell yourself always, you know, with what you know and your conversation points and your ability to talk about things. what you know. And then most industrial people can tell if you know it or don't know it. Right,
SPEAKER_01:because it's one thing to have the piece of paper. It's another to be able to speak the language.
SPEAKER_03:Right, right.
SPEAKER_01:And I think that's, you know, as we're working with our students on as they're developing resumes and they're earning those certifications, yeah, that might get your resume to the top of the, you know, up on the list, but you still have to be able to talk about everything you can do.
UNKNOWN:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:So speaking about certifications, what are some that you have, Dominic, have you earned from industrial mechanics and also even the robotics program that you're in now?
SPEAKER_04:I've earned quite a bit, actually. They have us working all the time, and every subject we do is always leading towards getting a certification. So for Mr. Bartholow's, I have my forklift certification, my scissor lift certification, my NIMS, my electrical certification. What else? I think I have a certification in machining as well. And then for robotics, we have the Autodesk CAD Fusion. I have that certification. I have my Universal Roblox Learning Program certification. I think I have a couple more. I can't think off the top of my head. But you get a lot of certifications that allow you to work on different things. And you'll have more of a step up in the industry being able to do things instead of having to take an entire class like everybody else. So they let you drive a forklift? Yeah. And a scissor lift? Yeah, they had us operating both those to get the certification on that. And they taught us how to do it for the forklift. That was real fun, having to drive forklifts throughout the cones, go around. The obstacle course, right? Yeah. That's a good time. They had us go through their forward, just snaking through the cones. Had us go through backwards, snaking through the cones, and taught us how to pick things up. We had to take a class for that. The first day, because it was a Tuesday program, so the first day we had to sit in the class and learn everything. learn how to operate it in a safety for you. I take a long video about the safety. And then we went on and did the hands-on driving.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So scissor lift. How high did you get? Because I know if you're... If you may be a little squeamish about that, it may be an eye-opener for you.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. On the scissor lift, I remember that because I personally have just a little bit of a fear of heights. So when he got on there, she was like– or I think it was he. It was last year. But it was like you can take it as high as you want. And so we went up. I think we can go, like, as high as the– you know those light poles outside the program, those real tall ones? Yeah. Yeah, we can go all the way up, like, above those real high. And so– I think I took it about, like, somewhat there. I didn't take it to the max because when you get up there, you start getting a little shaky. And I was like, okay, okay, you know, I can do it if it's, you know, if it's for a job. But for this one, I'll just take it for a good height, show that I can do it, and then get back
SPEAKER_01:down. Probably working inside, too, would be better because, you know, a little bit of a breeze might make you nervous up there, huh?
SPEAKER_04:I'm telling you, I was up there and it was just... I was like, okay, you know, I've
SPEAKER_00:got to be up here for it. And, you know, Tim will tell you that because I've taught some both scissor lift and forklift for Circulus. They use them every day in both operations.
SPEAKER_01:How do you guys use those two machines in your operation?
SPEAKER_03:Same thing. You know, a lot of ours are conveyors that are higher off the ground. Or even some of the machinery is up on a second platform and the only way to access it for maintenance would be to come up to the side in a boom lift or scissor lift so you can have a platform to work from. Okay. You can stay real close to the, you know, for ergonomics and handling stuff. You want to be really close to the piece of equipment. And a lot of times a ladder on a platform is not the right answer. Yeah. You know, working from safely with harnesses and with your tied off and, you know, your tools and stuff there. handy to you so you feel more comfortable like you said you can get uncomfortable in those situations and anytime you're doing maintenance you're working on something an abnormal condition
SPEAKER_01:yeah
SPEAKER_03:you know if you're working on a failure so you're already out of the safety zone of normal operations so everything that you can use to make your more comfortable but you know and closer to what you're doing is very important to be able to safely do be proficient at using so that is a bonus to the plan coming into industry because i think most industries require that yeah before you know you really can get into the nitty-gritty you You can start some kind of work, but until you get some of those things out of the way, you're limited. And as a manager, you don't want limited maintenance workers. You want to get them in the grind where the work needs to be done, like he said. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And so, Dominic, you've taken the industrial maintenance program and you're in robotics now. What's your career trajectory look like? What are your goals? What do you want to do? How does all this fit together?
SPEAKER_04:So when I first got in, I just wanted to, because like I said, industrial machining, you get a little hands-on to each work. You're able to see different, how do you say, careers. And so when I got in, I didn't really know what I wanted. I just knew I wanted to be in the field of engineering. And so when I was told after I finished, I had a good idea, like I want to go into mechanical engineering. And so I went into robotics and I went through there, spent some more time around the field, learning different things. And I plan on going to OSU. And so I'm going to enroll into petroleum engineering. Actually, that's where I wanted to go into. I had a great talk with my father and, you know, I wanted to fall into petroleum engineering. But at the same time, I still... want to be able to get into the field of like mechatronics work where I'm able to work on robots because robots is a big thing for me and I like that. And so I want to be able to learn for both. But I do plan on going after more of a career in petroleum engineering. Okay. Do you plan to work as you're going to school? I think so. I think I will be trying to work. Yes, sir. Okay. Because I don't have a problem working in school. You know, I've been doing this since I was But since I was young, I've always been around working and doing schoolwork. So I plan on still trying to work and then planning on finding an internship throughout the summer, actually. And then once I get into college, I'll see if I can be able to do it. I'll try to work throughout the school.
SPEAKER_01:And a lot of times students that don't take these programs will end up waiting tables or working fast food or something. And with the skills you've got, you can work– in some of those industries while you're going to school. And we've talked about this before, and I'm just a huge proponent of not collecting student debt. Our students across the country have$1.8 trillion in student debt. And so if you can work as you're going along and then go to school at the same time and not pick up as much, you're going to be a whole lot better off. So when you start that career, or maybe you start at Circulus, you start at Valero, like you said, your dad works out there, you actually, when you get that first paycheck, you get to keep a whole lot more of it rather than trying to pay off your student loan bill. So as far as, so you're talking petroleum engineering, that side of things, if If you were to meet a student from our program and he says, I want to go into petroleum engineering, what would you say to that, Tim? Well,
SPEAKER_03:ironically, one of our reliability techs at my previous job at Michelin was a petroleum engineer. And she did really well with predictive tools. And she did really well. She took actually a couple of classes with me when I was teaching for Michelin in electrical. And she did really well in the classroom. And she went on to do really good stuff with becoming a reliability manager. Move from Ardmore with the situation there out to a Greenville plant with Michelin and stay with it in the reliability management field. So I would say there's still open doors for you even in the maintenance world, even with a petroleum engineering degree. You won't get to apply it, but those background that you got from this schooling and from that schooling definitely apply from my standpoint from the reliability side because we're looking at why did it fail and you need an engineering mindset to and understanding mechanical and electrical, which you would have at that time, to dive in with the teams of the guys on the floor because the biggest thing is to solve the problem so the guys don't have to face it over and over and over again. Yeah. There's nothing like the expenditure on the same problem every night. It makes for a poor environment for maintenance people. And with an engineering degree, and even as a tech in a big company, you can find that engineering degree will land you back into maintenance, especially if it's still something you– Enjoy doing the hands-on part because you get to– in the reliability field, it's not always engineering. It's hands-on, looking at working with super teams, basically power teams, to solve problems.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Now, we have our career expo coming up in a couple weeks. And so if– and all of our students go– basically employer to employer, and they learn about what they might do for that company and all of that. So if you were to talk to one of our students about a career trajectory at Circulus, what would that look like from a starting entry-level position to if they got a bachelor's degree in something or, you know, beyond that, what does that look like and how could they get started at Circulus but also move up in the company?
SPEAKER_03:Well, actually, since our acquisition by Dow, there are new engineering jobs coming open. They're not completely there yet, but the future looks really bright to add the team members we need to be successful in, you know, mechanical recycling. Okay. Now that we own by Dow. Before, it wasn't thought of as much of a long-term industry as it is now with our current focus. And the moving forward and the technology they're going to be adding to this will require engineers more into the plant than just the daily business we're currently doing. So it's looking up for us as far as more industrial things happening for the mechanical recycling as part of Dow. And the engineering position is electrical and mechanical recycling. will be available in the future. But with my work with engineers over the years, the ones who have the mechanical skills, hands-on skills, or have worked as a mechanic or electrician have always done better, I think, when interacting with the maintenance team. So that little bit of experience he's gained already at Southern Tech. I'm a product of Southern Tech myself. I took the drafting program a long, long time ago. But those led me, just like it will lead him, to steps as a draftsman and then on into the military. And then it served me well when I come back into the industry. The knowledge that I've always been able to go back to, like you were speaking to earlier, being able to read blueprints.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_03:You've got to be able to read blueprints to be a maintenance, either electrical or mechanical. Non-negotiable. Non-negotiable, really. And it's surprising how many people don't have those skills if they don't get into the right classes at a Southern Tech level.
UNKNOWN:Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03:Cause I took it at college drafting too. And it was better at Southern tech because it was broader. Like you said, you get to hit on a bunch of different topics. When I was in the drafting in college, it was more singular minded and not global. Like you can get from a tech school. Okay. You know, cause they're looking to prepare more students for global, global industrial, you know, employment than singular type deals. Yeah. Especially because of where we're from, you know, you need to have a better skillset.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:than a single skill set.
SPEAKER_01:So if a student were to come in entry level, what hourly rate, what compensation could they expect? Is there just a range? Probably in the 20s to 30s dollars an hour. Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Maybe high 30s.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Yeah. I don't mean you. Yeah. Just industry.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Range. I've seen it vary anywhere from in the mid 20s to the mid 30s. Michelin had a selective way to progress. And they actually had wickets to get to up to almost$40 an hour. I've seen friends that left Michelin that went on to$45 an hour. Yeah. And no degrees. They just, they have the due maintenance and experience. And that's what every industry, that's what every person is really looking for is some amount of experience. And again, When you see a student who just goes to college, you don't always equate that with experience. But when you see a tech, tech is always related to the word experience usually. At least they put their hands on a machine.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So, Dominic, just getting back to you, what would you say that the biggest surprise or the biggest takeaway from either the industrial program or even robotics, biggest surprise or takeaway from that program?
SPEAKER_04:I'd say my biggest surprise from the program was when I first came into it. Like I said, you know, it varies off into different topics, and that's not what I was expecting when I first came in. You know, when I first came in, I thought I was just going to be, you know, working on a machine, you know, just drilling some bits and stuff like that. But, no, it surprised me whenever it was more to having to learn about how to keep your workspace clean, the importance of having a... how you say, an efficient workspace. And it confused me, or not confused me, but surprised me about how detailed and every different thing is and how important everything is to that. Because, like, especially when we was taking that efficiency course where we had to go through, make sure everything was clean, different ways we could be more efficient, you know, the cutting into the foam, and so you have your pieces all laid out. And it has surprised me about that. But it also, like... Because we work in such a way that it's more professional than anything else. It's not your average classroom. It's more professional the way you address your professor, the way you have to go about your business inside the work area, having to put on, like, your glasses, always have your glasses, depending on what you're working on, have your hard hat. You always have to have the right attire. You can't just go in, you know, try to go in with some shorts, some shoes, like some slides or something like that. You can't do that. You got to be more professional, and it's more like a workplace than it is a classroom, but you also still get that. That classroom effect, you know, learning in class with your classmates, teaching your teacher, teaching you different things. But yeah, that was my biggest thing and takeaway is how professional we are and try to be. And so that when we go into the workspace, you know, we're not just caught off guard. And this is something that we experienced before. And this is something familiar as to something we've been through.
SPEAKER_01:And so right now, Southern Tech is going through the interview process and all that for the students for next school year. And so what we ask them to do is they identify like a first choice and they identify a second choice and all of that. And so if their first choice, say, was welding and they didn't get into that, but their second choice was this, like industrial mechanics, sometimes if they see it as a second choice, like, oh, maybe I didn't want to do that, what would you tell a student who– has an opportunity to take this class, but it may not have been their first choice?
SPEAKER_04:Well, if you say welding, at the end of the year, or near the end of the year, when I was doing industrial machinery, I actually decided They allow you to pick a classroom to take lessons from. So I picked welding, and I was still able to get the basis of welding. They had us doing hands-on work welding different things and still able to learn because we had to learn about different types of welds, and we also had to do them. So even though I wasn't in welding, I was still able to learn the basis of welding. I'm able to still do the welding because I know how to weld now just because of that class alone. I can do basic welds. And so, you know, if you're not able to get into that from the start, you'll still be able to get some knowledge about it before you even get to get in that class next year if you want to do it again next year. Okay. Yeah. All right.
SPEAKER_01:And I guess we're going to– we're on the home stretch here. We're about to start wrapping up. And I would just– I think as students are getting ready to enroll and that first– What was it like being on Southern Tech's campus for the first time? Because it's not, like you said, it's professional. It's not, you know, the hallways of your high school and all that. It's very different because you have adults in your class and you guys are all learning the same things at the same time. What would you tell people that are about to, or might even be hesitant about coming onto the campus because it's so different? Because, you know, if you think about it, we have 13 different partner schools that send us students. And some of them are very, very small schools. You're from Ardmore, so that's probably the biggest school that we serve. And this is just a very different environment than your traditional day in the halls of a high school. So how would you describe that? And how would you help people overcome kind of their fear of coming onto campus?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's a big campus, and like you said, there's a whole lot of schools that come through. But your classroom aren't really that giant. It'll still feel like a normal class, the size of how many people are in there, because they have their AM and their PMs. But also, if you're thinking about coming to Southern Tech, you should, because it helps a lot. It brings in a lot for you. It'll bring you more than you will get in your average high school. Like, you know, you'll get your transcripts, your GPA and all that. But, you know, getting if you want to get into a field of any type of work from medical to engineering to even like sound work and things like that, coming here will give you a step up and it would like introduce you into the thing or into this your workforce. that you won't get from many other places other than having to go to college. Most people have to go to college to learn everything, then try to go off to the workforce. If you come here, then you are able to learn what you can in college because I've been to many tours for college tours, and when they tell me about their program, a lot of things I see them do and they work on is things I've done already here. I went to OSU, and they were telling me about how they're... Their CAD program, they had their students come in to learn that. And I was like, well, I've already done most of this. They use the same thing I do, and they're printing off the same 3D printers I print off of. So it's like you'll get that knowledge you can get from a college, at least the base level from here, and be able to incorporate that into the workforce already. So you don't even have to go to college if you don't really want to. Because I have classmates now who have a bunch of certifications that are planning on going into the workforce now. and are getting internships and getting job interviews from people from bigger companies. So I'd say if you want to advance your careers and really follow your dreams, then I'd say you should come here.
SPEAKER_01:Dominic, you have a very bright future, sir. Thank you. Very bright. I'm excited to see what you do. Any last thoughts, Tim? Anything else that we should know about getting into this industry, Circulus specifically?
SPEAKER_03:No, I think what Dominic's talked about here is definitely a good launching point to enter into an industry. All industries are going to have their learning of their machines. So when you take courses like this or involve yourself in a technical course, learning operations of a machine is the first step to understanding how to diagnose a problem. So this is, I think, something that they focus on well here. at the level of the machinery that you're exposed to. You just have to carry that forward in the industry. That's what we're looking for. We're looking for the nurses and the CNAs and the doctors at different levels. We always know that when we hire somebody, they're not going to know how to fix our machines tomorrow. It doesn't matter. You can't get frustrated with the long road because maintenance, you know, industrial maintenance of any kind takes a while to be good at. And building blocks, like Dominique has talked about, is how to get to where you want to be, whether it be just something like your friends going straight into the maintenance force or on to college, different technical degrees or on into engineering degrees. These are all good launch points for that. And working in industry gives you, if you can ever get there even while you're in college, it'll give you a different perspective on what you're trying to learn. And I think that's what's very important is to know what you're getting into. It lets you study for it better. And I think that's what this class has exposed a lot of women and men to, is they know what they're going to get into if they follow this direction in their
SPEAKER_01:careers. And Tim, one last question. If you were to talk to a parent of a student who is considering this program, a lot of times it's just that they don't quite understand what they're getting into. How would you reassure a parent that this is a great choice for their student?
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I would explain my career. because it has been an unengineered, undegreed career and been able to move into very high-level teams and high-level positions and had incomes that I never dreamed of. Even with a degree, I didn't think I would get to where I got to in my career in 30 years with the military and the 20 years in industry. It doesn't have to have a degree. There's a lot of young men and women that don't want to sit behind a book all day long, but don't mind studying for singular things. They don't want to be locked down to four years of studying. that want to look at something, diagnose it, study small things, and that's the maintenance field. It's always studying something today, whether it be the preventative plan or how do we get in there and dig out what it should look like, how do we put it back together, the cleanliness, the organization to do it right the first time. Like I said, I'm a product of the system, so I have a very good– background of where this can take you. And every step is another step. This is a stepping stone to knowledge. You get the next one. You get the next stepping stone to knowledge. In the end, you can be depended upon to do whatever you learn and apply it and give it on to other people as you mature.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us today. It's been a pleasure. Dominic, I cannot wait to see what you accomplish in this world. So thank you for being our guest, Tim. Thank you so much for your insights and all your years of expertise and sharing that with us today. Brad, anything else you got before
SPEAKER_00:we wrap it up? Nope. Again, thank you to our guests today, Dominic Jones and Tim Miller, and our host, Dr. Eric Ward. I am Brad Bentley, and thank you for listening to Tech Unlocked. Until next time.
