New Mechatronics apprenticeship program welcomes 14 new students

WCTC officially launched its 11^th apprenticeship program -- Mechatronics – kicking off the spring semester, Jan. 22. Two signing events were held the week of Jan. 15 to welcome six new apprentices from Signicast, a state-of-the-art investment castings manufacturer, and eight new apprentices from HellermannTyton, a leader in cable management and protection products, identification systems and network connectivity solutions.

The 14 new apprentices include, from Signicast -- John Campbell, Shaw Chmielewski, Cody Kniess, Monte Moser, Alex Neubauer and Shawn Stapleton; and from HellermannTyton -- Josh Schrammel, Eric Grzesk, Jacob Werner, Brad Hanson, Marc Savatski, Herpao Vang, Justin Robb and Rob Ekstrand.

The 24-credit Mechatronics Apprenticeship (Robotics and Automation) is a five-year training program of not less than 10,000 hours, including 864 hours of related technical instruction at WCTC. Mechatronics requires combined knowledge of electrical, electronic and mechanical systems, and students learn work processes such installing, repairing and maintaining equipment/devices; systems troubleshooting; operation of industrial computer and communication systems; support for automation technologies; machining; and related tasks.

For WCTC students enrolled in the Automation Systems Technology associate degree program or Industrial Maintenance Technician technical diploma program who have the opportunity to continue on in an apprenticeship, they can finish the apprenticeship quicker as the credits in their degree program apply to the apprenticeship program.

HellermannTyton Photo (Above left): Pictured, front row, from left: Josh Schrammel, Eric Grzesk, Jacob Werner, Brad Hanson, Marc Savatski -- new apprentices. Back row, from left: Dave Tomashek -- vice president of Operations, Curt Rice -- director of Automation, Cody Alf – coordinator of Training and Development, Terry Tuttle -- president, Danny Sheeran -- Training department supervisor, Kevin Paske -- tool room lead and mold maintenance coordinator, HellermannTyton; Bob Novak -- associate dean, WCTC; Liz Pusch -- field service representative, and Joshua Johnson -- field operations chief, Department of Workforce Development. Apprentices not pictured: Herpao Vang, Justin Robb, Rob Ekstrand.

Signicast Photo (Above right): Pictured, front row, from left: Shaw Chmielewski, John Campbell, Shawn Stapleton, Cody Kniess and Monte Moser – new apprentices. Back row, from left: Liz Pusch -- field service representative, Department of Workforce Development; Brad Witte, vice president — Facilities and Automation/IT, Teri Green -- director of Human Resources, Brian Williams -- director of Engineering and Quality, Tom Dottl -- chief financial officer, Damon Hesse -- vice president of manufacturing, Signicast; Mike Shiels – dean, School of Applied Technologies at WCTC; and Joshua Johnson -- field operations chief, Department of Workforce Development. Apprentice not pictured: Alex Neubauer.