A group of Manual Academy students worked with a team of professional Caterpillar welders today. The day-long camp was designed to build on the vocational skills the students are learning in their classes.
Tony Rice is an engineer and project manager with Cat. He says two of their best welding trainers worked with the students to offer them broader skills and life perspective. “What I can offer is a positive opportunity, for these guys to see to great that path or vision to get where they want to be.”
Rice says the relationship started about four years ago when they donated personal protective wear like their surplus welding helmets. “And then we started looking at tools the, bench top type tools, grinders, the media. All of it was worked in like the same way the helmets were. What do we have that is surplus that we no longer use because we’ve replaced it with something else?”
Rice says it’s developed as a hands on way to help bridge today’s manufacturing skills gap.
The Manual Academy Principal says they hope to eventually develop a welding certification program path.