When Larry Geczy learned that the consortium he is a part of was awarded a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant in October, he did a somersault.
Well, not really, but if he was 20 years younger he said he would have. The $10 million federal job-training grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, was awarded to a consortium led by Central Arizona College, which Maricopa Skill Center, a division of GateWay Community College, is playing a role after receiving $2.1 million.
Geczy, lead instructor for Precision Machining/CNC at MSC, has big plans to expand the reach of his program. The program is currently using the HAAS Technical Education Center at GateWay, but will relocate to a new lab that should be completed by September at MSC on Buckeye Road.
Included in the new lab will be a dropped ceiling and white tile floors. Why is this a big deal?
According to Geczy,”We are calling it a lab environment and building it like a clean lab versus having bare floors and exposed ceilings like a manufacturing feel, because we are a high tech industry, and we should look like it. We want to change the perception that you are working in a factory or assembly line once you graduate. That’s not our program.”
The new equipment being ordered makes that point clear. Geczy is ordering nearly $1 million worth of equipment from mills, lathes, to high-end internet connected CNC machines, a 3D printer that can print up to nine colors, a vision inspection machine that helps ensure accuracy in the machined components and more.
“With some of the new equipment, our program curriculum will be enhanced as well,” says Geczy. “We will be able to introduce students to solid modeling, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) as well as the 3D printing.”
The new lab space expects to accommodate three shifts of students, running 18 hours a day. The grant also allows the program to hire another instructor as well as a lab technician.
While the primary focus of TAACCCT grants are to help those who have been misplaced by offshoring or veterans returning home looking for a new career, all are welcome to participate in the Precision Machining program.
New cohorts start in July and monthly thereafter. Morning, afternoon and evening shifts will be available. For information about the program, visit maricopaskillcenter.com/programs/trades/precision-machining or call 602-286-8655.