WEST BARNSTABLE – The new Aviation Maintenance Technology program at Cape Cod Community College which gets underway in January will be on display today at the college.
The school is holding an Aviation and Engineering Expo in the gymnasium from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will showcase the school’s programs along with more than 11 vendors including manufacturers, equipment dealers and distributors.
“There will be simulators,” said Cape Cod Community College spokesman Michael Gross. “There will be actual machines operating that people can see making equipment.”
Prospective employers from the region will also be at the expo.
“I’m not sure the public understands at all the amount of very high-tech work and very specialized work that is done around us and the kind of employees they really need,” said Gross.
The Aviation Maintenance Technology program will provide immediate opportunities for students to get jobs that start at $50,000 to $60,000 a year, according to Gross.
“We have a number of aviation companies ready to take mechanics who can repair air frames and power plants immediately through this program,” Gross said. “We have students who are at Sencorp White in a phenomenal factory and machine facility right in the industrial park in Hyannis and they’ll take as many students as we can put out there.”
Hundreds of high school and middle school students will be attending the expo which is free and open to the public.
“We are trying to help people understand that science, technology, engineering and math – that whole STEM that you hear about – isn’t just an acronym,” Gross said. “It’s a real desperately needed field.”
A Massachusetts State Police helicopter will be landing on the soccer field on campus around 10:30 a.m. and will be on display for about an hour.
The Aviation Maintenance Technology program is more than 60 percent funded from two federal grants including a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and an award for just under $900,000 from the National Science Foundation. A state appropriation of $1.95 million dollars funds the remainder of the program.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
Speak Your Mind