Skilled Trades Apprenticeship & Customized Training

Matt Petosky receives MI Apprenticeship Steering Committee Excellence in Apprenticeship Award and JAMA Apprentice of the Year Award

Jackson, MI -- On January 9, 2012, Matt Petosky, an employee of Michigan Automotive Compressor, Inc., was recognized at the Jackson Area Manufacturers Association annual meeting for earning both the Michigan Apprenticeship Steering Committee Glen Bivens Excellence in Apprenticeship Award, and the Jackson Area Manufacturers Apprentice of the Year Award.  Matt won the MASC award in December, and in January earned the JAMA Apprentice of the Year award.  He attended the Academy for Manufacturing Careers in Jackson and graduated from his apprenticeship program with his journeyman’s card as an Industrial Electrician. 

The MASC award recognizes individuals demonstrating excellence in their work in addition to a number of other key qualities. The award criteria include a commitment to good attendance and punctuality on the job and in the classroom. In addition, it recognizes outstanding craft achievements and productivity, commitment to teamwork, demonstrating safe work practices, a demonstrated spirit of competitiveness and community service.  Matt is heavily involved in Kaizen activities and one point lessons to improve all departments within MACI. He has also demonstrated leadership skills within his trade on several of his projects.

The second award presented to Matt is the JAMA Apprentice of the Year Award.  An apprenticeship consists of two parts: classroom training and on the job work hours.  A minimum of 576 classroom training hours is required, as well as 8,000 on-the-job training hours.  Matt exceeded both requirements.

Matt started taking classes for MACI’s Technical Skills Development (TSD) program in January 2008.  MACI develops in-house apprentices to train in the Academy for Manufacturing Careers program through the TSD program.

Michigan Automotive Compressor, Inc., or MACI, is the largest manufacturing employer in Jackson County with 640 associates.  Established in the Parma-Sandstone business park on the west side of Jackson County in 1989, the company manufactures automotive air-conditioning compressor units for North American automotive manufacturers.  Customers include General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Freightliner and John Deere.  www.michauto.com.

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Hot Rod U

The Jackson Area Manufacturers Association’s (JAMA) Academy for Manufacturing Careers (AMC) is proud to announce the overwhelming success of our new HOT ROD U Program.  In August of 2011, as part of the JAMA/AMC education pipeline which includes the popular I Can Make It Camp (ICMIC) & Machining U Program, the Hot Rod U Camp was launched.

The Hot Rod U program is designed to take place over a period of one year for students in 9^th through 12^th grades.  These students work closely together to design and build an actual street-legal custom HOT ROD!  It may sound like a reasonable task, however, in looking at the actual product that the students had to start with and the masterpiece that they ultimately create, the program and the students are nothing short of AMAZING!

Technique Inc. has provided many of the resources necessary to ensure the success of the HOT ROD U program including the location, materials, machining, chassis components and just about everything else needed to complete the vehicle. A HUGE thanks goes out to Ronnie Johncox and his employees at Technique for all of their support!

The program itself is incredibly exciting and the final result will take your breath away.  

The program consists of three Rounds that include a tremendous amount of hands on learning and training for the students: 

Round One:  The students learned skills which included: Pin Striping, Air Brushing, Sheet Metal Forming, Welding, Fabricating and using tools of the trade as well as the process of installing brake lines, rebuilding an Engine, along with Mechanical Training.

Round Two:  Round Two consisted of 10 Saturday sessions where students start with nothing more than a shell of a vehicle that would appear to the average person to be junk yard material, far beyond repair and certainly not a candidate to ever drive safely down the road.  The students spend the first few sessions breaking down the vehicle in order to determine which parts are salvageable. For the remainder of Round Two, students identify, fabricate and machine the necessary components needed to complete the vehicle. The students also learn to use SolidWorks, a CAD drafting program, to design blueprints needed to fabricate, machine and build needed parts.  SolidWorks is one of the leading CAD drafting programs used in the industry and this program provides our students with basic knowledge of the program.

Round Three:   In Round Three, the students complete the truck assembly, including installation of the motor, transmission, all electrical wiring and other systems. The project goal is for the students to completely transform the below vehicle into a gorgeous street-legal custom Hot Rod that will be auctioned or raffled off, upon completion.  In viewing the photo below, the task would appear to be overwhelming, but keep reading and you will be amazed at the talent of our students.

Exterior Photo:
 

Interior Photo: