TCTC dedicates Industrial Technology Center

In his 23 years of teaching industrial electronics classes at Tri-County Technical College, Acting Dean of the Engineering and Technology Division Doug Allen says he has never seen as many requests for technically skilled employees as he has in recent months.  Allen, speaking at a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the College’s new Industrial Technology Center, said the modern facility would help meet the growing needs of local industry. The 43,000-square-foot Industrial Technology Center houses the Welding and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning programs and was specifically designed to mimic a real-world industrial setting.  It is also being billed a showplace by economic development prospects and local companies. The new facility that opened the first day of spring semester, January 14, is very different from the Welding and HVAC facility located on the Pendleton Campus since 1963.  “Our vision was to make the ITC as close to a manufacturing facility as we could, with safety as the utmost concern in the lab areas,” said Allen. “The facility is OSHA compliant, complete with all of the necessary signage in areas where Personal Protective Equipment is required.”  The floors are striped for floor and forklift traffic and the welding area has a state-of-the-art smoke extraction system.  This semester there are 105 Welding students and 50 HVAC students.  “The welding booths were at capacity from 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. on the Pendleton Campus. HVAC was also out of space,” Allen added.  “There were 32 welding booths at Pendleton.  We could not meet industry’s demand for skilled welders.  In the new facility, there are 48 booths, and we have the capacity for 72 students. A big change is the no-wait factor for using the welding booths,” he said.  The facility includes an 11,000-square-foot welding laboratory with 48 welding booths and a 4,000 square foot fabrication area, a 6,000-square-foot HVAC lab, three classrooms, an open computer laboratory, seven offices, and a faculty work area. In addition, there is approximately 8,000 square feet of space available for future program development. Existing equipment was refurbished and moved to the center, and new equipment was purchased, including a new $58,000 robot and a $78,000 manufacturing cell for the welding program, as well as all-new gas packs for the heating and air conditioning units in the HVAC program.