Paul Szmal: Welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It's 837. It's our scholastically speaking segment that we do every month where we shine a spotlight on Finger Lakes Community College and today I'm joined by the Assistant Director of Workforce and Career Solutions, Mr. Patrick Bennett. Patrick, how are you? Good morning.
Patrick Bennett: Good morning and doing good. Happy to be here.
Paul Szmal: April is Community College Month, which is meant to highlight a wide range of services that community colleges provide. Most people know FLCC for a two-year degree, but there's actually a lot more than that going on.
Patrick Bennett: Yes, there is. Besides the degree programs, we have one-year certificate programs, we have non-credit short-term training designed to get people to train for a well-paying job in the Finger Lakes region. High demand jobs is what we pretty much focus on.
Paul Szmal: And what kind of high demand jobs are we talking about? Any specific fields that are kind of hot buttons right now?
Patrick Bennett: Real hot one right now is our welding. We also offer phlebotomy, CNA, Foundations in Advanced Manufacturing, HVAC, residential electrician. So we have a wide variety, but our welding is definitely our most popular right now and it is our newest.
Paul Szmal: And this new welding program has some new technology incorporated.
Patrick Bennett: Yes, it does. It uses augmented reality. Most people are familiar with virtual reality, the Oculus systems or the Apple headsets that you can buy at Best Buy, Walmart, Target, where they embed themselves into a virtual world. Augmented reality is a virtual world with outside interaction. So you have with the welding, you have the actual welding torch in your hand, you have what appears in the headset as a piece of metal, but it's actually a piece of plastic that you're practicing on. And it allows you to get the proper hand positioning, the proper technique before you actually walk into a welding shop.
Paul Szmal: And I've got to think that that's a good way to eliminate some of the fear people have of getting burned or being around excessive heat because both of those are here a commonplace with the welding practice.
Patrick Bennett: Absolutely. It reduces the amount of steel stock that we have to keep in stock, the scrap metal, so there's less waste. We don't have the hazardous material of storing gas bottles. We don't have the fire suppression system. So we can keep our costs low and push that on to the students so that the cost for the student is much less. And we teach for about 10 weeks in the classroom and then we take them to a welding shop for about two weeks. So in 12 weeks they can get certified by Miller in MIG, TIG, and stick welding, the three most popular types of welding in the area.
Paul Szmal: You know, it is amazing to me how technology is moving so quickly. I don't know that even a couple, three years ago what we're talking about with this welding class would have even been possible.
Patrick Bennett: Oh, absolutely. About three years ago Oculus systems were just coming about and Lincoln Tech developed a welding in the Oculus that it's a very good system. The only downside is it doesn't give you the instant feedback of proper hand positioning, proper hand speed, and you don't get the feel of a welding helmet, the torch in your hand, and actually feeling the material as you're moving along. You can rest your hands on it just like you would as a everyday welder.
Paul Szmal: This is amazing to me, absolutely amazing, and it's generated some success stories already.
Patrick Bennett: Absolutely. Our first class graduated in December and we had four students from Wayne County Community Schools. They were all under the age of 25. We worked with Wayne County Department of Labor and held a reverse job fair where the students sat at the table and the businesses walked around, and it was very successful. Every student walked away with multiple job offers in the range of $26 to $46 an hour, and for somebody that has had a rough upbringing and is under the age of 25 it got them off to a very good start in a successful career.
Paul Szmal: And you know there's so much being made nowadays about how we seem to pay more attention to diplomas than trades. This is an excellent opportunity for people young and old to be able to learn a skill.
Patrick Bennett: Absolutely. Our current class graduates May 9th, and the age range that's in the current class, we have 12 students ranging from the age of 18 all the way up to 49 years old, and some of them are farmers that are realizing that the skills they've been using on the farms for many years, they're wasting a lot of material because their technique was not proper, and now they're seeing the benefit of learning the proper technique reduces the amount of material that you use while you weld, which reduces the cost and time, because you do a proper weld you don't have to grind it away.
Paul Szmal: We're talking with Patrick Bennett from FLCC. We're talking about the welding class program that they offer that uses augmented reality to teach people how to weld without being in the the real-world environment and having to have all those resources. I've learned something just from this conversation alone. I had no idea that there was correct hand positioning involved in welding, for example.
Patrick Bennett: Oh yeah, there's actually nine different positions that your hand has to be in, left to right, up and down, front to back, and as you're moving you have to keep that proper hand position. Stick welding, for example, you're not just keeping your hand in the right position, left to right, up and down, but the rod shortens up so you have to move your hand in and maintain that proper hand position the entire length of the weld. So it's very complicated and I've learned a lot since we've got the system and it's very beneficial.
Paul Szmal: Does this system show you what happens when you make a mistake as well?
Patrick Bennett: Absolutely. It starts off at a beginner's level, then there's an intermediate level, and an advanced level. And as you move along through the different levels, wire feed, for example, if you feed out too much wire, real-world welding, your wire is going to stick to your material because the amperage and voltage running through the wire just causes it to stick. So in the advanced level, it will happen that the wire feed will stick if you feed out too much. If your amperage is not set correctly, then your weld won't bond. So you get all those real-world experiences with the machine. The machine teaches carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. Argon-CO2 mix, no gas. So it's one machine that teaches multiple levels of the welding experience.
Paul Szmal: How well prepared are the students when they get into the final two weeks where you're going to a welding shop and you're transitioning from this augmented reality into actual hands-on work?
Patrick Bennett: They've got all the knowledge and the skills, so they're very prepared. The businesses that we work with that have hired previous graduates are giving positive feedback on the level of knowledge that our students are gaining in just 12 weeks, and a lot of those businesses are returning for our upcoming job fair with the DOL May 8th, and that'll be in Newark.
Paul Szmal: And by the way, I want to give a shout out to some of the businesses that have hired graduates of the program. They include Creation Technologies in Newark, Westlor Enterprises in Lyons, and ITT Goulds Pumps in Seneca Falls. So kudos to them for helping out with the program here and taking on some of the graduate students.
So the next class, when is that being offered? You mentioned that the current class is graduating, I think you said somewhere around May 9th?
Patrick Bennett: May 9th, the current class graduates, and then we'll be classing up again right around May 19th.
Paul Szmal: Okay. So just two weeks in between finishing one class and starting another, that's how high the demand is.
And I understand that qualified applicants can get a little bit of funding through the Department of Labor and the County Workforce Office.
Patrick Bennett: Absolutely, it's approved for what's called WIOA funding. WIOA is designed to get people trained, and it's slightly income-based, but the criteria for the income is so high that even if you're a working adult, you can still qualify for full funding for the course, and the course costs $2,400. The meeting days and times, by the way, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 830 until noon.
Paul Szmal: So Patrick, if somebody is interested in taking this course, what are the first steps they should take?
Patrick Bennett: Anyone that's interested can contact our office at the main campus here in Canandaigua at FLCC. Our office is located in room 1436. They can email workforce at FLCC.edu, or they can call 585-785-1670.
Paul Szmal: It is amazing what technology is capable of doing when it's applied in an educational spectrum. Patrick, thanks for shedding some light on the subject this morning. Good to have you on board.
Patrick Bennett: Appreciate it. I thank you for having me and letting us promote our program.
Paul Szmal: Thank you. All right, coming up on 849 on FLX Morning.
