The Import Technician Training Program at Cerritos College is a program for students to learn about the latest technology in the automotive industry, with the help of various auto manufacturers in the nation.
“We all [automotive staff] have contacts in the field that we keep in contact with on a regular basis,” Frank Vega said, alumnus from Cerritos College and current automotive instructor trained by Chrysler.
Vega was instrumental in the recent donation of nine engines by the import automotive manufacturer Subaru of America.
Leonard Glick, Import Automotive instructor, said, “We’ve been talking with Subaru lately… how we might be able to help them with their needs as far as entry-level technicians into their dealerships.”
At the end of the spring semester of 2015, Subaru’s donation of nine engines to the automotive program served in the development of its prospective employees.
In the years to come, students learn the theory, work inside the many aspects of a car and finally become ready for the workforce.
The engine class that students were going to use them in, happened in the second six weeks of the summer semester, according to Glick.
“Although the engines are not complete to be put into a car and be driven, these short-block engines (bottom end: crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons and cylinders) were essential to “getting down and measuring cylinder walls and measuring the pistons, measuring the crankshaft, measuring the surface for flatness… the nine engines were perfect,” Glick said.
Receiving help from outside manufacturers like Cadillac, Chevy and Dodge along with Subaru, they have contributed to the quality of education for auto-tech students.
“We’re just like doctors, you know… because we get to see things the way they’re supposed to be and we can imagine them before we even start working on them because we know what they’re supposed to do,” Vega said.
The strategy is to keep up with current technology.
Manufacturers are highly motivated to ensure a competent workforce who is knowledgeable of the most recent advances and the way to accomplish this is to get the students’ hands on the various components, exposing the inner-workings of different mobile machines.
