Automation Technology Program Launched this Spring at Maricopa Colleges
The inter-relation of Automation, robotics, and manufacturing is often taught at the community colleges. However, in the Spring of 2010, Gateway Community College and Mesa Community College will begin offering Certificates of Completion and an Associate in Applied Sciences in Automation Technology. Why a program that focuses on Automation? "When we surveyed the employers in the valley, many of them were looking to find ways to automate their process, making them leaner and agile in a difficult economy," said Thomas Reyman of Mesa Community College. Faculty members from Gateway, Mesa, and Chandler-Gilbert Community Colleges collaborated and culled curriculum from their respective campuses to create a program that would allow students to go to 'open labs' and do components of their studies online. "The premise in creating the new program was to serve students who have skills and want to update them, and, those students who are just out of high school and are interested in Automation and Robotics," said Mike Corry of Gateway Community College. The program, which is scheduled to start in Spring 2010, will work students through a core of Automation classes in Certificates of Completion and allow them to pursue tracks in Process Control Systems and Programming, or, Electromechanical and Hybrid Systems as part of the Associate program.
