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IVCC manufacturing instructors use experience to prepare students · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  IVCC manufacturing instructors use experience to prepare students. This
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  article is being read by an automated voice, brought to you by
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  Everlet. Illinois Valley Community College instructors Scott Fox, Greg Whitesill,
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  and Steve Gibson currently work in manufacturing and provide a bridge between
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  real production lines and the classroom. Gibson, Fox and Whitesill provide students
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  real work examples drawn from experiences to explain a used process. The
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  instructors also rely on industry advisor panels to stay ahead of trends
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  and keep programs relevant. Fox coordinates the college's manufacturing program and works
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  as a tooling technician and computer numerical control program programmer. Whitesell runs
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  the engineering technology program and is employed as a mechanical and electrical
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  systems trainer. Gibson leads the industrial maintenance and industrial technology program, worked
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  as a plant electrician and as a systems technician. Our faculty help
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  get students ready for the realities of the workplace and what is
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  necessary in time, skill set, competencies, and understanding how teams get things
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  done. Illinois Valley Community College Workforce Development Dean Rebecca Zamora said in
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  a news release. The Illinois Valley has been a manufacturing hub for
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  200 years. Technology and production revolutions are creating new workforce opportunities. The
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  College manufacturing programs are helping deliver workers. Automata, programmable,
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  remote controls and robotics repurposed many manufacturing jobs. Fox also said in
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  the news release, Manufacturing is not just about pushing buttons. We are
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  teaching a lot of what we see industry needing now. Illinois Valley
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  Community College developed an accredited robotics and mechatronics degree and expanded with
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  new equipment. The students use virtual reality systems to simulate tasks unavailable
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  in a classroom and practice and learn through hands-on internships. The college
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  also offers flexible course styles to prepare students enter The
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  workforce faster or focus on what to know in advance when demonstrating
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  competency. To keep their companies competitive and to prosper and advance individually,
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  today's multifaceted technicians must be comfortable solving problems, fabricating replacement components,
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  programming digitally integrated production systems, or even designing and building, the instructors
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  say. The days of specialization are disappearing. Every change leaves somebody behind
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  who only knows how to do one thing, Gibson said in the
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  news release.
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  The instructors also seek to rectify soft skills shortages including time management,
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  accountability, communication, and task management. Fox became an instructor to bolster
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  technical and soft skill sets. I wanted to see what I could
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  change to help the industry and I saw community college as the
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  place to jumpstart that training, Fox also said in the news release.
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  Whitezill describes troubleshooting as a lost art. Generally, you cannot just Google
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  your way to the answers. Understanding equipment breakdowns first requires intimate knowledge
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  of how the equipment functions. I help my students connect the dots,
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  how it works, how it fails, and how it can be corrected.
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  I like being the guy that found something not working and it
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  was working after I left. I hope students see how cool it
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  is to put something together with their own hands and what happens
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  from something they built. Gibson said in the news release. The classes
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  attract recent high school graduates and adults in various career stages. Fox,
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  Whitesill, and Gibson also customize training and develop assessment testing for manufacturing
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  companies and municipalities incumbent employees. IVCC taught me how to work in
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  my field, be successful, and enjoy it, Gibson also said in the
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  news release.