Southwestern Community College’s 2nd Annual Advanced Industrial and Technology (AIT) Exploration Day was a great success! During the event, a select group of students and their instructors from across southwest Iowa spent the day touring two local industries, Vanmark and Wellman Dynamics. It was a fantastic learning experience as the tours reinforced in the students the practical applications of the Employability Skills and the Technology Literacy components set out by the Iowa Common Core.
The first stop was Vanmark, LLC. Vanmark is one of the world’s largest producers of vegetable and fruit processing equipment. Their equipment is designed to specifically meet the challenges of many processing applications from peeling, scrubbing, and washing to inspecting, storing, conveying, and handling product. Their equipment can be found in the world’s largest food processing plants such as ConAgra and Frito-Lay.
The second industry tour was at Wellman Dynamics. Wellman’s is one of five aerospace foundries in the world. They produce aluminum and magnesium parts for such entities as the US military, Bell Helicopter, Sikorsky, Boeing, Honeywell and Rolls Royce. Every space shuttle that flew for NASA contained parts produced at Wellman’s.
The students witnessed how products in each plant are designed, fabricated/casted, constructed and tested. They interacted with the plant engineers, welders, electricians and industrial technicians in both plants and were exposed to the technical and lucrative careers that are readily available and in great demand in industry. The students also had opportunities to visit SWCC’s industrial maintenance technology, electrical technology, and welding programs where they discussed job training and future careers in those areas, as well as participated in wiring electrical components together and using a plasma cutter and pulse welder. The day was filled with incredible opportunities designed to aid student as they begin their searches for careers.
