April 14, 2025 • 35 mins
In this episode, host Dr. Eric Ward talks with former SouthernTech Industrial Mechanics student Dominyk Jones and current industry expert Tim Miller about the benefits of enrolling in an Industrial Mechanics Program.
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SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Welcome to Tech Unlocked, where we explore all
things tech related.
Today's special guest, TimMiller, Reliability Manager at
Circulus, a subsidiary of DowChemicals, and Dominic Jones, a
Southern Tech student.
Now for our special guest andhost, Dr.
(00:22):
Eric Ward.
SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
You know, even this is our third one and I'm still a
special guest.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Well, any more.
We've got to go with what we'vegot to go with here.
We have special guests.
We've got Tim and Dominic.
SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
I like it.
Well, welcome, everybody.
Thank you all for joining ustoday.
And a special thank you toDominic, who is a current
student here at Southern Tech,and Tim Miller, who is currently
working for Circulus, asubsidiary of Dow Chemical.
You said it right.
I like it.
Ah, man.
That was a one take.
I like it.
I like that.
So let's get it started.
(00:57):
with Dominic.
And if you can just introduceyourself, tell us a little bit
about you.
And you were in the industrialmechanics program.
Yeah, that's true.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_04 (01:07):
I just want to start off by saying that.
Absolutely.
But yeah, my name is DominicJones.
I go to Armour High School andI'm in the robotics program
right now.
But last year I was in theindustrial mechanics program.
SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
Okay.
How did you, what made you getinto the industrial mechanics
program?
SPEAKER_04 (01:23):
Well, my dad works at Valero.
And he has spent his years inthe engineering field.
And I kind of want to follow upfrom there.
And when in my middle school,before I moved out to Oklahoma,
I took a shop class, whichreally gave me some hands-on
with machines and really gave mea love for that.
Okay.
Where'd you move here from?
Texas, Humboldt, Texas.
Okay.
Okay.
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
And so before joining the industrial mechanics
program and the, I guess...
your dad's career history.
Any other experience withindustrial machinery, or you
just thought that this was justa really good fit for you, or?
Well,
SPEAKER_04 (01:59):
before I came here to the Southern Tech, I had
little experience.
You know, I've worked inmachines before with my shop
class, but there was more I hadto learn, and I knew I could get
it from Southern Tech IndustrialMachinery Program.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (02:13):
And so let me turn it over to Tim.
Tim Miller, join us today.
is in the workforce in thatindustry and is looking to hire
qualified folks to work atCirculus.
Tim, give us just a quickintroduction on you and a little
bit on your background andreally just how you've seen this
industry change even over thepast five or 10 years.
SPEAKER_03 (02:36):
Yeah, thanks.
Tim Miller, work for Circuluscurrently.
I've got about almost 22 yearsof industrial experience in
manufacturing with my previoustime with Michelin.
And it's went from a singleskill to even wanting more dual
skilled.
And I was just sitting thinkingthat this is more comparative to
what doctors, you know, a nursebecoming or a CNA becoming a
(02:58):
nurse and then becoming adoctor.
It's almost like that what we'relooking for.
We're looking for people thatcome in at the CNA level for the
mechanical aptitude andknowledge and then graduate into
nursing as a technician andmaybe on into the doctor field
when they go to leading a teamof people.
to care for these machinesbecause it really is machinery
health.
(03:18):
It's what we call it in theindustry.
We're looking for people to helpus keep these machines healthy
so that whatever product we'remaking can make it out the door
safely first with the highquality at the demand that's
coming to our teams.
SPEAKER_01 (03:30):
Okay.
So what are some of thoseinitial skills or foundational
skills, I guess, you would belooking for from a student, from
anybody coming into yourindustry at an entry level?
SPEAKER_03 (03:42):
Well, obviously, just like Dominic talked about,
it's a passion for taking careof machinery, just like any
other job.
Being able to see the machinesmove, be able to interact with
them safely, and to be able todiagnose them if they're not
doing the proper action at theproper time.
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
Okay.
So, Dominic, was it everdescribed to you that way, like
health care for machines?
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
Not at first, but when I got through the program
and started going through moreof the subjects, it was a big
thing that kept bringing upalong with safety is that we got
to learn how to identify theproblem with a machine and learn
how to fix it and also how tomanage and take care of the
machine, but also the workspacearound it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (04:28):
Okay.
And so as we're just kind ofdigging into this industrial
mechanics program that we havehere at Southern Tech, a lot of
times this program is not a fullprogram.
And I think it's because a lotof times students really don't
even know what that is and whathappens in that program.
So if you were to talk to, say,somebody you know at Ardmore or
(04:52):
just somebody in the community,what would you tell them about
this program to get theminvolved?
interested in it?
SPEAKER_04 (05:00):
I'll say that a lot of people, at least the ones I
hang with, are really intohands-on work.
And you get a lot of thatthroughout industrial machinery.
It gives you a hand in eachfield.
It shows you different thingsfrom electrical to machining and
to safety.
It gives you a bunch ofexperience.
(05:21):
So if you want to go to anyfield of engineering, it at
least gets you a little bit ofknowledge for each
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
one.
UNKNOWN (05:27):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (05:27):
And so overall, this program covers safety,
machining, mechanical systems,power systems.
Which was, when you were takingthe program, what was probably
the most exciting or mostchallenging for you?
SPEAKER_04 (05:41):
I'd say machining or electrical.
Because with machining, atfirst, we just took our aluminum
blocks and we had to work onchamfering angles and doing
things like that.
And then whenever we got...
Deeper into the year, we had tolook at blueprints and have to
go off the blueprint and makeour piece off that using things
(06:02):
like the CNC machine or thedrill press.
Okay.
But with electrical, that was alittle bit tougher because we
had to work on the electricalbox trainer, and we had to go
through a book for that one, andit took a minute, but it was
fun, though.
SPEAKER_01 (06:17):
Okay.
And so, Tim, we were talkingearlier before we got on, and
just the difference between evenlike residential electricians
and the type of acumen you haveto have for this side of the
industry.
What are those significantdifferences?
SPEAKER_03 (06:38):
Well, when I think about the industrial, you're
talking about the code, the waythings are put in to make them
function from the beginning.
But once it's running, the nextthing is to see what piece is
not there to make the machinemove properly and being able to
use, you know, testing equipmentto determine where there's a
voltage missing or where there'sactually a failed, you know,
(06:59):
electrical component based onreadings or functions.
You see a lot out there wherejust a part's changed without
very much diagnostics and that'svery, very expensive for a
company to handle depending uponthe electrical component.
So, The hands-on part is whatwe're looking for, really a
diagnostic mindset from astandpoint of whether it's
(07:21):
electrical or mechanical.
But the electrical with testingequipment and with voltage being
not more dangerous thanmechanical, but a lot of people
are apprehensive about being inan electrical field.
But same thing with anythingelse is the safety precautions
that go ahead of it.
But mechanical is also a very,you know, fluid thing with
moving parts to understandwhat's moving from point A to B,
(07:43):
maintain your safety.
And then, again, like we talkedabout seeing it, it doesn't move
from A to B.
Why?
You know, it's always thequestion of why it didn't work
like it was supposed to when itcomes to that.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (07:54):
And, Dominic, so thinking about the industrial
mechanics program, what would atypical day look like if you
were to describe that to astudent who has no idea what
we're talking about?
A typical day, what would thatlook like?
And then, Tim, I'm going to askyou, what would a typical day
look like in industry and seehow close we are?
SPEAKER_04 (08:14):
I'd say through the mid-year, the typical day would
be you come in at 8 o'clock, youcome in, and you get to your
desk.
He'll run you through sometheory for what the day is.
He'll run you through what youwere going to be doing today,
what's the project for today.
And he'll have us run throughthe theory part, and then have
us go out to the shop for a timeto work on it.
And I say when we was workingthrough the electrical trainers,
(08:40):
when we first started working onelectrical trainers, he
explained everything to us, eachelectrical term and what things
do.
And then he'd have us go outthere with a partner, have us
work on that.
And then that would be prettymuch the day of that, just to
work, get your theory in, makesure always that you're
practicing safety and makingsure you're not doing anything
(09:02):
like, trying to shock one ofyour classmates or something.
He'll always have us practicingsafety and working throughout
the day.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (09:13):
And you mentioned before about how a lot of the
people that you know really wanthands-on learning.
Yeah.
How much of the class washands-on versus, like, say,
theory or even book work?
SPEAKER_04 (09:28):
I'd say about...
70% was hands-on.
We did a lot of hands-on.
We spent a little bit of time inthe class because, you know, you
come into the engineeringworkforce or field and you
expect to do a lot of hands-onthings.
You can learn as much as youwant, but if you have no
experience actually doing itwith your hands, then it doesn't
(09:51):
amount to much.
So he'll have us outside in theshop a lot throughout the day
and have us in the classes aslittle as possible, but still
having to get all that stuffthat you need, all that theory
work you needed.
SPEAKER_01 (10:00):
Yeah.
You know, and I'm looking at Timbecause something that has, I
don't know, come up in otherconversations is employers end
up hiring people withengineering degrees, but they've
never actually engineeredanything.
And so I turned that over to Timand, you know, like, how does
that look on the circular side?
And as a student like Dominicwould be coming into your
(10:24):
industry, how much of that doesoverlap?
How much is...
do you expect to have to coachhim up when he gets into a place
like Circulus?
SPEAKER_03 (10:34):
Well, what I've seen with Southern Tech students,
they don't need to be coachedtoo much into that because, like
Dominic said, there is thathands-on part of it.
And I think the expectation setin the classes from this level
is that you will go hands-on.
I have seen others from two-yearcolleges and stuff that expect
to come in and be an engineerand get a rude awakening.
But so far we've had good thingscome out of the system here as
(10:58):
far as people being–Understanding that hands-on is,
at the end of the day, that'swhere it's applied.
But back to his point aboutthere has to be the educational
side of it as well.
You come into the industry,there's a lot of learning to do.
So if you're unconditioned toresearch or read up on things to
then go practice, it's going tobe a long road for you as an
(11:20):
employee.
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
And so as an employee in this role, what does
their day-to-day look like?
SPEAKER_03 (11:27):
So...
Most industries have twodifferent roles.
That of the troubleshooter,which is usually your entry
level from this aspect as you'reon the floor, on the grind every
day, making sure the machinesare up right now.
It's really a right now type ofmaintenance.
If it breaks, you fix it rightnow, which typically you come in
like he talked about and you doa turnover to know what happened
(11:49):
on the last 12-hour shift andthen get a briefing if there's a
shift briefing from any otherreasons to know what maybe the
objectives of the shift are.
Even from a productionstandpoint, typically the
maintenance guy has to be reallyinvolved in understanding what
the production for the day orwhat we call bottlenecks or the
problem points are, potentiallyproblem points are to get you
through the night.
(12:10):
And then you have yourpreventive maintenance team,
which is really a lot like whathe explained.
You come in, you get your dailybriefing, you go over what your
tasks are for the day, yourprojects are for the day,
whether it be inspections of themachines to ensure that they're
What should be working isworking properly and everything.
We like to look at stuff aheadof the failure.
So proactive maintenance a lotwith our preventative
(12:30):
maintenance teams.
And then on to the potentialduring the day to do maintenance
or do research to find out whysomething is failing or even
correcting or making ourpreventative systems better by
what they're seeing every dayand evaluating those set systems
that most industries have.
SPEAKER_01 (12:47):
Okay.
UNKNOWN (12:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (12:48):
And, you know, a lot of it is hands-on, but
ultimately are therecertifications that you guys
look for?
So
SPEAKER_03 (12:56):
for my 22 years, we really haven't looked for
certifications.
Okay.
I think it's a good segue intothe interview.
Then you sell yourself always,you know, with what you know and
your conversation points andyour ability to talk about
things.
what you know.
And then most industrial peoplecan tell if you know it or don't
know it.
Right,
SPEAKER_01 (13:16):
because it's one thing to have the piece of
paper.
It's another to be able to speakthe language.
SPEAKER_03 (13:20):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (13:21):
And I think that's, you know, as we're working with
our students on as they'redeveloping resumes and they're
earning those certifications,yeah, that might get your resume
to the top of the, you know, upon the list, but you still have
to be able to talk abouteverything you can do.
UNKNOWN (13:35):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
So speaking about certifications, what are some
that you have, Dominic, have youearned from industrial mechanics
and also even the roboticsprogram that you're in now?
SPEAKER_04 (13:47):
I've earned quite a bit, actually.
They have us working all thetime, and every subject we do is
always leading towards getting acertification.
So for Mr.
Bartholow's, I have my forkliftcertification, my scissor lift
certification, my NIMS, myelectrical certification.
What else?
(14:07):
I think I have a certificationin machining as well.
And then for robotics, we havethe Autodesk CAD Fusion.
I have that certification.
I have my Universal RobloxLearning Program certification.
I think I have a couple more.
I can't think off the top of myhead.
But you get a lot ofcertifications that allow you to
(14:29):
work on different things.
And you'll have more of a stepup in the industry being able to
do things instead of having totake an entire class like
everybody else.
So they let you drive aforklift?
Yeah.
And a scissor lift?
Yeah, they had us operating boththose to get the certification
on that.
And they taught us how to do itfor the forklift.
That was real fun, having todrive forklifts throughout the
(14:50):
cones, go around.
The obstacle course, right?
Yeah.
That's a good time.
They had us go through theirforward, just snaking through
the cones.
Had us go through backwards,snaking through the cones, and
taught us how to pick things up.
We had to take a class for that.
The first day, because it was aTuesday program, so the first
day we had to sit in the classand learn everything.
(15:11):
learn how to operate it in asafety for you.
I take a long video about thesafety.
And then we went on and did thehands-on driving.
SPEAKER_01 (15:19):
Okay.
So scissor lift.
How high did you get?
Because I know if you're...
If you may be a little squeamishabout that, it may be an
eye-opener for you.
SPEAKER_04 (15:30):
Yeah.
On the scissor lift, I rememberthat because I personally have
just a little bit of a fear ofheights.
So when he got on there, she waslike– or I think it was he.
It was last year.
But it was like you can take itas high as you want.
And so we went up.
I think we can go, like, as highas the– you know those light
poles outside the program, thosereal tall ones?
Yeah.
Yeah, we can go all the way up,like, above those real high.
(15:52):
And so– I think I took it about,like, somewhat there.
I didn't take it to the maxbecause when you get up there,
you start getting a littleshaky.
And I was like, okay, okay, youknow, I can do it if it's, you
know, if it's for a job.
But for this one, I'll just takeit for a good height, show that
I can do it, and then get back
SPEAKER_01 (16:07):
down.
Probably working inside, too,would be better because, you
know, a little bit of a breezemight make you nervous up there,
huh?
SPEAKER_04 (16:13):
I'm telling you, I was up there and it was just...
I was like, okay, you know, I've
SPEAKER_00 (16:17):
got to be up here for it.
And, you know, Tim will tell youthat because I've taught some
both scissor lift and forkliftfor Circulus.
They use them every day in bothoperations.
SPEAKER_01 (16:29):
How do you guys use those two machines in your
operation?
SPEAKER_03 (16:34):
Same thing.
You know, a lot of ours areconveyors that are higher off
the ground.
Or even some of the machinery isup on a second platform and the
only way to access it formaintenance would be to come up
to the side in a boom lift orscissor lift so you can have a
platform to work from.
Okay.
You can stay real close to the,you know, for ergonomics and
handling stuff.
You want to be really close tothe piece of equipment.
(16:54):
And a lot of times a ladder on aplatform is not the right
answer.
Yeah.
You know, working from safelywith harnesses and with your
tied off and, you know, yourtools and stuff there.
handy to you so you feel morecomfortable like you said you
can get uncomfortable in thosesituations and anytime you're
doing maintenance you're workingon something an abnormal
condition
SPEAKER_01 (17:10):
yeah
SPEAKER_03 (17:11):
you know if you're working on a failure so you're
already out of the safety zoneof normal operations so
everything that you can use tomake your more comfortable but
you know and closer to whatyou're doing is very important
to be able to safely do beproficient at using so that is a
bonus to the plan coming intoindustry because i think most
industries require that yeahbefore you know you really can
(17:32):
get into the nitty-gritty youYou can start some kind of work,
but until you get some of thosethings out of the way, you're
limited.
And as a manager, you don't wantlimited maintenance workers.
You want to get them in thegrind where the work needs to be
done, like he said.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (17:47):
And so, Dominic, you've taken the industrial
maintenance program and you'rein robotics now.
What's your career trajectorylook like?
What are your goals?
What do you want to do?
How does all this fit together?
SPEAKER_04 (18:01):
So when I first got in, I just wanted to, because
like I said, industrialmachining, you get a little
hands-on to each work.
You're able to see different,how do you say, careers.
And so when I got in, I didn'treally know what I wanted.
I just knew I wanted to be inthe field of engineering.
And so when I was told after Ifinished, I had a good idea,
(18:22):
like I want to go intomechanical engineering.
And so I went into robotics andI went through there, spent some
more time around the field,learning different things.
And I plan on going to OSU.
And so I'm going to enroll intopetroleum engineering.
Actually, that's where I wantedto go into.
I had a great talk with myfather and, you know, I wanted
(18:43):
to fall into petroleumengineering.
But at the same time, I still...
want to be able to get into thefield of like mechatronics work
where I'm able to work on robotsbecause robots is a big thing
for me and I like that.
And so I want to be able tolearn for both.
But I do plan on going aftermore of a career in petroleum
engineering.
Okay.
Do you plan to work as you'regoing to school?
(19:06):
I think so.
I think I will be trying towork.
Yes, sir.
Okay.
Because I don't have a problemworking in school.
You know, I've been doing thissince I was But since I was
young, I've always been aroundworking and doing schoolwork.
So I plan on still trying towork and then planning on
finding an internship throughoutthe summer, actually.
And then once I get intocollege, I'll see if I can be
able to do it.
(19:27):
I'll try to work throughout theschool.
SPEAKER_01 (19:29):
And a lot of times students that don't take these
programs will end up waitingtables or working fast food or
something.
And with the skills you've got,you can work– in some of those
industries while you're going toschool.
And we've talked about thisbefore, and I'm just a huge
proponent of not collectingstudent debt.
(19:50):
Our students across the countryhave$1.8 trillion in student
debt.
And so if you can work as you'regoing along and then go to
school at the same time and notpick up as much, you're going to
be a whole lot better off.
So when you start that career,or maybe you start at Circulus,
you start at Valero, like yousaid, your dad works out there,
(20:12):
you actually, when you get thatfirst paycheck, you get to keep
a whole lot more of it ratherthan trying to pay off your
student loan bill.
So as far as, so you're talkingpetroleum engineering, that side
of things, if If you were tomeet a student from our program
and he says, I want to go intopetroleum engineering, what
(20:34):
would you say to that, Tim?
Well,
SPEAKER_03 (20:38):
ironically, one of our reliability techs at my
previous job at Michelin was apetroleum engineer.
And she did really well withpredictive tools.
And she did really well.
She took actually a couple ofclasses with me when I was
teaching for Michelin inelectrical.
And she did really well in theclassroom.
And she went on to do reallygood stuff with becoming a
reliability manager.
Move from Ardmore with thesituation there out to a
(21:00):
Greenville plant with Michelinand stay with it in the
reliability management field.
So I would say there's stillopen doors for you even in the
maintenance world, even with apetroleum engineering degree.
You won't get to apply it, butthose background that you got
from this schooling and fromthat schooling definitely apply
from my standpoint from thereliability side because we're
looking at why did it fail andyou need an engineering mindset
(21:23):
to and understanding mechanicaland electrical, which you would
have at that time, to dive inwith the teams of the guys on
the floor because the biggestthing is to solve the problem so
the guys don't have to face itover and over and over again.
Yeah.
There's nothing like theexpenditure on the same problem
every night.
It makes for a poor environmentfor maintenance people.
And with an engineering degree,and even as a tech in a big
(21:46):
company, you can find thatengineering degree will land you
back into maintenance,especially if it's still
something you– Enjoy doing thehands-on part because you get to
– in the reliability field, it'snot always engineering.
It's hands-on, looking atworking with super teams,
basically power teams, to solveproblems.
SPEAKER_01 (22:03):
Okay.
Now, we have our career expocoming up in a couple weeks.
And so if– and all of ourstudents go– basically employer
to employer, and they learnabout what they might do for
that company and all of that.
So if you were to talk to one ofour students about a career
trajectory at Circulus, whatwould that look like from a
(22:25):
starting entry-level position toif they got a bachelor's degree
in something or, you know,beyond that, what does that look
like and how could they getstarted at Circulus but also
move up in the company?
SPEAKER_03 (22:37):
Well, actually, since our acquisition by Dow,
there are new engineering jobscoming open.
They're not completely thereyet, but the future looks really
bright to add the team memberswe need to be successful in, you
know, mechanical recycling.
Okay.
Now that we own by Dow.
Before, it wasn't thought of asmuch of a long-term industry as
it is now with our currentfocus.
(22:59):
And the moving forward and thetechnology they're going to be
adding to this will requireengineers more into the plant
than just the daily businesswe're currently doing.
So it's looking up for us as faras more industrial things
happening for the mechanicalrecycling as part of Dow.
And the engineering position iselectrical and mechanical
recycling.
will be available in the future.
(23:20):
But with my work with engineersover the years, the ones who
have the mechanical skills,hands-on skills, or have worked
as a mechanic or electricianhave always done better, I
think, when interacting with themaintenance team.
So that little bit of experiencehe's gained already at Southern
Tech.
I'm a product of Southern Techmyself.
(23:42):
I took the drafting program along, long time ago.
But those led me, just like itwill lead him, to steps as a
draftsman and then on into themilitary.
And then it served me well whenI come back into the industry.
The knowledge that I've alwaysbeen able to go back to, like
you were speaking to earlier,being able to read blueprints.
SPEAKER_04 (24:00):
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_03 (24:01):
You've got to be able to read blueprints to be a
maintenance, either electricalor mechanical.
Non-negotiable.
Non-negotiable, really.
And it's surprising how manypeople don't have those skills
if they don't get into the rightclasses at a Southern Tech
level.
UNKNOWN (24:12):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03 (24:12):
Cause I took it at college drafting too.
And it was better at Southerntech because it was broader.
Like you said, you get to hit ona bunch of different topics.
When I was in the drafting incollege, it was more singular
minded and not global.
Like you can get from a techschool.
Okay.
You know, cause they're lookingto prepare more students for
global, global industrial, youknow, employment than singular
(24:34):
type deals.
Yeah.
Especially because of wherewe're from, you know, you need
to have a better skillset.
UNKNOWN (24:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (24:40):
than a single skill set.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
So if a student were to come in entry level, what
hourly rate, what compensationcould they expect?
Is there just a range?
Probably in the 20s to 30sdollars an hour.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (24:55):
Maybe high 30s.
SPEAKER_01 (24:56):
Okay.
Yeah.
I don't mean you.
Yeah.
Just industry.
SPEAKER_03 (24:59):
Yeah.
Range.
I've seen it vary anywhere fromin the mid 20s to the mid 30s.
Michelin had a selective way toprogress.
And they actually had wickets toget to up to almost$40 an hour.
I've seen friends that leftMichelin that went on to$45 an
hour.
Yeah.
And no degrees.
They just, they have the duemaintenance and experience.
(25:22):
And that's what every industry,that's what every person is
really looking for is someamount of experience.
And again, When you see astudent who just goes to
college, you don't always equatethat with experience.
But when you see a tech, tech isalways related to the word
experience usually.
At least they put their hands ona machine.
SPEAKER_01 (25:42):
Okay.
So, Dominic, just getting backto you, what would you say that
the biggest surprise or thebiggest takeaway from either the
industrial program or evenrobotics, biggest surprise or
takeaway from that program?
SPEAKER_04 (25:58):
I'd say my biggest surprise from the program was
when I first came into it.
Like I said, you know, it variesoff into different topics, and
that's not what I was expectingwhen I first came in.
You know, when I first came in,I thought I was just going to
be, you know, working on amachine, you know, just drilling
some bits and stuff like that.
But, no, it surprised mewhenever it was more to having
(26:21):
to learn about how to keep yourworkspace clean, the importance
of having a...
how you say, an efficientworkspace.
And it confused me, or notconfused me, but surprised me
about how detailed and everydifferent thing is and how
important everything is to that.
Because, like, especially whenwe was taking that efficiency
(26:42):
course where we had to gothrough, make sure everything
was clean, different ways wecould be more efficient, you
know, the cutting into the foam,and so you have your pieces all
laid out.
And it has surprised me aboutthat.
But it also, like...
Because we work in such a waythat it's more professional than
anything else.
It's not your average classroom.
It's more professional the wayyou address your professor, the
(27:05):
way you have to go about yourbusiness inside the work area,
having to put on, like, yourglasses, always have your
glasses, depending on whatyou're working on, have your
hard hat.
You always have to have theright attire.
You can't just go in, you know,try to go in with some shorts,
some shoes, like some slides orsomething like that.
You can't do that.
You got to be more professional,and it's more like a workplace
than it is a classroom, but youalso still get that.
(27:26):
That classroom effect, you know,learning in class with your
classmates, teaching yourteacher, teaching you different
things.
But yeah, that was my biggestthing and takeaway is how
professional we are and try tobe.
And so that when we go into theworkspace, you know, we're not
just caught off guard.
And this is something that weexperienced before.
And this is something familiaras to something we've been
(27:46):
through.
SPEAKER_01 (27:47):
And so right now, Southern Tech is going through
the interview process and allthat for the students for next
school year.
And so what we ask them to do isthey identify like a first
choice and they identify asecond choice and all of that.
And so if their first choice,say, was welding and they didn't
(28:08):
get into that, but their secondchoice was this, like industrial
mechanics, sometimes if they seeit as a second choice, like, oh,
maybe I didn't want to do that,what would you tell a student
who– has an opportunity to takethis class, but it may not have
been their first choice?
SPEAKER_04 (28:26):
Well, if you say welding, at the end of the year,
or near the end of the year,when I was doing industrial
machinery, I actually decidedThey allow you to pick a
classroom to take lessons from.
So I picked welding, and I wasstill able to get the basis of
welding.
They had us doing hands-on workwelding different things and
still able to learn because wehad to learn about different
(28:49):
types of welds, and we also hadto do them.
So even though I wasn't inwelding, I was still able to
learn the basis of welding.
I'm able to still do the weldingbecause I know how to weld now
just because of that classalone.
I can do basic welds.
And so, you know, if you're notable to get into that from the
start, you'll still be able toget some knowledge about it
(29:09):
before you even get to get inthat class next year if you want
to do it again next year.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
SPEAKER_01 (29:15):
And I guess we're going to– we're on the home
stretch here.
We're about to start wrappingup.
And I would just– I think asstudents are getting ready to
enroll and that first– What wasit like being on Southern Tech's
campus for the first time?
(29:36):
Because it's not, like you said,it's professional.
It's not, you know, the hallwaysof your high school and all
that.
It's very different because youhave adults in your class and
you guys are all learning thesame things at the same time.
What would you tell people thatare about to, or might even be
hesitant about coming onto thecampus because it's so
(29:57):
different?
Because, you know, if you thinkabout it, we have 13 different
partner schools that send usstudents.
And some of them are very, verysmall schools.
You're from Ardmore, so that'sprobably the biggest school that
we serve.
And this is just a verydifferent environment than your
traditional day in the halls ofa high school.
So how would you describe that?
(30:17):
And how would you help peopleovercome kind of their fear of
coming onto campus?
SPEAKER_04 (30:24):
Yeah, it's a big campus, and like you said,
there's a whole lot of schoolsthat come through.
But your classroom aren't reallythat giant.
It'll still feel like a normalclass, the size of how many
people are in there, becausethey have their AM and their
PMs.
But also, if you're thinkingabout coming to Southern Tech,
you should, because it helps alot.
(30:45):
It brings in a lot for you.
It'll bring you more than youwill get in your average high
school.
Like, you know, you'll get yourtranscripts, your GPA and all
that.
But, you know, getting if youwant to get into a field of any
type of work from medical toengineering to even like sound
work and things like that,coming here will give you a step
up and it would like introduceyou into the thing or into this
(31:06):
your workforce.
that you won't get from manyother places other than having
to go to college.
Most people have to go tocollege to learn everything,
then try to go off to theworkforce.
If you come here, then you areable to learn what you can in
college because I've been tomany tours for college tours,
and when they tell me abouttheir program, a lot of things I
see them do and they work on isthings I've done already here.
(31:26):
I went to OSU, and they weretelling me about how they're...
Their CAD program, they hadtheir students come in to learn
that.
And I was like, well, I'vealready done most of this.
They use the same thing I do,and they're printing off the
same 3D printers I print off of.
So it's like you'll get thatknowledge you can get from a
college, at least the base levelfrom here, and be able to
(31:46):
incorporate that into theworkforce already.
So you don't even have to go tocollege if you don't really want
to.
Because I have classmates nowwho have a bunch of
certifications that are planningon going into the workforce now.
and are getting internships andgetting job interviews from
people from bigger companies.
So I'd say if you want toadvance your careers and really
(32:07):
follow your dreams, then I'd sayyou should come here.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Dominic, you have a very bright future, sir.
Thank you.
Very bright.
I'm excited to see what you do.
Any last thoughts, Tim?
Anything else that we shouldknow about getting into this
industry, Circulus specifically?
SPEAKER_03 (32:24):
No, I think what Dominic's talked about here is
definitely a good launchingpoint to enter into an industry.
All industries are going to havetheir learning of their
machines.
So when you take courses likethis or involve yourself in a
technical course, learningoperations of a machine is the
first step to understanding howto diagnose a problem.
(32:47):
So this is, I think, somethingthat they focus on well here.
at the level of the machinerythat you're exposed to.
You just have to carry thatforward in the industry.
That's what we're looking for.
We're looking for the nurses andthe CNAs and the doctors at
different levels.
We always know that when we hiresomebody, they're not going to
know how to fix our machinestomorrow.
(33:07):
It doesn't matter.
You can't get frustrated withthe long road because
maintenance, you know,industrial maintenance of any
kind takes a while to be goodat.
And building blocks, likeDominique has talked about, is
how to get to where you want tobe, whether it be just something
like your friends going straightinto the maintenance force or on
(33:29):
to college, different technicaldegrees or on into engineering
degrees.
These are all good launch pointsfor that.
And working in industry givesyou, if you can ever get there
even while you're in college,it'll give you a different
perspective on what you'retrying to learn.
And I think that's what's veryimportant is to know what you're
getting into.
It lets you study for it better.
And I think that's what thisclass has exposed a lot of women
(33:50):
and men to, is they know whatthey're going to get into if
they follow this direction intheir
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
careers.
And Tim, one last question.
If you were to talk to a parentof a student who is considering
this program, a lot of timesit's just that they don't quite
understand what they're gettinginto.
How would you reassure a parentthat this is a great choice for
their student?
SPEAKER_03 (34:12):
I mean, I would explain my career.
because it has been anunengineered, undegreed career
and been able to move into veryhigh-level teams and high-level
positions and had incomes that Inever dreamed of.
Even with a degree, I didn'tthink I would get to where I got
to in my career in 30 years withthe military and the 20 years in
industry.
It doesn't have to have adegree.
(34:33):
There's a lot of young men andwomen that don't want to sit
behind a book all day long, butdon't mind studying for singular
things.
They don't want to be lockeddown to four years of studying.
that want to look at something,diagnose it, study small things,
and that's the maintenancefield.
It's always studying somethingtoday, whether it be the
preventative plan or how do weget in there and dig out what it
(34:53):
should look like, how do we putit back together, the
cleanliness, the organization todo it right the first time.
Like I said, I'm a product ofthe system, so I have a very
good– background of where thiscan take you.
And every step is another step.
This is a stepping stone toknowledge.
You get the next one.
(35:13):
You get the next stepping stoneto knowledge.
In the end, you can be dependedupon to do whatever you learn
and apply it and give it on toother people as you mature.
SPEAKER_01 (35:23):
All right.
Well, gentlemen, thank you somuch for joining us today.
It's been a pleasure.
Dominic, I cannot wait to seewhat you accomplish in this
world.
So thank you for being ourguest, Tim.
Thank you so much for yourinsights and all your years of
expertise and sharing that withus today.
Brad, anything else you gotbefore
SPEAKER_00 (35:39):
we wrap it up?
Nope.
Again, thank you to our gueststoday, Dominic Jones and Tim
Miller, and our host, Dr.
Eric Ward.
I am Brad Bentley, and thank youfor listening to Tech Unlocked.
Until next time.
Welcome to Tech Unlocked, where we explore all
things tech related.
Today's special guest, TimMiller, Reliability Manager at
Circulus, a subsidiary of DowChemicals, and Dominic Jones, a
Southern Tech student.
Now for our special guest andhost, Dr.
(00:22):
Eric Ward.
SPEAKER_01 (00:25):
You know, even this is our third one and I'm still a
special guest.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Well, any more.
We've got to go with what we'vegot to go with here.
We have special guests.
We've got Tim and Dominic.
SPEAKER_01 (00:34):
I like it.
Well, welcome, everybody.
Thank you all for joining ustoday.
And a special thank you toDominic, who is a current
student here at Southern Tech,and Tim Miller, who is currently
working for Circulus, asubsidiary of Dow Chemical.
You said it right.
I like it.
Ah, man.
That was a one take.
I like it.
I like that.
So let's get it started.
(00:57):
with Dominic.
And if you can just introduceyourself, tell us a little bit
about you.
And you were in the industrialmechanics program.
Yeah, that's true.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_04 (01:07):
I just want to start off by saying that.
Absolutely.
But yeah, my name is DominicJones.
I go to Armour High School andI'm in the robotics program
right now.
But last year I was in theindustrial mechanics program.
SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
Okay.
How did you, what made you getinto the industrial mechanics
program?
SPEAKER_04 (01:23):
Well, my dad works at Valero.
And he has spent his years inthe engineering field.
And I kind of want to follow upfrom there.
And when in my middle school,before I moved out to Oklahoma,
I took a shop class, whichreally gave me some hands-on
with machines and really gave mea love for that.
Okay.
Where'd you move here from?
Texas, Humboldt, Texas.
Okay.
Okay.
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01 (01:43):
And so before joining the industrial mechanics
program and the, I guess...
your dad's career history.
Any other experience withindustrial machinery, or you
just thought that this was justa really good fit for you, or?
Well,
SPEAKER_04 (01:59):
before I came here to the Southern Tech, I had
little experience.
You know, I've worked inmachines before with my shop
class, but there was more I hadto learn, and I knew I could get
it from Southern Tech IndustrialMachinery Program.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (02:13):
And so let me turn it over to Tim.
Tim Miller, join us today.
is in the workforce in thatindustry and is looking to hire
qualified folks to work atCirculus.
Tim, give us just a quickintroduction on you and a little
bit on your background andreally just how you've seen this
industry change even over thepast five or 10 years.
SPEAKER_03 (02:36):
Yeah, thanks.
Tim Miller, work for Circuluscurrently.
I've got about almost 22 yearsof industrial experience in
manufacturing with my previoustime with Michelin.
And it's went from a singleskill to even wanting more dual
skilled.
And I was just sitting thinkingthat this is more comparative to
what doctors, you know, a nursebecoming or a CNA becoming a
(02:58):
nurse and then becoming adoctor.
It's almost like that what we'relooking for.
We're looking for people thatcome in at the CNA level for the
mechanical aptitude andknowledge and then graduate into
nursing as a technician andmaybe on into the doctor field
when they go to leading a teamof people.
to care for these machinesbecause it really is machinery
health.
(03:18):
It's what we call it in theindustry.
We're looking for people to helpus keep these machines healthy
so that whatever product we'remaking can make it out the door
safely first with the highquality at the demand that's
coming to our teams.
SPEAKER_01 (03:30):
Okay.
So what are some of thoseinitial skills or foundational
skills, I guess, you would belooking for from a student, from
anybody coming into yourindustry at an entry level?
SPEAKER_03 (03:42):
Well, obviously, just like Dominic talked about,
it's a passion for taking careof machinery, just like any
other job.
Being able to see the machinesmove, be able to interact with
them safely, and to be able todiagnose them if they're not
doing the proper action at theproper time.
SPEAKER_01 (04:01):
Okay.
So, Dominic, was it everdescribed to you that way, like
health care for machines?
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
Not at first, but when I got through the program
and started going through moreof the subjects, it was a big
thing that kept bringing upalong with safety is that we got
to learn how to identify theproblem with a machine and learn
how to fix it and also how tomanage and take care of the
machine, but also the workspacearound it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (04:28):
Okay.
And so as we're just kind ofdigging into this industrial
mechanics program that we havehere at Southern Tech, a lot of
times this program is not a fullprogram.
And I think it's because a lotof times students really don't
even know what that is and whathappens in that program.
So if you were to talk to, say,somebody you know at Ardmore or
(04:52):
just somebody in the community,what would you tell them about
this program to get theminvolved?
interested in it?
SPEAKER_04 (05:00):
I'll say that a lot of people, at least the ones I
hang with, are really intohands-on work.
And you get a lot of thatthroughout industrial machinery.
It gives you a hand in eachfield.
It shows you different thingsfrom electrical to machining and
to safety.
It gives you a bunch ofexperience.
(05:21):
So if you want to go to anyfield of engineering, it at
least gets you a little bit ofknowledge for each
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
one.
UNKNOWN (05:27):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (05:27):
And so overall, this program covers safety,
machining, mechanical systems,power systems.
Which was, when you were takingthe program, what was probably
the most exciting or mostchallenging for you?
SPEAKER_04 (05:41):
I'd say machining or electrical.
Because with machining, atfirst, we just took our aluminum
blocks and we had to work onchamfering angles and doing
things like that.
And then whenever we got...
Deeper into the year, we had tolook at blueprints and have to
go off the blueprint and makeour piece off that using things
(06:02):
like the CNC machine or thedrill press.
Okay.
But with electrical, that was alittle bit tougher because we
had to work on the electricalbox trainer, and we had to go
through a book for that one, andit took a minute, but it was
fun, though.
SPEAKER_01 (06:17):
Okay.
And so, Tim, we were talkingearlier before we got on, and
just the difference between evenlike residential electricians
and the type of acumen you haveto have for this side of the
industry.
What are those significantdifferences?
SPEAKER_03 (06:38):
Well, when I think about the industrial, you're
talking about the code, the waythings are put in to make them
function from the beginning.
But once it's running, the nextthing is to see what piece is
not there to make the machinemove properly and being able to
use, you know, testing equipmentto determine where there's a
voltage missing or where there'sactually a failed, you know,
(06:59):
electrical component based onreadings or functions.
You see a lot out there wherejust a part's changed without
very much diagnostics and that'svery, very expensive for a
company to handle depending uponthe electrical component.
So, The hands-on part is whatwe're looking for, really a
diagnostic mindset from astandpoint of whether it's
(07:21):
electrical or mechanical.
But the electrical with testingequipment and with voltage being
not more dangerous thanmechanical, but a lot of people
are apprehensive about being inan electrical field.
But same thing with anythingelse is the safety precautions
that go ahead of it.
But mechanical is also a very,you know, fluid thing with
moving parts to understandwhat's moving from point A to B,
(07:43):
maintain your safety.
And then, again, like we talkedabout seeing it, it doesn't move
from A to B.
Why?
You know, it's always thequestion of why it didn't work
like it was supposed to when itcomes to that.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (07:54):
And, Dominic, so thinking about the industrial
mechanics program, what would atypical day look like if you
were to describe that to astudent who has no idea what
we're talking about?
A typical day, what would thatlook like?
And then, Tim, I'm going to askyou, what would a typical day
look like in industry and seehow close we are?
SPEAKER_04 (08:14):
I'd say through the mid-year, the typical day would
be you come in at 8 o'clock, youcome in, and you get to your
desk.
He'll run you through sometheory for what the day is.
He'll run you through what youwere going to be doing today,
what's the project for today.
And he'll have us run throughthe theory part, and then have
us go out to the shop for a timeto work on it.
And I say when we was workingthrough the electrical trainers,
(08:40):
when we first started working onelectrical trainers, he
explained everything to us, eachelectrical term and what things
do.
And then he'd have us go outthere with a partner, have us
work on that.
And then that would be prettymuch the day of that, just to
work, get your theory in, makesure always that you're
practicing safety and makingsure you're not doing anything
(09:02):
like, trying to shock one ofyour classmates or something.
He'll always have us practicingsafety and working throughout
the day.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (09:13):
And you mentioned before about how a lot of the
people that you know really wanthands-on learning.
Yeah.
How much of the class washands-on versus, like, say,
theory or even book work?
SPEAKER_04 (09:28):
I'd say about...
70% was hands-on.
We did a lot of hands-on.
We spent a little bit of time inthe class because, you know, you
come into the engineeringworkforce or field and you
expect to do a lot of hands-onthings.
You can learn as much as youwant, but if you have no
experience actually doing itwith your hands, then it doesn't
(09:51):
amount to much.
So he'll have us outside in theshop a lot throughout the day
and have us in the classes aslittle as possible, but still
having to get all that stuffthat you need, all that theory
work you needed.
SPEAKER_01 (10:00):
Yeah.
You know, and I'm looking at Timbecause something that has, I
don't know, come up in otherconversations is employers end
up hiring people withengineering degrees, but they've
never actually engineeredanything.
And so I turned that over to Timand, you know, like, how does
that look on the circular side?
And as a student like Dominicwould be coming into your
(10:24):
industry, how much of that doesoverlap?
How much is...
do you expect to have to coachhim up when he gets into a place
like Circulus?
SPEAKER_03 (10:34):
Well, what I've seen with Southern Tech students,
they don't need to be coachedtoo much into that because, like
Dominic said, there is thathands-on part of it.
And I think the expectation setin the classes from this level
is that you will go hands-on.
I have seen others from two-yearcolleges and stuff that expect
to come in and be an engineerand get a rude awakening.
But so far we've had good thingscome out of the system here as
(10:58):
far as people being–Understanding that hands-on is,
at the end of the day, that'swhere it's applied.
But back to his point aboutthere has to be the educational
side of it as well.
You come into the industry,there's a lot of learning to do.
So if you're unconditioned toresearch or read up on things to
then go practice, it's going tobe a long road for you as an
(11:20):
employee.
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
And so as an employee in this role, what does
their day-to-day look like?
SPEAKER_03 (11:27):
So...
Most industries have twodifferent roles.
That of the troubleshooter,which is usually your entry
level from this aspect as you'reon the floor, on the grind every
day, making sure the machinesare up right now.
It's really a right now type ofmaintenance.
If it breaks, you fix it rightnow, which typically you come in
like he talked about and you doa turnover to know what happened
(11:49):
on the last 12-hour shift andthen get a briefing if there's a
shift briefing from any otherreasons to know what maybe the
objectives of the shift are.
Even from a productionstandpoint, typically the
maintenance guy has to be reallyinvolved in understanding what
the production for the day orwhat we call bottlenecks or the
problem points are, potentiallyproblem points are to get you
through the night.
(12:10):
And then you have yourpreventive maintenance team,
which is really a lot like whathe explained.
You come in, you get your dailybriefing, you go over what your
tasks are for the day, yourprojects are for the day,
whether it be inspections of themachines to ensure that they're
What should be working isworking properly and everything.
We like to look at stuff aheadof the failure.
So proactive maintenance a lotwith our preventative
(12:30):
maintenance teams.
And then on to the potentialduring the day to do maintenance
or do research to find out whysomething is failing or even
correcting or making ourpreventative systems better by
what they're seeing every dayand evaluating those set systems
that most industries have.
SPEAKER_01 (12:47):
Okay.
UNKNOWN (12:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (12:48):
And, you know, a lot of it is hands-on, but
ultimately are therecertifications that you guys
look for?
So
SPEAKER_03 (12:56):
for my 22 years, we really haven't looked for
certifications.
Okay.
I think it's a good segue intothe interview.
Then you sell yourself always,you know, with what you know and
your conversation points andyour ability to talk about
things.
what you know.
And then most industrial peoplecan tell if you know it or don't
know it.
Right,
SPEAKER_01 (13:16):
because it's one thing to have the piece of
paper.
It's another to be able to speakthe language.
SPEAKER_03 (13:20):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (13:21):
And I think that's, you know, as we're working with
our students on as they'redeveloping resumes and they're
earning those certifications,yeah, that might get your resume
to the top of the, you know, upon the list, but you still have
to be able to talk abouteverything you can do.
UNKNOWN (13:35):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (13:36):
So speaking about certifications, what are some
that you have, Dominic, have youearned from industrial mechanics
and also even the roboticsprogram that you're in now?
SPEAKER_04 (13:47):
I've earned quite a bit, actually.
They have us working all thetime, and every subject we do is
always leading towards getting acertification.
So for Mr.
Bartholow's, I have my forkliftcertification, my scissor lift
certification, my NIMS, myelectrical certification.
What else?
(14:07):
I think I have a certificationin machining as well.
And then for robotics, we havethe Autodesk CAD Fusion.
I have that certification.
I have my Universal RobloxLearning Program certification.
I think I have a couple more.
I can't think off the top of myhead.
But you get a lot ofcertifications that allow you to
(14:29):
work on different things.
And you'll have more of a stepup in the industry being able to
do things instead of having totake an entire class like
everybody else.
So they let you drive aforklift?
Yeah.
And a scissor lift?
Yeah, they had us operating boththose to get the certification
on that.
And they taught us how to do itfor the forklift.
That was real fun, having todrive forklifts throughout the
(14:50):
cones, go around.
The obstacle course, right?
Yeah.
That's a good time.
They had us go through theirforward, just snaking through
the cones.
Had us go through backwards,snaking through the cones, and
taught us how to pick things up.
We had to take a class for that.
The first day, because it was aTuesday program, so the first
day we had to sit in the classand learn everything.
(15:11):
learn how to operate it in asafety for you.
I take a long video about thesafety.
And then we went on and did thehands-on driving.
SPEAKER_01 (15:19):
Okay.
So scissor lift.
How high did you get?
Because I know if you're...
If you may be a little squeamishabout that, it may be an
eye-opener for you.
SPEAKER_04 (15:30):
Yeah.
On the scissor lift, I rememberthat because I personally have
just a little bit of a fear ofheights.
So when he got on there, she waslike– or I think it was he.
It was last year.
But it was like you can take itas high as you want.
And so we went up.
I think we can go, like, as highas the– you know those light
poles outside the program, thosereal tall ones?
Yeah.
Yeah, we can go all the way up,like, above those real high.
(15:52):
And so– I think I took it about,like, somewhat there.
I didn't take it to the maxbecause when you get up there,
you start getting a littleshaky.
And I was like, okay, okay, youknow, I can do it if it's, you
know, if it's for a job.
But for this one, I'll just takeit for a good height, show that
I can do it, and then get back
SPEAKER_01 (16:07):
down.
Probably working inside, too,would be better because, you
know, a little bit of a breezemight make you nervous up there,
huh?
SPEAKER_04 (16:13):
I'm telling you, I was up there and it was just...
I was like, okay, you know, I've
SPEAKER_00 (16:17):
got to be up here for it.
And, you know, Tim will tell youthat because I've taught some
both scissor lift and forkliftfor Circulus.
They use them every day in bothoperations.
SPEAKER_01 (16:29):
How do you guys use those two machines in your
operation?
SPEAKER_03 (16:34):
Same thing.
You know, a lot of ours areconveyors that are higher off
the ground.
Or even some of the machinery isup on a second platform and the
only way to access it formaintenance would be to come up
to the side in a boom lift orscissor lift so you can have a
platform to work from.
Okay.
You can stay real close to the,you know, for ergonomics and
handling stuff.
You want to be really close tothe piece of equipment.
(16:54):
And a lot of times a ladder on aplatform is not the right
answer.
Yeah.
You know, working from safelywith harnesses and with your
tied off and, you know, yourtools and stuff there.
handy to you so you feel morecomfortable like you said you
can get uncomfortable in thosesituations and anytime you're
doing maintenance you're workingon something an abnormal
condition
SPEAKER_01 (17:10):
yeah
SPEAKER_03 (17:11):
you know if you're working on a failure so you're
already out of the safety zoneof normal operations so
everything that you can use tomake your more comfortable but
you know and closer to whatyou're doing is very important
to be able to safely do beproficient at using so that is a
bonus to the plan coming intoindustry because i think most
industries require that yeahbefore you know you really can
(17:32):
get into the nitty-gritty youYou can start some kind of work,
but until you get some of thosethings out of the way, you're
limited.
And as a manager, you don't wantlimited maintenance workers.
You want to get them in thegrind where the work needs to be
done, like he said.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (17:47):
And so, Dominic, you've taken the industrial
maintenance program and you'rein robotics now.
What's your career trajectorylook like?
What are your goals?
What do you want to do?
How does all this fit together?
SPEAKER_04 (18:01):
So when I first got in, I just wanted to, because
like I said, industrialmachining, you get a little
hands-on to each work.
You're able to see different,how do you say, careers.
And so when I got in, I didn'treally know what I wanted.
I just knew I wanted to be inthe field of engineering.
And so when I was told after Ifinished, I had a good idea,
(18:22):
like I want to go intomechanical engineering.
And so I went into robotics andI went through there, spent some
more time around the field,learning different things.
And I plan on going to OSU.
And so I'm going to enroll intopetroleum engineering.
Actually, that's where I wantedto go into.
I had a great talk with myfather and, you know, I wanted
(18:43):
to fall into petroleumengineering.
But at the same time, I still...
want to be able to get into thefield of like mechatronics work
where I'm able to work on robotsbecause robots is a big thing
for me and I like that.
And so I want to be able tolearn for both.
But I do plan on going aftermore of a career in petroleum
engineering.
Okay.
Do you plan to work as you'regoing to school?
(19:06):
I think so.
I think I will be trying towork.
Yes, sir.
Okay.
Because I don't have a problemworking in school.
You know, I've been doing thissince I was But since I was
young, I've always been aroundworking and doing schoolwork.
So I plan on still trying towork and then planning on
finding an internship throughoutthe summer, actually.
And then once I get intocollege, I'll see if I can be
able to do it.
(19:27):
I'll try to work throughout theschool.
SPEAKER_01 (19:29):
And a lot of times students that don't take these
programs will end up waitingtables or working fast food or
something.
And with the skills you've got,you can work– in some of those
industries while you're going toschool.
And we've talked about thisbefore, and I'm just a huge
proponent of not collectingstudent debt.
(19:50):
Our students across the countryhave$1.8 trillion in student
debt.
And so if you can work as you'regoing along and then go to
school at the same time and notpick up as much, you're going to
be a whole lot better off.
So when you start that career,or maybe you start at Circulus,
you start at Valero, like yousaid, your dad works out there,
(20:12):
you actually, when you get thatfirst paycheck, you get to keep
a whole lot more of it ratherthan trying to pay off your
student loan bill.
So as far as, so you're talkingpetroleum engineering, that side
of things, if If you were tomeet a student from our program
and he says, I want to go intopetroleum engineering, what
(20:34):
would you say to that, Tim?
Well,
SPEAKER_03 (20:38):
ironically, one of our reliability techs at my
previous job at Michelin was apetroleum engineer.
And she did really well withpredictive tools.
And she did really well.
She took actually a couple ofclasses with me when I was
teaching for Michelin inelectrical.
And she did really well in theclassroom.
And she went on to do reallygood stuff with becoming a
reliability manager.
Move from Ardmore with thesituation there out to a
(21:00):
Greenville plant with Michelinand stay with it in the
reliability management field.
So I would say there's stillopen doors for you even in the
maintenance world, even with apetroleum engineering degree.
You won't get to apply it, butthose background that you got
from this schooling and fromthat schooling definitely apply
from my standpoint from thereliability side because we're
looking at why did it fail andyou need an engineering mindset
(21:23):
to and understanding mechanicaland electrical, which you would
have at that time, to dive inwith the teams of the guys on
the floor because the biggestthing is to solve the problem so
the guys don't have to face itover and over and over again.
Yeah.
There's nothing like theexpenditure on the same problem
every night.
It makes for a poor environmentfor maintenance people.
And with an engineering degree,and even as a tech in a big
(21:46):
company, you can find thatengineering degree will land you
back into maintenance,especially if it's still
something you– Enjoy doing thehands-on part because you get to
– in the reliability field, it'snot always engineering.
It's hands-on, looking atworking with super teams,
basically power teams, to solveproblems.
SPEAKER_01 (22:03):
Okay.
Now, we have our career expocoming up in a couple weeks.
And so if– and all of ourstudents go– basically employer
to employer, and they learnabout what they might do for
that company and all of that.
So if you were to talk to one ofour students about a career
trajectory at Circulus, whatwould that look like from a
(22:25):
starting entry-level position toif they got a bachelor's degree
in something or, you know,beyond that, what does that look
like and how could they getstarted at Circulus but also
move up in the company?
SPEAKER_03 (22:37):
Well, actually, since our acquisition by Dow,
there are new engineering jobscoming open.
They're not completely thereyet, but the future looks really
bright to add the team memberswe need to be successful in, you
know, mechanical recycling.
Okay.
Now that we own by Dow.
Before, it wasn't thought of asmuch of a long-term industry as
it is now with our currentfocus.
(22:59):
And the moving forward and thetechnology they're going to be
adding to this will requireengineers more into the plant
than just the daily businesswe're currently doing.
So it's looking up for us as faras more industrial things
happening for the mechanicalrecycling as part of Dow.
And the engineering position iselectrical and mechanical
recycling.
will be available in the future.
(23:20):
But with my work with engineersover the years, the ones who
have the mechanical skills,hands-on skills, or have worked
as a mechanic or electricianhave always done better, I
think, when interacting with themaintenance team.
So that little bit of experiencehe's gained already at Southern
Tech.
I'm a product of Southern Techmyself.
(23:42):
I took the drafting program along, long time ago.
But those led me, just like itwill lead him, to steps as a
draftsman and then on into themilitary.
And then it served me well whenI come back into the industry.
The knowledge that I've alwaysbeen able to go back to, like
you were speaking to earlier,being able to read blueprints.
SPEAKER_04 (24:00):
Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_03 (24:01):
You've got to be able to read blueprints to be a
maintenance, either electricalor mechanical.
Non-negotiable.
Non-negotiable, really.
And it's surprising how manypeople don't have those skills
if they don't get into the rightclasses at a Southern Tech
level.
UNKNOWN (24:12):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03 (24:12):
Cause I took it at college drafting too.
And it was better at Southerntech because it was broader.
Like you said, you get to hit ona bunch of different topics.
When I was in the drafting incollege, it was more singular
minded and not global.
Like you can get from a techschool.
Okay.
You know, cause they're lookingto prepare more students for
global, global industrial, youknow, employment than singular
(24:34):
type deals.
Yeah.
Especially because of wherewe're from, you know, you need
to have a better skillset.
UNKNOWN (24:40):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (24:40):
than a single skill set.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
So if a student were to come in entry level, what
hourly rate, what compensationcould they expect?
Is there just a range?
Probably in the 20s to 30sdollars an hour.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (24:55):
Maybe high 30s.
SPEAKER_01 (24:56):
Okay.
Yeah.
I don't mean you.
Yeah.
Just industry.
SPEAKER_03 (24:59):
Yeah.
Range.
I've seen it vary anywhere fromin the mid 20s to the mid 30s.
Michelin had a selective way toprogress.
And they actually had wickets toget to up to almost$40 an hour.
I've seen friends that leftMichelin that went on to$45 an
hour.
Yeah.
And no degrees.
They just, they have the duemaintenance and experience.
(25:22):
And that's what every industry,that's what every person is
really looking for is someamount of experience.
And again, When you see astudent who just goes to
college, you don't always equatethat with experience.
But when you see a tech, tech isalways related to the word
experience usually.
At least they put their hands ona machine.
SPEAKER_01 (25:42):
Okay.
So, Dominic, just getting backto you, what would you say that
the biggest surprise or thebiggest takeaway from either the
industrial program or evenrobotics, biggest surprise or
takeaway from that program?
SPEAKER_04 (25:58):
I'd say my biggest surprise from the program was
when I first came into it.
Like I said, you know, it variesoff into different topics, and
that's not what I was expectingwhen I first came in.
You know, when I first came in,I thought I was just going to
be, you know, working on amachine, you know, just drilling
some bits and stuff like that.
But, no, it surprised mewhenever it was more to having
(26:21):
to learn about how to keep yourworkspace clean, the importance
of having a...
how you say, an efficientworkspace.
And it confused me, or notconfused me, but surprised me
about how detailed and everydifferent thing is and how
important everything is to that.
Because, like, especially whenwe was taking that efficiency
(26:42):
course where we had to gothrough, make sure everything
was clean, different ways wecould be more efficient, you
know, the cutting into the foam,and so you have your pieces all
laid out.
And it has surprised me aboutthat.
But it also, like...
Because we work in such a waythat it's more professional than
anything else.
It's not your average classroom.
It's more professional the wayyou address your professor, the
(27:05):
way you have to go about yourbusiness inside the work area,
having to put on, like, yourglasses, always have your
glasses, depending on whatyou're working on, have your
hard hat.
You always have to have theright attire.
You can't just go in, you know,try to go in with some shorts,
some shoes, like some slides orsomething like that.
You can't do that.
You got to be more professional,and it's more like a workplace
than it is a classroom, but youalso still get that.
(27:26):
That classroom effect, you know,learning in class with your
classmates, teaching yourteacher, teaching you different
things.
But yeah, that was my biggestthing and takeaway is how
professional we are and try tobe.
And so that when we go into theworkspace, you know, we're not
just caught off guard.
And this is something that weexperienced before.
And this is something familiaras to something we've been
(27:46):
through.
SPEAKER_01 (27:47):
And so right now, Southern Tech is going through
the interview process and allthat for the students for next
school year.
And so what we ask them to do isthey identify like a first
choice and they identify asecond choice and all of that.
And so if their first choice,say, was welding and they didn't
(28:08):
get into that, but their secondchoice was this, like industrial
mechanics, sometimes if they seeit as a second choice, like, oh,
maybe I didn't want to do that,what would you tell a student
who– has an opportunity to takethis class, but it may not have
been their first choice?
SPEAKER_04 (28:26):
Well, if you say welding, at the end of the year,
or near the end of the year,when I was doing industrial
machinery, I actually decidedThey allow you to pick a
classroom to take lessons from.
So I picked welding, and I wasstill able to get the basis of
welding.
They had us doing hands-on workwelding different things and
still able to learn because wehad to learn about different
(28:49):
types of welds, and we also hadto do them.
So even though I wasn't inwelding, I was still able to
learn the basis of welding.
I'm able to still do the weldingbecause I know how to weld now
just because of that classalone.
I can do basic welds.
And so, you know, if you're notable to get into that from the
start, you'll still be able toget some knowledge about it
(29:09):
before you even get to get inthat class next year if you want
to do it again next year.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right.
SPEAKER_01 (29:15):
And I guess we're going to– we're on the home
stretch here.
We're about to start wrappingup.
And I would just– I think asstudents are getting ready to
enroll and that first– What wasit like being on Southern Tech's
campus for the first time?
(29:36):
Because it's not, like you said,it's professional.
It's not, you know, the hallwaysof your high school and all
that.
It's very different because youhave adults in your class and
you guys are all learning thesame things at the same time.
What would you tell people thatare about to, or might even be
hesitant about coming onto thecampus because it's so
(29:57):
different?
Because, you know, if you thinkabout it, we have 13 different
partner schools that send usstudents.
And some of them are very, verysmall schools.
You're from Ardmore, so that'sprobably the biggest school that
we serve.
And this is just a verydifferent environment than your
traditional day in the halls ofa high school.
So how would you describe that?
(30:17):
And how would you help peopleovercome kind of their fear of
coming onto campus?
SPEAKER_04 (30:24):
Yeah, it's a big campus, and like you said,
there's a whole lot of schoolsthat come through.
But your classroom aren't reallythat giant.
It'll still feel like a normalclass, the size of how many
people are in there, becausethey have their AM and their
PMs.
But also, if you're thinkingabout coming to Southern Tech,
you should, because it helps alot.
(30:45):
It brings in a lot for you.
It'll bring you more than youwill get in your average high
school.
Like, you know, you'll get yourtranscripts, your GPA and all
that.
But, you know, getting if youwant to get into a field of any
type of work from medical toengineering to even like sound
work and things like that,coming here will give you a step
up and it would like introduceyou into the thing or into this
(31:06):
your workforce.
that you won't get from manyother places other than having
to go to college.
Most people have to go tocollege to learn everything,
then try to go off to theworkforce.
If you come here, then you areable to learn what you can in
college because I've been tomany tours for college tours,
and when they tell me abouttheir program, a lot of things I
see them do and they work on isthings I've done already here.
(31:26):
I went to OSU, and they weretelling me about how they're...
Their CAD program, they hadtheir students come in to learn
that.
And I was like, well, I'vealready done most of this.
They use the same thing I do,and they're printing off the
same 3D printers I print off of.
So it's like you'll get thatknowledge you can get from a
college, at least the base levelfrom here, and be able to
(31:46):
incorporate that into theworkforce already.
So you don't even have to go tocollege if you don't really want
to.
Because I have classmates nowwho have a bunch of
certifications that are planningon going into the workforce now.
and are getting internships andgetting job interviews from
people from bigger companies.
So I'd say if you want toadvance your careers and really
(32:07):
follow your dreams, then I'd sayyou should come here.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Dominic, you have a very bright future, sir.
Thank you.
Very bright.
I'm excited to see what you do.
Any last thoughts, Tim?
Anything else that we shouldknow about getting into this
industry, Circulus specifically?
SPEAKER_03 (32:24):
No, I think what Dominic's talked about here is
definitely a good launchingpoint to enter into an industry.
All industries are going to havetheir learning of their
machines.
So when you take courses likethis or involve yourself in a
technical course, learningoperations of a machine is the
first step to understanding howto diagnose a problem.
(32:47):
So this is, I think, somethingthat they focus on well here.
at the level of the machinerythat you're exposed to.
You just have to carry thatforward in the industry.
That's what we're looking for.
We're looking for the nurses andthe CNAs and the doctors at
different levels.
We always know that when we hiresomebody, they're not going to
know how to fix our machinestomorrow.
(33:07):
It doesn't matter.
You can't get frustrated withthe long road because
maintenance, you know,industrial maintenance of any
kind takes a while to be goodat.
And building blocks, likeDominique has talked about, is
how to get to where you want tobe, whether it be just something
like your friends going straightinto the maintenance force or on
(33:29):
to college, different technicaldegrees or on into engineering
degrees.
These are all good launch pointsfor that.
And working in industry givesyou, if you can ever get there
even while you're in college,it'll give you a different
perspective on what you'retrying to learn.
And I think that's what's veryimportant is to know what you're
getting into.
It lets you study for it better.
And I think that's what thisclass has exposed a lot of women
(33:50):
and men to, is they know whatthey're going to get into if
they follow this direction intheir
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
careers.
And Tim, one last question.
If you were to talk to a parentof a student who is considering
this program, a lot of timesit's just that they don't quite
understand what they're gettinginto.
How would you reassure a parentthat this is a great choice for
their student?
SPEAKER_03 (34:12):
I mean, I would explain my career.
because it has been anunengineered, undegreed career
and been able to move into veryhigh-level teams and high-level
positions and had incomes that Inever dreamed of.
Even with a degree, I didn'tthink I would get to where I got
to in my career in 30 years withthe military and the 20 years in
industry.
It doesn't have to have adegree.
(34:33):
There's a lot of young men andwomen that don't want to sit
behind a book all day long, butdon't mind studying for singular
things.
They don't want to be lockeddown to four years of studying.
that want to look at something,diagnose it, study small things,
and that's the maintenancefield.
It's always studying somethingtoday, whether it be the
preventative plan or how do weget in there and dig out what it
(34:53):
should look like, how do we putit back together, the
cleanliness, the organization todo it right the first time.
Like I said, I'm a product ofthe system, so I have a very
good– background of where thiscan take you.
And every step is another step.
This is a stepping stone toknowledge.
You get the next one.
(35:13):
You get the next stepping stoneto knowledge.
In the end, you can be dependedupon to do whatever you learn
and apply it and give it on toother people as you mature.
SPEAKER_01 (35:23):
All right.
Well, gentlemen, thank you somuch for joining us today.
It's been a pleasure.
Dominic, I cannot wait to seewhat you accomplish in this
world.
So thank you for being ourguest, Tim.
Thank you so much for yourinsights and all your years of
expertise and sharing that withus today.
Brad, anything else you gotbefore
SPEAKER_00 (35:39):
we wrap it up?
Nope.
Again, thank you to our gueststoday, Dominic Jones and Tim
Miller, and our host, Dr.
Eric Ward.
I am Brad Bentley, and thank youfor listening to Tech Unlocked.
Until next time.
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