(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Automotive Technology program is answering the call from automobile dealers such as Fiesta Nissan in Edinburg, Mercedes-Benz of Harlingen and Sames Auto Group in Harlingen to help keep their service department standards high.
Starting this fall, the program at TSTC’s Harlingen campus is rolling out a broadened curriculum and new resources to equip students for careers as automotive technicians.
“I feel confident about the skills their graduates acquire because the program produces educated and qualified students to work at our company,” Luis Perez, shop foreman for Fiesta Nissan and a member of TSTC’s Automotive Technology advisory committee, said.
Andres Lara, service manager for Mercedes-Benz of Harlingen, said partnering with TSTC gives their company a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top technical talent.
“Their graduates are trained, educated, and understand a mechanical system, which includes troubleshooting and checking electric circuits of Mercedes-Benz vehicles,” Lara said.
Gonzalo Gonzalez, parts and service director for Sames Auto Group, said the college produces a funnel of qualified graduates to help fill a technician shortage.
“TSTC has listened and improved their curriculum to concentrate on the electrical portion of automobiles,” Gonzalez said. “A technician cannot do any other type of work without having an electrical background. The college’s graduates have basic automotive knowledge, and our specialty technicians can train them for the Ford Motor Co.”
Miguel Zoleta, TSTC’s Automotive Technology program team lead in Harlingen, said the program’s expansion means it can enroll and graduate more students to keep up with industry demand.
“We are expanding our training equipment, including an all-wheel dynamometer, transmission dynamometer, cutaway vehicle trainers and more to keep pace with the industry’s technology,” Zoleta said. “The goal is to strengthen our partnerships to offer more manufacturer-specific training.”
With 6,290 annual job openings in Texas projected according to onetonline.org for 2020-2030, demand for trained auto technicians is rising as the workforce ages and vehicles grow more complex.
In Automotive Technology, TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree and several certificates of completion at the Harlingen, Sweetwater and Waco campuses. The program will be available at the Fort Bend County campus this fall.
Registration for TSTC’s summer and fall semesters is underway. For more information, go to tstc.edu.