(RED OAK, Texas) – Miloslav “Milo” Toth and Brennen Wood, two Precision Machining students at Texas State Technical College’s North Texas campus, have officially begun their careers as computer numerical control machinists.
“Getting into a shop and actually doing what we’re doing in school, (we’ll) get a lot more experience setting up the machines,” Wood said.
Prior to TSTC, Toth, a Charleston, South Carolina native, received his associate degree in general studies, but did not pursue an education beyond that until he decided to enroll at TSTC. He discovered the field of machining while perusing the college’s website.
“I enjoy it because it makes you think critically and problem-solve with more hands-on stuff,” Toth said. “You’ve got to get a little creative, and I think that’s the perfect combination to why I enjoy it.”
Wood, of Midlothian, was a manager at a local fast food establishment before one of his regular customers offered him the chance of a lifetime.
“He owns a company that makes electrical motors. That’s how I got my first view of machining,” Wood said. “He let me come and work there for two days to see if I would be interested in it, and I was.”
Toth and Wood first learned about employment opportunities with Martin Sprocket & Gear’s Arlington plant during an employer spotlight. They later began their new jobs with hopes of gaining experience in different areas. Toth is interested in working with older machinery.
“Those machines are still being used and not a lot of people are getting experience on them,” he said. “You’re going to find that everywhere, where companies are going to have old pieces of equipment that still need to be kept running.”
Wood is more interested in learning more about gears.
“It will be totally different and a whole other aspect of machining that we don’t get to cover in our classes,” he said.
Wood said there are benefits to working as a machinist and attending TSTC at the same time.
“If I struggle at work with something, like how to use a certain tool, I can always come back and ask (my instructors) how to use it,” he said.
Toth and Wood plan to receive their associate degrees from TSTC’s Precision Machining program in December.
“I’m proud of myself for trying something new, that I had no idea was even a thing before I started, and how quickly I got into it,” Toth said.
Precision Machining is available at TSTC’s Fort Bend County, Harlingen, Marshall, North Texas, Waco and Williamson County campuses. The program offers an associate degree and two certificates of completion.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.