I graduated from the SIU Automotive program in 71. At the time it was rated as one of the best in the country by the car manufacturers. I received a fantastic education in the program. I finished with a Bachelor's degree in education as the automotive bachelor's degree didn't come about for about 10 years. About 5 years later I went back to SIU to teach in the automotive program. I stayed there for about 6 years. When I was there the program was in WWII buildings in the Crab Orchard wildlife area. When I hired on they told me that new buildings were coming in a year or two. The current program is in the new buildings at the Carbondale airport. I think they were moved there around 2010 (so much for a couple of years). The current program is fantastic as I've visited it a couple of times in the last 5 years.
I never went there as a student but I drank alot of beer and partied there !! Ahhh my younger days.... ..
My son is in his third year of a mechanic's apprenticeship. He gets some school time, but most of it is hands-on in a workshop. His first year he swept floors, moved cars around and did oil changes. His second year he got frustrated, as all he was learning was scan-tool-and-change. He had the courage to change employer (the shop across the street) as they did gearbox and engine internal work. Made me proud of him. His third year has him elbows-deep in engines and transmissions. A moderate amount of suspension work. I learned that I need to take the time to explain stuff to him as I do it. Truth be known, I'm learning a lot as I go... I know less than he thinks I do. Being able to explain stuff in simple terms is helping me learn too. Cheers, Harv
Scan tools are great but there are limits . Local shop no crank issue replaced starter., battery, cables ignition switch fixed car replaced neutral safety switch. I do have question why did most manufactures remove the Schrader valve in the fuel rail the scan tool I use doesn't do fuel pressure. I use the old rule you need to know how it works to figure out why it quite.
Well, well, well, look who we have here! A graduate from the esteemed SIU Automotive program, huh? That's quite impressive! I mean, I can barely change a tire without getting grease all over myself. So you're telling me that back in your day, the program was housed in WWII buildings in a wildlife area? Talk about taking education to the wild side! I can only imagine the challenges of studying automobiles while dodging squirrels and rabbits. And oh, the promise of new buildings in a year or two! Clearly, someone had a different definition of "a year or two" in mind. They must have been using the "car manufacturer's time" instead of regular human time. You know, like when they say your car will be ready in an hour, but you end up waiting for half a day. But hey, at least the current program has upgraded to the Carbondale airport! I can picture students now, working on engines while planes take off in the background, adding a touch of excitement and a constant reminder that they better not mess up those repairs, or else we'll all be taking flying lessons. All jokes aside, it's great to hear that you had a fantastic education and even came back to teach at your alma mater. It's a testament to the program's quality. And hey, if you ever need someone to inflate a tire or make an impressive engine noise, I'm your person!
If I would have known about this program after I graduated from Ranken, I would’ve jumped on it. I live less than 100 miles from Carbondale. If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of career do you have? Maybe I’m incorrect, but it seems a wonderful degree like that would lend itself to more than a day to day mechanic or technician.
My degree required at least one year formal work experience so I worked at two new car dealerships. After completing my degree and working about 2 years at a Lincoln - Mercury dealership they asked me to be service manager. I did that for a couple of years when a teaching position at the SIU automotive program came available. I did that for 6 years and went to a Dodge dealer as a service/parts manager. While I really enjoyed teaching the pay was poor and you had to be very political to move up. I always thought that having the summer off was a real plus for being a teacher. Little did I know that you didn't get paid in the summer. I always had to figure out a summer job. My next move was to a very large truck leasing company in St Louis, Gelco Truck Leasing, as technical service manager. The job involved helping technicians diagnose problems with trucks. If we couldn't solve the problem via phone, we jumped on a airplane and worked with the mechanics one on one until the problem was solved. We also involved our vendors with equipment problems. I ended up with a lot of contacts with Navistar, Eaton, Cummins, Caterpillar, Rockwell, Paccar, Freightliner and anyone who was in the industry. Our leasing company was acquired by a larger leasing company and most people in middle management were left looking for a job. Three of us formed a training company offering our services to the heavy truck industry. I did that for 10 years before being offered a teaching job at Freightliner who was one of my customers. I went from a vendor to an employee. I retired (10 years ago)from Freightliner, Daimler Trucks North America, as manager of customer training . This involved providing training for our large customers like Ryder, Penske, Schneider and many, many other fleets. Over the years I've been very blessed in that jobs just showed up when I needed them. My degree was certainly a plus. Looking back I can honestly say that I enjoyed each position I had.
In 1965 I graduated from El Camino JC with an AA in Industrial Arts. 2 yr major with Welding 1 and 2 as an extra classes. I was working part time in a Sears Auto Center the entire time when going school. After graduation I inquired about full time and off the tire/battery lines. Nope sorry…. I quit……went to the local Standard Oil lease oil fields, was immediately hired after a few skills tests, and in less than 6 months qualified for an Electrician/Lineman apprenticeship and never looked back. I never went to a shop class in HS but was in my dads machine shop since I was a little kid. My only brother is a CPA and we were entirely different eventho 1 year apart. I lived the life I enjoyed and luckily our son is a car guy (was in the last automotive class at his HS) and a 35 year lineman/troubleman with his youngest son following in our footsteps. Vocational training was a positive in my life and I dreaded when it stopped.
You mentioned writing skills here. I'm familiar with this problem. I try to develop them somehow. Personally I study at trade school. And I want to say that I'm satisfied with teaching there, but I regret that I have no writing skills when it comes to writing my reports. Fortunately I found one source https://essays.edubirdie.com/report-writing-services that helps me with this. After all, I believe that more effort should be devoted to practical training. That is why I use the similar report writing services. And in general, it's interesting to read the discussion of this thread, where people older than me and with good experience talk about their technical training
I was in a local private shop there was a cylinder head core being returned to a rebuilder it looked good except there was a little carbon under one valve. Answer we don't do valve jobs.
As a point of interest, when I went to get my new car serviced at the local dealership last week I was told that the labor rate had just been increased from $150/hour to $195 per/hour. Just imagine what the cost of rebuilding an engine would be. Quicker to swap engines.
I have been holding off increasing our base labor rate from $200/hr. CAD/CNC work is already $275/hr. It ain't 2013 anymore.
There is a natural progression for creating a motor-head. Bicycles first, lawn mowers, which begat home grown motor bikes. Next for me was outboard engines, some dirt bikes and finally cars. I took wood, metal and auto shop in school. My 1st college degree was in Automotive and Diesel Tech. If you want to get beyond being a parts slinger, you need a lot of hands on experience at a young age.
Experience will gathered along the way. Ohio Diesel Tech - Worth every $. I paid my loan back..... Currently there are tech jobs, mechanic jobs anywhere you wish to live. City transits are begging for techs, some can hire entire classes. One company paying $27/hr to start, $37/hrs after 1 yr, said forget experience, just an applicant for interview, I can't get a warm body to walk thru door.
Denver used to have what was the best automotive school when I was at a NY auto school. In hind sight, I should have gone out to Denver with my buddies.
Hired Wyo Tech and UTI graduates when I ran a 200 tractor 500 trailer truck fleet, had a 30 year journeyman master mechanic and myself training and evaluating.. after a year and a half, and going through 60 graduates I had a solid shop with 12 mechanics..basically the ones who wanted to be a mechanic became one, the ones who just wanted a job washed out. The tech schools taught them to be on time, tuck in their shirts and do as they were told. In the end we were putting out journey level work at a fraction of the cost, and all of the 12 still work the trade 15 years later
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