Grainswest - Tech 2022

Tech 2022 Grains West 30 To his point the mechanic world is high tech, he cites that John Deere employs more software engineers than Apple and the latest tractors employ more code than the Columbia space shuttle. Dan Daley agrees with Schmeiser. He knows the program at Olds College, where he’s the dean of the school of trades and skills, is not for students who scrape by. “Trades is not a pathway for people with C and D grades,” he said firmly. “The math, the physics, the science that has evolved in this training of new technology, you need to be that person that has those subject areas well understood. Just talking about how a CANBUS system works on a tractor, you need to know the physics of electricity and you need to know the math to figure that out.” He said the College’s certificate and diploma programs continue to see steady enrolment and students in those programs are “heavily recruited” by employers. “Most students, first- and second-year, have a job by the time they leave in April. If they want to work, they have a job.” He adds that students in the apprenticeship program are nearly all employed before and after their technical training is completed. Aside from technical ability, employers now require communication skills. Emphasis is placed on customer interaction. A 20-year-old Acme area student with a farming background, Aidan Miller is going through the diploma program at Olds College. He is mechanically inclined and said he was forced to “get good at fixing things” because, as his father Mike always said, he was inclined to break them. He plans to return to the farm once he finishes his schooling with the ultimate intent to succeed as a farmer. The biggest upside to his program is the practical application, he said. “There aren’t many other programs, hands-on 50 per cent of the time, working on equipment,” he said. “It’s pretty unique. I really enjoy it.” His favourite course so far has been overhaul class, in which he and a classmate took apart a John Deere 7250R tractor and entirely rebuilt it. For Miller, it was like being in a real shop. “It was six hours a day, it was like you were going to work,” he said. “You’re learning so much when you’re physically taking it apart.” Another part of his schooling he enjoyed, Miller made phone calls to actual dealerships, ordered parts and interacted with their staff. Dane MacDonald took his schooling and ran with it. The 35-year-old worked at a dealership for six years and now operates his own business in Elrose, SK. It’s a job where someone in his region can earn more than a teacher within three years. He admits he has done a lot of on-the-job learning in the 10 years he has owned his shop. “Nobody is a master straight off the start. The first time I really had a project of my own, I failed at it,” he said with a laugh and added his first service call in the field didn’t go so well, either. “Somebody else had to finish the job. Again, I learned a lot.” His company, 4/44 Services, takes on a wide range of work. MacDonald enjoys the variety of machines that come into his shop where he, wife Nadine, three full-time and three part-time mechanics all work together. MacDonald said when he launched his business he received many calls from potential customers excited to see an independent shop in their area. “They seemed to hit us up quite frequently,” he said. “There was more work than I had anticipated.” While he and his crew can confidently work on a wide variety of machinery, this gives area farmers confidence in their equipment purchases. “They feel more confident purchasing something they know they can have serviced regardless of make or model,” he said. MacDonald encourages young people unsure of a career path—and mechanically and technologically inclined—to consider it a viable career path. “I don’t think you are going to find a better paying job where it’s different almost every day, where you can work “There aren’t many other programs, hands-on 50 per cent of the time, working on equipment.” —AidanMiller FEATURE Are you or someone you know interested in learning more about the agriculture and heavy equipment program at Olds College? If so, go to: www.oldscollege.ca/programs/ trades-apprenticeship/ag-and-heavy- equipment-diploma Photo:CourtesyofAidanMiller