ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY

ASSOCIATE IN APPLIED SCIENCE

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

The importance of the electrical trades to our way of life cannot be argued. Today’s homes have more appliances and equipment that use electricity than ever before. Business and industry look to the electrical trades to install, maintain and repair electrical systems that include high-tech computerized and robotic equipment, as well as motors and lighting systems.

While we all benefit from these changes today, who knows what awaits over the horizon? The structures of the future, from homes and factories, to schools, hospitals and businesses will forever increase their demands, and we will turn to highly skilled electricians as we look to meet our needs for tomorrow.

And electricians will be there – just as they have met our challenge in the past, the electrical trade stands ready to face the future.

At M-TEC Kirtland-Gaylord we incorporate that same future view into the way we deliver education. M-TEC’s instructors are experienced, industry trained electrical engineers or master electricians with experience in residential, commercial and industrial applications. M-TEC electrical instructors will be there to guide you through the program, whether you pursue an associate of science transfer degree or a certificate of completion, lending their experience to your training.

AT M-TEC, THAT IS WHERE YOUR TRAINING BEGINS

Your M-TEC training begins in our unique classroom, where interactive computers and textbooks, combined with the FLEX schedule and computer administered tests, allow you to proceed with your education at a pace comfortable to you and at times which are convenient. Of course instructors are always on hand to offer assistance, guidance and advice.

Your training begins where your own skills and knowledge determine. You will learn the basics of the electrical trade starting with safety, always a major focus in the electrical industry. Learn lock-out and tag-out regulations, the safe use and responsible care of tools as well as personal safety such as workplace cleanliness and safe rigging practices. In this classroom setting, you’ll also become familiar with construction math and blueprints, necessary skills if you want to be an electrician.

Once you have a solid start with the completion of this industry specific core curriculum, you will move into M-TEC’s thoroughly modern and up-to-date electrical lab. Here all the material, tools and equipment of the electrical trade are at your disposal, giving you valuable, hands-on experience right from the very start.

And your education continues at the speed which allows you to understand or advances you as fast as you care to go. You will learn to route and fasten conduit and raceways along with the types, styles and uses of electrical boxes. You’ll get right to the heart of the electrical trade as you study and gain knowledge in electrical theory, become acquainted with testing equipment and further familiarize yourself with this fast paced, exciting career.

As you travel through the five levels of training, you’ll know you made the decision of your life. The hours you spend on your associates degree at M-TEC not only transfer to most four-year universities, they are fully accepted by the State of Michigan and count as credit toward your apprenticeship hours with the licensing board. Even as you spend time in school, you are being propelled toward a bright and satisfying future.

As you advance within the program you continue to gain valuable knowledge that will pay you back time and again. You will learn the National Electrical Code that is an electrician’s rule book; codes you’ll need to know. And you will continue to expand your skills by learning the operation and maintenance of electrical motors, contactors and relays, and electrical lighting.

There is much to learn in the exhilarating electrical trade. Load and motor calculations, breakers, switching and wiring devices, terminations and splicing—the list is long and seems overwhelming. Don’t let it be. M-TEC’s instructors have the program broken down in steps. You advance one at a time, achieving firm knowledge of each step before you continue to the next.

As you gain understanding of major electrical components, methods and procedures you will feel the excitement as your goals are being realized and your future as an electrician is becoming reality. And as your M-TEC instructors bring their everyday experience to share in your training, that future will seem all the more a reality.

The electrical trade is so large it encompasses all other industrial occupations – construction, refrigeration, heating and others. These other trades depend highly on electricians and often turn to the skills and labor of electricians to do their own jobs. At M-TEC you will learn what you need to be of service to other trades. Best of all, whether you attain an associate’s degree or a certificate, your M-TEC carpentry training will prepare you for immediate employment in the dynamic and satisfying field of carpentry.

You will acquire knowledge in fire alarm systems, stand-by electrical systems, specialty transformers, as well as heat tracing and freeze protection. And you will learn about welding machines, along with the common wiring practices and control components of heating and air-conditioning systems. All skills you will share with other trades and skills which will gain you respect.

Give M-TEC a call. We can deliver your future today.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BE AN ELECTRICIAN?

The electrical trade is a diverse, exciting field which has much to offer anyone who learns it. Vocational training programs, such as this one offered by M-TEC, are a proven method of entering the field  and getting a jump start in the occupation. To be an electrician you need to have or acquire these skills:

• A high level of awareness with constant attention to safety and attention to details.
• The desire to work in diverse settings.
• The ability to read and understand blueprints and schematics.
• Have good color vision.
• Possess a willingness to stay abreast of changes within the industry and adapt those changes to the way you work.
• Be in relatively good health and of average strength.

Growth in the industry, fueled by new technology, the upgrading and retrofitting of existing systems as well as the retirement of existing workers, should create an excellent opportunity for skilled electricians who are well trained. The electrical trade is a non-traditional job for women, but one in which they are successful.

For more information about our programs, contact the M-TEC at Kirtland-Gaylord at 989-705-3600 or email us at mtec@kirtland.edu.