CLEVELAND — Lorain County Community College student Josh Eschke has to put on proper lab wear before he can touch a microchip or its components.
“To stop any outside contaminants or any skin oils and getting on the parts in there can be detrimental to their function,” Eschke said.
He’s getting hands-on experience with semiconductors, as a student in the school’s micro-electric manufacturing program. Eschke said you need a steady hand when working with these components.
“Don’t drink coffee before doing it,” Eschke said. “That’ll really make you shaky.”
This comes as Intel has invested in a $20 billion new plant in Licking County, creating 3,000 jobs. The company has also invested $100 million in helping train a pipeline of new talent. Lorain County Community College received a grant from Intel to train students for the field.
“We’re all working together to fulfill Intel’s need for technicians in the semiconductor industry,” said Kelly Zelesnik, dean of Engineering Business and Information Technology. “Intel has a curriculum that they’ve been working with us on. So they’re helping us and guide us as to what courses they need.”
The classroom prepares Eschke for several different roles. As a microchip boom is on the horizon, Eschke is happy to hop on the ride, since his instructors say the industry is only going to grow.
“These are used in everyday chips,” Associate Professor Johnny Vanderford said. “Your processors inside your computers. The electronics inside your cellphone, all of the small bits of computational elements inside of anything with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, pretty much all household electronics as well as military electronics.”
And on top of his classwork, Josh is getting actual work. He juggles his schoolwork while also working at Rockwell Automation, for on-the-job experience. The community college partners with them and only allows students to graduate if they have on-the-job experience.
“We really engage with employers that if you can hire students on in their third semester, they’ll be ready to work for you full time in (a) year, year and a half,” LCCC Program Developer Courtney Tenover said. “Where if you wait until the time they graduate, they probably already have a job and you have less of a talent pool to pull from.”
Josh said his job has already paid off since it’s covered his tuition. New doors have been opened for him since he’s learned several new skills.
“I could go anywhere from the production of the chips, the fabrication, to the production of circuit boards and putting them into their final housing,” Josh said.
Lorain County Community College officials said that this system essentially guarantees that their students have a job offer when they graduate.