Hinds Community College Blog

The Machine Tool Technology program on the Raymond Campus, along with the program instructor, Mr. Norman Trimble are excited to announce that William Tolbert placed 1^st in the state of Mississippi in the Precision Machining competition which was held recently in the Jackson metro area. This qualifies him to compete in the SkillsUSA National Championship which will be held this summer in Kansas City, Missouri. This contest brings together gold-medal winners from separate competitions at secondary and post-secondary levels across the United States. It is a multimillion-dollar event that occupies a space equivalent to 16 football fields.

Will has used these skills to gain employment at Milwaukee Tool while continuing his education. An interesting side note is that Will also placed 1st in the state in Precision Machining while a high school student at Forest High School located in Forest, Mississippi. 

In addition to Will the following students enrolled in post-secondary and secondary CTE programs in the Hinds district also placed.

Post-Secondary Winners

• William Tolbert - 1st Place Precision Machining, Hinds CC Raymond Campus

• Kolby Redmond - 2nd Place Masonry, Hinds CC Utica Campus

Secondary Winners

• Josh Manning - 3rd Place Job Interview, Pearl Rankin Career Center                     

• Kody Britt - 3rd  Place Precision Machining, Hinds Community Career Center Vicksburg 

• Frankie Greer - 2nd Place Cabinet Making, Hinds Community Career Center Vicksburg              

SkillsUSA–Mississippi is an organization serving high school and college and professional members who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations, including health occupations. It is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives; working together to ensure America has a skilled work force. In Mississippi more than 2,300 students and instructors join annually with 300,000 students and instructors joining SkillsUSA annually at the national level. 

Automotive Machinist Technology…..Career training, credentials—and a paycheck in your pocket!

I was thinking…..what do you want to be when you grow up?  What about a career as an automotive machinist? Let’s take a moment of your time to explore this option and see if it might be a “good fit” for your skills and career goals. The automotive machinist would be hired to order to build, maintain, repair or rebuild engines. They have been trained to know how engines operate, diagnose problems, and make repairs. The job of the automotive machinist can vary somewhat depending on the type of engine, but generally, he or she will have all the skills and knowledge necessary to address any issues an engine might have. Occasionally, the automotive machinist may be responsible for creating new parts for an engine requiring the machinist to use computer numeric controlled machines. The machinist must be capable of working on both gasoline-powered and diesel-powered engines.

Employment Potential
Typical jobs filled by students who have completed the Automotive Machinist program include working for local automotive machine shops doing cylinder block work, cylinder head work, and tear down/inspection/assembly of automobile engines. Approximate salary range for beginning entry level employees would be around $12 per hour.

Possess these qualities….this might be the career for you! 

Analytical skills. They must understand highly technical electronic and written blueprints, models, and specifications, so they can craft precision tools and metal parts. 

Manual dexterity. The work of automotive machinists must be highly accurate machining parts to an accuracy of .0001 inch which requires workers’ precision, concentration, and dexterity.

Mechanical skills. Machinists must be mechanically inclined.

Physical stamina. The ability to endure long periods of standing and performing repetitious movements is important for machinists.

Technical skills. Machinists must understand computerized measuring machine.

For program information, contact Thomas McBrain at 601-857-3439 or TMcBrain@hindscc.edu or visit the Automotive Machinist Technology website. 

The Business and Marketing Management Technology students on the Raymond Campus of Hinds Community College recently were invited to tour the headquarters of Puckett Machinery. The Caterpillar heavy-machinery dealer recently opened a 150,000-square-foot, $30 million facility, with approximately 200 employees in Flowood, Mississippi. Puckett Machinery has 5 additional dealerships located in Mississippi.                                            

Kennon Ferguson, Puckett Machinery sales manager and husband of Barbie Ferguson (Raymond campus Business and Marketing adjunct faculty), personally guided students on a tour that included the Marketing, Information Technology, Sales and Parts divisions of the company.

Mr. Ferguson emphasized the importance of the vision, mission and values of the company to the students by relaying to them that their purpose was to remind them of why they were there, where they wanted the company to go and how they wanted to get there. The core values at Puckett are integrity, excellence, teamwork and commitment. 

DESIGN YOUR FUTURE: EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITIES!

I was thinking…..what do you want to be when you grow up? What about a career in architectural engineering? Let’s take a moment of your time to explore this option that is available to you in the Drafting and Design Technology cluster programs and see if it might be a “good fit” for your skills and career goals. Architectural CAD technicians are drafters who use computer-aided design (CAD) systems to prepare detailed drawings of residential and commercial buildings that are used by those responsible for its construction. They work closely with an architect to ensure that the drawings accurately reflect what the architect envisioned. An architectural CAD technican may draw plans for the foundations of structures as well as lay out the interior rooms of buildings. They are expected to study building codes, site requirements and other documentation to determine any impact on building plans. Visits to building sites to collect data and monitor compliance with design requirements may also be part of the job. Every day, architectural CAD technicians are expected to be able to visualize how things come together and can be organized. They need to think through problems and come up with general rules. It is also important that they see details at a very fine level of focus. And finally, they sometimes have to ready cost estimates, contracts, bidding documents and technical summaries for specific projects under an architect's supervision

Where do Architectural CAD Technicians Work?

Architectural CAD technicians, otherwise known as drafters, are usually employed by architectural firms and construction companies. Architectural CAD technicians often have a specialty in a specific field, much as engineers do. They may specialize in commercial HVAC, plumbing or electrical divisions of construction companies as well as by materials used such as steel, wood or reinforced concrete. Their work is mainly done on the computer using industry standard software such as AutoCAD, Architectural Desktop and REVIT to name a few. Successful architectural CAD technicians have a solid understanding of mathematics and science.

What are some of the day to day duties in this field?

• Design commercial and residential plans using computer aided design software

• Work from rough drafts created by architects to produce detailed drawings

• Use their knowledge of building materials and techniques to add details to architectural plans

• Pay attention to scale

• Proof drawings

• Prepare multiple versions of design plans for architects to review

• Work under the supervision of architects

Possess these qualities - this might be the career for you!

• Critical thinking skills. Architectural CAD technicians must be able to identify and solve problems as they relate to architectural design.

• Detail oriented. Architectural CAD technicians have to pay careful attention to detail to ensure the plans area technically accurate.

• Interpersonal skills. Architectural CAD technicians must be able to take constructive criticism from architects, engineers and clients as well as articulate their concerns about a project.

• Math skills. Working with detailed commercial and residential plans require the architectural CAD technician to solve mathematical calculations involving angles, weights and costs to name a few. 

• Technical skills. Architectural CAD technicians must be proficient in the most up to date computer software such as REVIT, REVIT BIM (building information modeling) and PDM (product data management)

• Time management skills. Architectural CAD technicians must be able to work efficiently under strict deadlines

HCC BECOMES AUTOCAD TESTING CENTER

REVIT IMPLEMENTED IN COURSEWORK

STUDENTS FEATURED IN GOOGLE 3D WAREHOUSE WITH BLUE RIBBON STATUS

The Drafting and Design Department on the Raymond Campus of Hinds Community College has undertaken an ongoing student project to develop the campus in 3D. Stu-dents enrolled in advanced classes have been creating photorealistic 3D models using Google Sketchup (a popular 3D modeling tool) and submitting them one by one to Google’s 3D Warehouse.

Graduates, Bobby Shields and Jameson Parker sub-mitted 3D models of Fountain Hall, Riggs-Virden Hall and Allen-Dukes-Whitaker Hall. All three buildings were accepted to Google Earth with Fountain and Riggs-Virden being awarded Blue Ribbon Status. A link to Hinds Community College Drafting and Design page in Google Earth may be found on the Departments page of the program.  In addition the Drafting and Design Department on the Raymond Campus has partnered with Certiport to provide Autodesk certification exams in their class-room and certify student design software skills. AutoCAD Certified User certification validates students have acquired the necessary skills to continue their design careers.  Currently they have over an 80 percent passage rate for students who have taken advantage of this opportunity.  For more information concerning this program contact Phil Cockrell at 601.857.3422 (pcockrell@hindscc.edu) or Cindy West at 601.857.3486 (ciswest@hindscc.edu)  

In my former career I got to frequently hear former Gov. William Winter, who is still going strong in his 90s, and Jim Barksdale, chairman of the board and president of Barksdale Management Corp. who created the Barksdale Reading Institute out of his own funds. Both talked about public education and their aspirations to make it better.

I got to see both of these guys again at the Feb. 19 HEADWAE luncheon honoring a student and faculty member from each of the public and private colleges in Mississippi. Barksdale is serving as HEADWAE chairman and Winter was the keynote speaker.

Hearing Winter speak always makes me want to stand up and shout, “AMEN.” I restrained myself, however, because I didn’t want to get myself ousted from the meeting.  But it was tempting. Quoting Winter’s words on paper can never adequately capture the passion from the former governor who was the force behind the creation of kindergarten and compulsory attendance in our state.

Winter talked about two basic functions of higher education: Instilling in individual students the understanding of their serving as responsible and compassionate citizens; and building civic relationships that make for strong communities.

“Colleges should create experiences to develop civic responsibility. Higher education is the vehicle for the next generation to learn more about civic responsibility,” he said. “We must learn to live together and be united by shared values. Nowhere in our society can these lessons be learned better than on college campuses.”

Winter also talked about the state of race relations in our state as well as the the polarization of the political parties that is partly based on religion.

“There should always be room for honest dissent and reasonable compromise,” he said.

Honoring our student Caleb Upton of Natchez and faculty member Jane Flowers of Vicksburg made the HEADWAE event worthwhile. Seeing the two other respected education leaders again just capped it off.