(WACO) – The companies lining Karl May Drive in Waco could be considered Aviation Row. Drivers on their way to Waco Regional Airport pass an array of aerospace businesses specializing in flight training, propeller and engine parts and charter flights.

Blackhawk Modifications Inc., which is in sight of the airport’s control tower, is a global company headquartered in Waco that designs and sells engines to modify corporate-sized turboprop aircraft as approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Some of the 38 Blackhawk employees are graduates of Texas State Technical College in Waco.

“There is a major shortage in aviation-trained personnel coming on the immediate horizon, and TSTC is doing a lot to help bridge that gap,” said Jim Allmon, Blackhawk’s president and chief executive officer. “Boeing predicts that by 2020 there will be a deficit of 20,000 pilots and 30,000 mechanics in the aviation industry. Therefore, it is crucial that TSTC continues to produce graduates who are highly trained in the aviation field. Central Texas is growing tremendously, and we are going to need the talent that TSTC graduates provide.”

Some of the work the company is taking on now includes an engine upgrade for the King Air 350 and providing work for special missions for militaries throughout the world with lightweight interiors to reduce aircraft weight, fuel lockers and engine upgrades for selected aircraft.

Donna Crisman, 52, of Waco has been at Blackhawk for nine years and is the FAA certification and documentation manager. She compiles project revisions using FAA specifications.

Crisman graduated from TSTC in 1995 with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Computer Networking and Systems Administration. She credits the technical college with teaching her the foundation to function comfortably with computers and the Microsoft system she uses at the company.

“I was a newly single mother when I looked at TSTC,” Crisman said. “TSTC had much more resources – child care, the women’s resource center and good housing.”

Michael Moore, 59, of Waco has been at Blackhawk for 11 years and is an engineering and customer service manager. He grew up in Marlin and has a tie to the land TSTC is on – his mother met his stepfather there when the property was Connally Air Force Base.

Moore was a jet engine technician when he was in the U.S. Air Force, which developed his troubleshooting skills. He went on to graduate in 1984 from TSTC with an associate degree in Aircraft Airframe Technology.

“The program was really good and gave me a good basis for my whole career,” Moore said.

He said he liked Blackhawk’s small and efficient size.

“I would not fit in with a large company,” Moore said. “Everyone knows everybody and we all get along.”

Garrett Stephan, 35, of Waco is an engineering project manager who has worked at Blackhawk for five years. He said flexibility was key to seeing work orders filled. He graduated in 2001 with an Aircraft Airframe Technology certificate.

“We have so many different products we are always working on. If we are not developing new products, we are updating legacy products,” Stephan said. “We study product improvement and customer issues.”

Brendan Krenek, 55, is an electrical and avionics specialist at Blackhawk who earned TSTC associate degrees in Laser Electro-Optics Technology in 1982, Aircraft Airframe Technology in 2005 and Avionics Technology in 2007. He said his studies with lasers helped him as he worked on his avionics technology degree.

“TSTC is more of a direct path to a job,” said Krenek, a Fayetteville native and Waco resident. “You don’t have to spend four years getting a bachelor’s degree to graduate with a marketable skill.”

Blackhawk was founded in 1999 and has performed more than 700 engine updates.

“A lot of new modifications and new products come out of Waco, and you don’t see that as much in other areas,” Allmon said. “The Waco aviation industry is greatly supported by the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and city leaders.”

Blackhawk has partnered with TSTC in the past. The company has provided scholarships to TSTC students through the Freedom Ball which Allmon and his wife, Lynnette Allmon, Blackhawk’s vice president, started hosting in 2011.

“The cost of living in Waco is low, which is a great advantage to a small company like Blackhawk,” Jim Allmon said.

For more information on Blackhawk Modifications Inc., go to Blackhawk.aero.

For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – The Auto Collision and Management Technology program at Texas State Technical College in Waco celebrated Friday its selection as a 2015 Ultimate Collision Education Makeover school.

The program received a $50,000 Dallas Makeover Grant, which is part of the initiative and awarded by the Collision Repair Education Foundation.

“We saw the instructors’ commitment to the students,” said Stacy Bartnik, chairman of the Collision Repair Education Foundation. “They want to make sure the students were entry-level ready and have a passion for the industry.”

Faculty members bought paint guns, sockets, red storage carts, paintless dent repair tools, bumper stands, an induction heater and other items.

“Obviously we have the right stuff to train a student to be a technician going into the auto repair field,” said Kevon Kleibrink, a program instructor. “Without the support of industry partners saying good things about our students and actually hiring our students, we would not exist.”

Students have begun working with four welding machines purchased through the grant that can do four different types of welding: TIG, MIG, stick and aluminum.

Geoffrey Whitlock, 25, an Auto Collision and Management Technology Refinishing Specialization major from Waco, said having the new machines will broaden his and other students’ range of knowledge.

“It’s helped out a lot,” the La Vega High School graduate said. “Before, we had just one aluminum welder. Now, we have several welding machines, including the old one. Learning with these will help when we get out in the industry. We will be better prepared for that.”

David Noyola, 20, of Killeen is working toward an Associate of Applied Science degree in Auto Collision and Management Technology Repair Specialization. He said it took a few days to learn how the welding machines function.

“I’ve always been into cars, more of the body side, making it look good and fixing it back to its normal shape,” said Noyola, a 2014 Shoemaker High School graduate.

For more information about the Auto Collision and Management Technology program, log on to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Russa Bolton has 285 reasons to be happy about her career future.

Bolton, 43, a Computer Networking and Systems Administration major at Texas State Technical College in Waco, recently received a $285 grant to take a network certification test next year.

“I am having to establish a standard now – how many females will come after me?” Bolton said. “The standard is pretty high now.”

The nonprofit Our Digital Heroes Foundation in Austin was created last year to highlight the need for veterans to pursue certifications in technical areas. The organization’s primary projects include matching disabled veterans to technical security work using and robots, besides administering continuing education grants.

“We figured a place to start would be to help people with technology exams,” said Robert Wagner, chairman of the board for Our Digital Heroes. “Russa was our first grantee.”

TSTC Veterans Program Administrator Rachel Mims said she heard about the program from a TSTC recruiter at another campus. She called the organization and learned more about the grant program.

“Russa is a great student and we are happy to have her,” Mims said. “She is always so cheerful and positive. I’m very glad we were able to connect her with Our Digital Heroes to help her with testing fees connected to her future career.”

Bolton wants to pursue a career in telecommunications after graduation.

“I’ve always been tech savvy,” she said. “I want to enhance my talent and get skills that work anywhere in the world.”

Bolton is originally from Swakopmund, Namibia, in southwest Africa.

“When you grow up in a desert, you have a freedom of space,” she said. “We aren’t that populated.”

She has a legal studies degree earned in South Africa and a criminal justice graduate degree from American Military University in West Virginia. Bolton has also lived in Germany and Great Britain.

Bolton came to the United States at 33 and served for six years in the U.S. Army as a combat medic. She was posted at Fort Hood, among other military installations, and served a tour of duty in Iraq.

Bolton said she liked how TSTC was supportive to non-traditional students like herself.

“I don’t think one institution can have so many special people,” she said.

For more information on TSTC Veteran Services and the Computer Networking and Systems Administration program, log on to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Texas State Technical College in Waco’s Welding Technology program recently received a Kuka welding robot valued at $150,000.

The gift was made by ARC Specialties in northwest Houston, a company that designs and builds automated machinery for welding, pipeline manufacturing and the oil and gas industries.

“It’s important that the students get access to the newer technology,” said Jim Walker, a welding technologist and certified welding inspector at ARC Specialties. “It doesn’t do any good if they don’t ever touch the equipment and have to learn about it once in the industry.”

Mark Watson, a TSTC Welding Technology instructor, said the robot will give students a way to learn technology they may encounter in the industry. He said a robot like the one from the company can be used in the automotive industry on assembly lines.

“I want them to be able to operate it,” Watson said. “You also have to learn how to program and repair it.”

Robots typically perform about 10 percent of tasks across the manufacturing spectrum, but this is expected to increase to 25 percent worldwide by 2025, according to the Boston Consulting Group, a private global management consulting firm specializing in business strategy.

“It’s taking over the skill level of your welders,” Watson said. “Nowadays, it’s hard to find the skilled welders. Students need to be on the global playing field with technology.”

Watson’s welding students are excited to start learning about the machine.

Rhett Fuller, 20, of Cedar Park and a 2014 graduate of Cedar Park High School, said the robot combined his interests in welding and computers. He said the donation made him glad he chose TSTC to study welding.

“A lot of the things Mark is doing is for the students,” Fuller said. “He wants to teach a new generation of welders.”

Taylor Otte, 20, of Lexington and a 2014 graduate of Lexington High School, is studying for an advanced pipe welding certificate. He said he enjoys learning how robotics and his knack for mathematics fit into the welding field.

“My aunt is the high school principal in Lexington and she told me about a tour of TSTC when I was a student,” Otte said. “I learned about other programs and took an instrumentation class here. It made me want to be in the field doing work. I want to do underwater welding.”

Walker, along with Dan Allford, the company’s owner, and Randy Ellington, project manager and process specialist, all have associate degrees in welding technology from TSTC in Waco.

“We all enjoyed going through the program at TSTC,” Walker said. “We are still involved in welding and deal with welding on a daily basis. It’s been something all three of us have loved to do.”

ARC Specialties is also represented in the Welding Technology program’s Advisory Board.

Watson envisions securing more technology through partnerships with other companies in the future so students can be more competitive for jobs.

“Good things are going to come to us in the future,” Watson said.

For more information on the Welding Technology program, log on to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – An Oklahoma City-based company has found a hiring pipeline for Diesel Equipment Technology majors at Texas State Technical College in Waco.

Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. has hired 10 graduates so far this year. The alumni are all full-time service technicians at the company, specializing in sales, repairs and rentals of bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators, boom trucks, loaders and other heavy machinery.

The company has about 400 employees at its locations in Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Worth, Lubbock and Odessa, as well as Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis and Kansas City, Kansas.

Ben Sitton, a technical trainer for Kirby-Smith, said TSTC in Waco’s location is strategic for filling its needs at its Texas branches. Most of the graduates work in Dallas.

“Everything is going computer-based and it is hard to find people who want to get dirty and build things,” said Sitton. “We have a lot of guys retiring in the future, so we will constantly add trainees. We want to give them some of the knowledge of the more experienced workers before they retire.”

TSTC’s graduate hires are in a two-year, on-the-job training program implemented earlier this year by Kirby-Smith that places them with experienced technicians to learn the working culture.

Victor Membreno, 20, of Brenham and an August 2016 graduate of TSTC, learned about Kirby-Smith through friends.

“You have people who have done this for 25 years,” Membreno said. “They see you as the next generation. They want to give you their knowledge.”

Some of the skills the graduates are learning include fire, water and air analysis; hydrology and failure analysis. The end result will be experienced workers certified as Komatsu technicians with a knowledge of how Kirby-Smith handles its service to customers.

“We can mold them into what we want,” Sitton said.

The company teaches safety around the machinery. Ty McCarver, 21, of White Settlement and a spring TSTC graduate, said the family-like atmosphere is also emphasized. His career goal is to get repair experience and later move into management.

“I told them when I was interviewing that I was willing to work,” McCarver said. “I did work on my grandfather’s older cars growing up.”

Rick Adam, 35, of Granbury and a spring TSTC graduate, said his job at Kirby-Smith is the best he has ever had.

Adam said the key to being successful at the company, and any job, is to listen.

“If you are willing to work and have an open mind and be willing to learn, those are the best things,” he said. “We want co-workers who are willing to take a step back and think.”

The alumni are grateful for what they learned in TSTC’s Diesel Equipment Technology program.

“At DET, they taught us the basics,” said Rodrigo Gutierrez, 21, of Ennis and a spring 2016 TSTC graduate. “Knowing your basics is important. We can grow from there.”

Gutierrez said working with engines came naturally to him because he did repairs on his father’s two tractor-trailers while growing up.

“I went to school for this, so I knew what I was getting into,” Gutierrez said as he stood beside an excavator in the searing heat on a recent afternoon.

Ciro Suaste, 21, of Italy, Texas said TSTC’s Career Services staff were helpful in him finding a job. The summer graduate said he enjoys the flow of work and the tools, particularly the sockets, he uses daily.

Sitton said the company anticipates hiring more TSTC graduates later this year.

“We like to find students with good grades who are willing to learn and have a good knowledge of hand tools and the basics going through school,” Sitton said.

(WACO) – The Gene Haas Foundation, headquartered in Oxnard, California, has awarded a $25,000 gift to the Precision Machining Technology program at Texas State Technical College in Waco. The announcement was made in front of students and faculty members Wednesday morning at the Industrial Technology Center. The money will be used for program scholarships and to supply copies of “Machinery’s Handbook” for students. The Precision Machining Technology program is accredited by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills Inc. Pictured are (left to right) Matt Sykora, territory manager for Haas Factory Outlet in Richardson, and Joe Rodriguez, TSTC’s statewide division director of production manufacturing.

(WACO) – A way to prosperity means education, whether it is students sitting in a classroom or working adults learning how to make Waco a better place in which to live.

The public-privately funded Prosper Waco held its second Summit on Monday at the Waco Convention Center, bringing together more than 500 city leaders, educators, social service organization representatives and others interested in advancing the city in education, financial security and health.

Texas State Technical College in Waco is a partner in Prosper Waco’s Project Link, a grant-funded initiative aimed at creating a college-going culture by connecting selected high school students at La Vega, Waco and University high schools to higher education and the workforce. McLennan Community College and the Waco and La Vega school districts are also Project Link partners.

“TSTC and MCC have just made it easy for the students to see what is available to them,” said Cindy Michaelis, executive director of the La Vega Pirates Education Foundation.

Cory Gropp is a new Project Link liaison at Waco High School. He has 250 students in grades nine to 12, with 60 of them being seniors. He said 30 of the seniors have applied to TSTC.

“Some of the students are interested in the Biomedical Equipment Technology program and other technologies with associate degrees,” Gropp said. “Some of the students didn’t know there were certificate options.”

He said Project Link is a way to help heighten awareness of getting a higher education in Waco.

“I’m a firm believer that students should have tons of options to go to college,” Gropp said.

TSTC’s partnership with Prosper Waco could grow.

Prosper Waco Executive Director Matthew Polk said board members for the Waco Independent School District will consider this fall expanding its Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy, or GWAMA, to include construction fields.

Polk said the idea is for city high school students in the academy to shadow local builders to learn about their skills.

“It will get students on the road to creating a natural pathway to a career,” he said.

Polk hopes academy students decide to pursue further education in the construction fields they are interested in. TSTC offers certificates and associate degrees in Building Construction Technology, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology and other building-related fields.

Attendees were divided into three rooms at the gathering and talked about their ideas for improving Waco. Some of the ideas included local businesses helping employees with college tuition, mobile health clinics, more accessible public transportation, career shadowing, interview coaching and workplace childcare.

“TSTC does supply a number of our trained workforce,” Waco Mayor Kyle Deaver said. “We need to do a better job of letting TSTC know our workforce needs. We are extremely fortunate to have TSTC in Waco. We are hoping to add more technology jobs and we hope TSTC in Waco can help with that.”

Prosper Waco held its first Summit in early 2015 and hopes to make the gathering a yearly fall event.

For more information on Prosper Waco, log on to prosperwaco.org.

For more information on TSTC, visit to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Jake Harding wants to make clear that air traffic controllers are not the on-the-ground signalers waving fluorescent sticks and guiding planes to parking gates.

Harding, 19, of Houston and a 2015 graduate of Hargrave High School in Huffman, said air traffic control is an aerial adrenaline rush which brings order to landings and takeoffs, no matter the weather conditions. He is currently in his fourth semester at Texas State Technical College in Waco pursuing an Associate of Applied Science degree in Air Traffic Control. His goal is to work in air traffic control in Colorado.

TSTC in Waco is one of two higher education institutions in Texas that are Federal Aviation Administration-approved Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative Schools.

“I wanted to experience university life, but I am glad I chose TSTC,” Harding said.

The technical college’s Air Traffic Control program has experienced growth over the last couple of years. There were 20 students that started in Fall Semester 2014, with 15 of those students graduating earlier this year. More than 30 students began Fall Semester classes in 2015, with 25 of those students on schedule to graduate next year. The Fall Semester 2016 has 44 students.

The more than 60 students in the department’s two cohorts this year are mostly from the Austin, Dallas and Houston areas.

Dar Klontz, Air Traffic Control program chair, said prospective students are already applying for Fall Semester 2017. He anticipates the program capping cohorts at 48 students for the next couple of years due to equipment and laboratory space. Klontz said he wants program applicants to have good geography, geometry and communication skills.

“We have the ability to sell the program once they are here,” he said. “We invite students to take a look at what we have.”

More than half the program’s coursework is done in hands-on laboratory simulations. One of the first classes that new students take is Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control. Other courses are offered in meteorology, terminal operations and air navigation.

“We are one of the few programs in the country that teaches with a fictitious airport,” Klontz said.

That imaginary airport, Academy Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is depicted on a multiscreen air traffic simulator on the second floor of the Col. James T. Connally Aerospace Center.

Cole Barbe, 21, grew up in Houston and graduated in 2013 from Cypress Creek High School. He graduated in May with an associate degree in air traffic control from TSTC and was hired shortly after graduation to operate the simulator. His dream is to work at airports either in Houston or Colorado.

“I saw the simulator and I was sold,” Barbe recalled of when he was a first-semester student.

Barbe said he hopes his work with the simulator will make him a good candidate for the FAA Academy, whose students must pass rigorous testing to become air traffic controllers. FAA applicants under 31 must have U.S. citizenship, pass medical and security investigations and achieve agency pre-employment tests.

“You have to bring your A-game every day,” Barbe said.

The work is done by at least 14,000 FAA air traffic controllers working in control towers at airports throughout the nation.

Texas has the second highest employment of air traffic controllers in the nation with about 2,000 workers, with Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport alone having at least 550 air traffic controllers in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many air traffic controller hirings through 2024 are expected to replace retirees, according to the labor statistics bureau.

A TSTC student hoping to fill the anticipated hiring need is Kali Cole, 21, of Carrollton and a 2013 graduate of Hebron High School in Carrollton. She is scheduled to graduate with an associate degree in air traffic control next spring.

Cole is a student worker and works alongside Barbe to guide students in the early stages of the program.

“The program gives you a leg up to be well ahead of the curve,” Cole said.

Cole had some familiarity with the field when she entered the program because her father is an air traffic controller in Fort Worth, but it was not her first career choice. She had also considered marketing and business administration.

“I promised my father it would be my plan B,” Cole said.

She searched online and came across TSTC’s program. She applied and was accepted but did not see what the program offered until she walked into the Connally Aerospace Center.

“It’s fun and doesn’t feel like school,” she said.

For more information on the Air Traffic Control program at TSTC, log on to tstc.edu.

(WACO) – Chef Mark Schneider is at a sizzling time in his career.

Schneider, chair of the Culinary Arts department at Texas State Technical College in Waco, was recently named Chef Educator of the Year by the Texas Chefs Association.

“It’s a huge honor,” he said. “I’ve been in education for 13 years and 12 of those have been at TSTC in Waco. I have watched and followed past competitors and what they do.”

Schneider will advance to the American Culinary Federation’s Central Region competition. The region is made up of states from Texas to North Dakota to Michigan. The winner goes on to national Chef Educator of the Year contest conducted by the American Culinary Federation.

Schneider’s draw to cooking is seeing the instant gratification for guests when they see a plate of food that looks too good to eat. He specializes in classical-based cuisine and feels he can satisfy the palate of any guest.

Schneider also enjoys watching the flourishing of students, from those who learn the basics of cutting vegetables to those planning menus and leading kitchens.

“I like the artistry and physical work with cooking,” he said.

Schneider is a 1989 graduate of Midway High School in Woodway.

He received a culinary diploma from the Greater Cincinnati Culinary Academy in 1993 and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Food Service and Culinary Arts from TSTC in Waco in 2001. He received a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree in Business from Tarleton State University in Stephenville in 2009.

Schneider began work at TSTC in 2002. He became a certified executive chef in 2002 and a certified culinary educator in 2008, both granted by the American Culinary Federation.

“Chef Schneider has worked diligently throughout his career to stretch the boundaries of culinary education,” Chef Gayle Van Sant of TSTC’s Culinary Arts department said. “Mentoring students and staff, development curriculum and encouraging all those around him are three of Chef Schneider’s strongest attributes. TSTC is fortunate to have such a distinguished and accomplished culinary professional.”

Schneider was named Chef of the Year by the Texas Chefs Association in 2008.

To learn more about the Culinary Arts program at TSTC in Waco, log on to tstc.edu.