(WACO, Texas) – Edward Sanchez, of Hubbard, is proud to be a third-generation welder.

“I come in and do the best I can do every day,” he said.

Sanchez graduated this month with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Welding Technology at Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus. He is also the fall semester’s Mike Torres Jr. Leadership Award recipient.

“It’s awesome with me being the first in my family to graduate from college and being an older, nontraditional student,” he said. “It’s a humbling feeling.”

Sanchez previously attended TSTC in 2000 to study Occupational Safety Compliance Technology, but did not finish the program.

He returned to TSTC in 2018 to pursue Welding Technology because he wanted to sharpen his skills, learn proper terminology and know how to break down materials. He completed a structural welding certificate in December 2019.

“It was nerve-wracking at first,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez cited Carl Wilmeth, an instructor in TSTC’s Welding Technology program, as an influence for his work. Wilmeth taught him in the first-semester class, Introduction to Blueprint Reading for Welders.

“He is known to be a man of integrity,” Wilmeth said.

Sanchez’s desire is to be a good example for his five sons, ages six to 19.

“I would like to see them get into a trade,” he said.

Sanchez grew up in South Waco riding bicycles with his friends, wading into creeks and playing video games at Safeway. 

“We didn’t know what it was like sitting home playing Xbox,” he said.

Sanchez graduated from the “old” University High School when it was located on Valley Mills Drive.

He worked for eight years at Caterpillar in Waco before the plant shut down in 2017. He was a jack-of-all-trades, working where needed at the facility. The closure led to Sanchez’s going back to college. 

The Mike Torres Jr. Leadership Award is given to honor the memory of Waco native Mike Torres Jr., who taught in TSTC’s Digital Media and Design program until his death in 2005. Torres graduated from Bishop Louis Reicher Catholic High School and TSTC’s Commercial Art Advertising and Integrated Digital Image program, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

The award signifies qualities that Torres was known for: courage, honesty and integrity. The award is given each semester at commencement to a candidate for graduation who is nominated by TSTC faculty and staff members. It was first given in fall 2011, according to TSTC archival information.

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu. 

(WACO, Texas) – The Tesla START training program at Texas State Technical College held a recognition ceremony earlier this fall for its second cohort of graduates.

The TSTC students began the 12-week training program in August to learn the skills necessary to become advanced electric vehicle technicians at Tesla. As a Tesla-paid hourly internship, the students developed technical expertise and earned certifications through a blended approach of in-class theory, hands-on labs and self-paced learning. 

All students who successfully complete the nationwide program are eligible to work at a Tesla Service Center in the United States. 

The program’s classes are held at the Kultgen Automotive Center on the Waco campus. 

“We are excited and proud of the second graduating class from the Tesla START program in Waco,” said Adam Barber, TSTC’s interim executive director of Workforce Training in Waco. “A couple of students are previous TSTC graduates, so that’s especially cool. We look forward to the next class and continued partnership with Tesla.”

Graduates from the program’s second cohort are Matthew Abel of Waco, Corey Broussard of Virginia, Alexander Burkman of Frisco, Jonathan Butler of McGregor, James Dawe of Grand Junction, Colorado; Eder Estrada of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Pablo Hernandez of Fort Worth and Mohannad Naffaa of Waco. 

“These guys worked very hard, and they all got placed in good locations,” said Mark Tosto, a Tesla START program instructor. 

Waco’s second cohort started work at their assigned service centers in November. Butler is working at Air Impressions in Waco as an aircraft mechanic. 

Dawe split time growing up between Great Britain and Colorado and had an early interest in the environment and renewable energy. He learned about the Tesla program from YouTube. 

Some of Dawe’s favorite times in the program were shadowing workers on Fridays at Tesla’s service center in Dallas, and he and Abel working five days in Alabama in September during a company battery-charging project. Dawe said they helped charge batteries on hundreds of Tesla vehicles ready to be shipped to stores nationwide. Dawe and Abel also traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to deliver batteries.

“It was awesome to be thrown in the fire,” Dawe said.

Dawe began working in early November at Tesla’s service center in Littleton, Colorado.

Naffaa was born in Lebanon and came to Texas in 2014. He enrolled in 2018 at TSTC’s Waco campus to study Automotive Technology. He graduated with the program’s associate degree earlier this year.

Naffaa said his time at TSTC combines his passion for cars and his family’s interest in his study of engineering. 

“I learned a lot here,” he said. “I learned how the car works and about the functional parts. I also learned about the suspensions.”

Naffaa started work in early November at Tesla’s service center in Marietta, Georgia.

“I’m super excited,” he said. “It’s a big step.”

There are currently seven other Tesla START partnerships with colleges in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington. The program launched in 2018 and has had more than 300 graduates to date.

The program’s 2021 cohorts in Waco are full, but interviews for 2022 cohorts are scheduled to be held later this year, Tosto said.

For more information on Tesla START, go to tesla.com/careers/tesla-start. 

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu. 

(WACO, Texas) – As the old saying goes, “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” 

That can also include solar farms.

Invenergy, a worldwide private sustainable energy company, plans to build what it claims will be the largest solar farm in the United States. The 1,310-megawatt Samson Solar Energy Center facility will be located in Northeast Texas and be fully operational in 2023. The facility is projected to produce energy for 300,000 homes, according to company information.

“Right now, solar is booming,” said Hugh Whitted, chair of Texas State Technical College’s Solar Energy and Electrical Construction department. “It has rebounded from the tariffs that were put into place a few years back. We have a lot of systems going in and the people that need the work done.”

The Samson Solar Energy Center project is expected to generate 600 construction jobs and 12 permanent jobs upon completion, according to information from Invenergy.

Texas’ solar industry employs more than 13,000 workers, according to the Texas Solar Power Association.

Jobs for solar photovoltaic installers is projected to grow to more than 18,000 up to 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The growth is attributed to an increased demand for usage and upkeep, and state and local governments offering incentives.

“I am getting emails usually at least a couple of times a month from solar and electrical contractors all over the place, most of them in and around the Metroplex or Austin to San Antonio,” said Whitted, who is based at TSTC’s Waco campus.

Holtek Fireplace and Solar in Waco began doing local solar work in 1999, said Holt Kelly, the company’s owner. The company does designs and sales, while an electrical contractor performs installations.

“Here in this market, it is spotty,” Kelly said. “We are a small company. I am picking and choosing.”

Kelly said businesses in the Waco area are not yet quite in tune with installing solar panels. But, he said homeowners have been using solar panels for years.

“Solar farms are great, but in my opinion solar is best used most efficiently at the point of use of power, the buildings where the energy is being used,” Kelly said.

Training for solar work means going into a career in the electrical field. TSTC’s students can pursue a “Triple Crown” consisting of an Energy Efficiency Specialist certificate, an Electrical Construction certificate and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Solar Energy Technology.

“It (solar) is not an industry that is going to shrink, realistically,” Whitted said. “People are not going to stop putting in solar unless there is something better out there.”

Whitted said skills in basic mathematics and communication are needed for the solar field. It also helps not to be afraid of heights.

Kelly said people interested in the solar field should strive to become an electrical apprentice and journeyman.

“If you want to do that, you are in the construction business because that is a big part of installing the arrays,” he said. “If you do not want to be the boots on the roof, then learn how to design these things and learn as much engineering as you can.”

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu. 

(WACO, Texas) – Texas State Technical College Biomedical Equipment Technology instructor Garrett Seeley recently made two presentations at a nationwide conference for biomedical and health technology managers.

Seeley gave talks on managing cyberattacks and an introduction to digital imaging and communications in medicine at the MD Expo in Tampa, Florida. He said the topics have relevance now because of recent security threats affecting medical facilities in Abilene and Houston.

“Adaptability is what is going to make a biomed succeed,” Seeley said. “We are going to have to be innovative.”

Seeley said there are several reasons for cybersecurity attacks, including to create chaos, to make money or to seek revenge.

A challenge in combating cybersecurity breaches is the way medical equipment manufacturers, information technology staff at hospitals, consultants and in-house biomedical equipment technicians communicate. He said biomedical equipment technicians should see hospital staff as business partners.

“It involves honest conversations about things we are doing right and wrong,” Seeley said.

He said rural hospitals have the hardest time with cyber safety. He said sharing resources with other facilities could help with the problem.

Seeley began preparing for the conference in July by doing industry research. 

“We (TSTC) are an education facility,” he said. “Our hands-on work with cybersecurity is theoretical. We do not get to experience it day in and day out.”

Seeley has presented at the conference six of the last seven years. He enjoys attending because of the interaction he has with other professionals.

“With Garrett’s presentations at these conferences, it allows him to gauge the need for the type of courses that we present to our students,” said Mark Plough, TSTC’s statewide lead in the Biomedical Equipment Technology department. “It also lets others in the biomedical education field see what we are presenting and engages them to what is needed to be presented to students to prepare them for entry-level positions in the field.”

Seeley has taught at TSTC since 2008.. He has degrees from McLennan Community College, Thomas Edison State University and Texas A&M University – Central Texas. 

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.