(HARLINGEN) – Auto Collision and Management Technology at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen was recently award a Progressive Insurance laptop grant by the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) Collision Repair Education Foundation during the 2018 SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

The SEMA Show is the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world. It draws industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one location and provides educational seminars, product demonstrations, special events and networking opportunities.

With this grant, TSTC Auto Collision and Management Technology will receive 10 laptops by the end of the year to use for training purposes.

“Every student in our program will benefit from these laptops,” said TSTC Auto Collision Technology lead instructor Jose Vasquez. “This is a huge upgrade and a big deal for our program. We are very grateful to have received this award.”

Vasquez said this award is part of group effort within departments at TSTC.

“Everyone from administration, statewide leads to the marketing department helped make this award possible,” said Vasquez. “And we are so thankful that everyone was able to do his/her part to help prove our need.”

The laptops will be implemented for training in the program’s Estimating/Shop Management course.

Vasquez said these laptops, which will be equipped with estimating and management programs used in industry, will allow his students to quickly research auto body parts and write up repair estimates for class assignments and live projects, where students research damage and parts and estimate repairs for vehicles brought in by folks from the surrounding communities.

“Our priority is to prepare our students for the industry and these laptops will allow them to experience firsthand what they will see when they begin working. This is industry-recommended training,” said Vasquez. “This will improve students’ training and will make their research and estimates instant, instead of the manual way we’re doing things now.”

TSTC Auto Collision and Management Technology and I-CAR, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing the information, knowledge and skills required to perform complete, safe and quality repairs, have a long-running partnership.

I-CAR has provided students from TSTC’s auto collision program with scholarships, tool grants, U.S. Armed Forces veteran grants and also grants for TSTC shop upgrades.

“We are honored to provide TSTC in Harlingen with the Progressive Laptop Grant and other assistance throughout the year. This is a well-deserved award,” said Melissa Marscin, director of operations and administration for the Collision Repair Education Foundation. “TSTC’s collision program has proven to be great and we know these laptops will help them become an even better program. We hope that this donation will help them improve their access to I-CAR training, estimating and vehicle service information.”

Vasquez said he is thankful for everything I-CAR has done for the program and his students.

“Year in and year out, as a member of their foundation, I-CAR has helped us improve our training and kickstart careers,” said Vasquez.

Auto Collision and Management Technology is offered at TSTC’s Harlingen and Waco campuses and offers certificate and associate degree tracks.

For more information on TSTC Auto Collision Technology, visit tstc.edu.