{"id":1043,"date":"2016-11-22T11:30:17","date_gmt":"2016-11-22T11:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1043"},"modified":"2016-11-22T17:03:49","modified_gmt":"2016-11-22T17:03:49","slug":"waco-company-looking-to-tstc-for-hvac-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1043","title":{"rendered":"Waco Company Looking to TSTC for HVAC Graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 The staff at Capstone Mechanical on Imperial Drive in Waco does not have to look far to find heating, ventilation and air conditioning workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of Capstone\u2019s 27-member service department are Texas State Technical College graduates. Capstone specializes in plumbing, piping, commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning work. The company\u2019s service area extends about 100 miles from Waco.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a technical college close to us provides us the ability to work closely with the various programs to help develop graduates that will have the skills to be productive in our industry,\u201d said Jimmy Webster, Capstone\u2019s human resources manager. \u201cThis not only helps Capstone, but our industry as a whole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The HVAC service technicians\u2019 roles are to install new equipment, conduct preventive maintenance and handle on-demand calls. They work in most weather conditions, but lightning and strong wind typically prevent workers from being on roofs. Teamwork and communication are emphasized. The technicians keep up with their work assignments, invoices, equipment orders and other tasks on iPads.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t realize how sophisticated our field is,\u201d said David Lynch, 41, of Valley Mills and a Capstone service technician who graduated with an associate degree in HVAC in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

The technicians are seeing heating and air conditioning systems being connected more to Wi-Fi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still constantly learning,\u201d said senior service technician Edgar Marquez, 38. \u201cYou are never going to know everything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Marquez graduated with an associate degree in HVAC in 2011. He began work at Capstone Mechanical as a part-time employee while in college and was hired full-time at graduation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am more seasoned,\u201d Marquez said. \u201cI have seen a little bit more. We push them all to be the same as they gain work experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hiley Briggs, 34, of Waco and a 2000 graduate of Riesel High School, started work at Capstone two years ago as an apprentice and graduated with an associate degree in HVAC from TSTC in spring 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said he feels work satisfaction fixing air handlers, condensers and other equipment to make people comfortable in overheated surroundings. A lot of the work involves high-voltage live circuits, so safety is priority.<\/span><\/p>\n

The TSTC alumni entered the HVAC field in various ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynch had friends who did HVAC work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always done some kind of repair work,\u201d the 1993 Robinson High School graduate said. \u201cI can\u2019t sit in an office. I had to do something to be outside.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Marquez watched his stepfather work in refrigeration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou will always need air conditioning in Texas,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stevan Panici, 20, a May HVAC associate degree graduate from Waco and a 2014 graduate of Connally High School, had finances on his mind when he chose to study the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a good choice, and you are always busy in Texas,\u201d he said. \u201cI figured it would be good money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Panici said students interested in working in HVAC need to experience what work days are like.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGet to know someone in the field,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can tell you honestly how it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The alumni were familiar with TSTC, having all grown up in the area.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTSTC caters more to hands-on education,\u201d Marquez said. \u201cYou do something different every day. You aren\u2019t in the same place over and over.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TSTC has about 70 students studying in the fall semester for the certificate and associate degree in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Capstone began business in 2005 and has more than 160 employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on Capstone Mechanical, go to capstonemechanical.com.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"v0001588-resized\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 The staff at Capstone Mechanical on Imperial Drive in Waco does not have to look far to find heating, ventilation and air conditioning workers. Most of Capstone\u2019s 27-member service department are Texas State Technical College graduates. Capstone specializes in plumbing, piping, commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning work. The company\u2019s service area extends […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1045,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions\/1045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}