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Our SUNY Canton

The email address for Our SUNY Canton, the weekly faculty/staff newsletter is oursunycanton@canton.edu

 

 

Office of
Public Relations

SUNY Canton
34 Cornell Drive
Canton, NY 13617

315-386-7300
Fax: 800-386-7929

pr@canton.edu

VATEA Advisory Board Sees

High-Tech Side of SUNY Canton

  Members of SUNY Canton's Vocational and Technical Education Act (VATEA) Advisory Board saw steel break and heard engines roar during a recent tour of the campus.

"Through our work with the VATEA advisory board we are able to help build an environment for students to learn with the same equipment they will be using when they join the workforce," said SUNY Canton Grants Coordinator Mike Simpson.

The SUNY Canton VATEA advisory board helps determine where VATEA grant money is most needed to support the retention, placement, skill attainment and completion rates of vocational and technical education students. VATEA is a federal program administered by the New York State Department of Education, according to Simpson.

SUNY Canton Vocational and Technical Education Act (VATEA) Board members inspected some of the lathes in the Engineering Technology Laboratory that are slated to be replaced with VATEA grant funding. Pictured are (from left) Betty Kennedy, a parent of a SUNY Canton student; Pamela Dority of New York State Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals With Disabilities; Paul Backus of Mort Backus and Son's Inc.; Mike Newtown, SUNY Canton Engineering Technology Assistant Professor; Mike Simpson, SUNY Canton Grants Coordinator; Dave Williams of the St. Lawrence County One Stop Career Center; Art Hurlbut, SUNY Canton Dean of Engineering Technology; and Beverly Dalton, a former SUNY Canton Nursing Instructor. Other VATEA Board members include Edward Skonieczny, Curtis Whitem, Dee Burlingame, and Gail Gotham.

Simpson said that some of the equipment purchased through the grants is used in high-demand training and some of the students in the programs will have jobs waiting for them as soon as they finish college. He also said that he and the VATEA advisory board members are engaged in discussions with area economic developers to better prepare students to emerge in the local workforce.

SUNY Canton Engineering Technology Assistant Professor Mike Newtown demonstrated the Instron Universal Testing machine for the VATEA members. "You are going to hear a loud bang and then you are all going to jump into the air." Newtown said as he turned on the hydraulic machine specifically designed to break objects. The testing machine was one of the pieces of equipment purchased with 2004 VATEA grant funding. Newtown said the machine is used to test the breaking point of metal so engineering technology students can design their work to handle the stress. "We used the machine to test the connections built by the SUNY Canton Bridge Team," Newtown said.

Suddenly, there was a sharp crack and the machine automatically shut off. An inch thick piece of steel with threaded ends became two pieces of steel. "We can also use this machine to test plastics," Newtown said, noting that when placed in the machine, plastics pull apart like taffy. The machine is linked to a computer that automatically tracks the pressure the object tested has endured and the time and force it took to break it.

Newtown also showed the board members some of the equipment scheduled for replacement after SUNY Canton receives the next VATEA Grant funds. Newtown and Simpson have proposed using a portion of funding to add more precision metal working lathes and turning equipment.

Mark Hill, SUNY Canton Motorsports Performance and Repair Instructor showed the VATEA advisory board a float tank, which looks like a large stainless-steel bathtub. The float tank was just one of many pieces of equipment the Motorsports Performance and Repair class has received through VATEA grant funding. It allows them to operate personal watercraft without leaving the shop.

"We are using state of the art equipment to test the latest Polaris vehicles," he said as he fired up the watercraft and gave the throttle a few twists. SUNY Canton is home to Polaris Industries' Northeast Technical Training Center. SUNY Canton Motorsports Performance and Repair students have access to a fleet of Polaris motorcycles, watercraft, snowmobiles, and all-terrain vehicles.

The advisory board members also had the chance to see a new 2005 Polaris Victory Vegas motorcycle, sent from the factory just days prior. Hill hooked the motorcycle to diagnostic equipment partially provided through the grant funding. "Without the equipment purchased through VATEA, we might not have been able to attract Polaris as a partner," Hill said.

 

April 4, 2005

Media inquiries should be directed to Gregory Kie, Media Relations Coordinator, or call 315/386-7300.

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