When a person hears “heavy metal tour,” the first words they might think of are rock band, but in this case Heavy Metal Tour is a program that started three years ago at MATC’s Oak Creek campus. For those past three years, high school students from the surrounding area have been able to tour the ECAM building there.
On Friday, Oct. 17, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., MATC again opened the doors to the ECAM building for the Heavy Metal Tour. During this time students, teachers and parents were able to meet MATC faculty and employers in manufacturing.
According to event coordinator Nutan Amrute, the benefits of doing so measure 360 degrees around.
Amrute explained that students are able to view the environment they will be learning in and speak with some of the employers who manage the workforce. The students leave having a better idea of the opportunities in which they might be interested.
For MATC, it is not only a way of recruiting future students but also a way of informing them, their parents and the public about possible misconceptions of the manufacturing environment.
Employers are able to view the environment and curriculum that MATC offers. The employers are also able to meet high school students who could be employees in the future. At the Heavy Metal Tour, local employers exchange information about the workforce and answer questions that the students have.
In one classroom on the tour, some students were given the opportunity to try their hand at cutting and welding. In another classroom, attendees were able to look at some of the work made by current MATC students. The same room featured how one machine was able to carve chess pieces from metal.
Some students were able to put the finishing touch on it by sanding the bottom of a pawn, which they took home as a souvenir.