Industry Education Partnerships and Other Opportunities

The Maricopa Community College (MCC) system ranks as second-largest in size and enrollment among the more than 1,500 such systems in the nation. MCC includes ten colleges located throughout the area. Combined year-round enrollment in the 6,000 credit courses is nearly 170,000, with another 30,000 enrolled in special interest courses.

In addition to the core curriculum, MCC is the largest provider of job training in Arizona, helping both local and relocating businesses to meet training and hiring goals. Since 1982, over 250,000 employees have been trained with MCC assistance. An example of the innovative education-industry partnership is seen at Motorola University in conjunction with MCC’s Mesa Community College, enrolls over 17,000 employees for job-skills training.

Intel in Arizona Intel strives to advance teaching and learning in the areas of science, math, engineering, technology, and to improve education through the effective use of technology in the classroom. Contributions consist of equipment, cash, and volunteers to address education goals from kindergarten through graduate school.

Another successful alliance is the Semiconductor Industry-Education Partnership of Arizona (SIEP). The partners in this initiative include MCC, several other educational institutions, the Arizona Department of Commerce, GPEC and industry leaders working together.

Due to the high demand for advanced technicians for the fast growing semiconductor industry in Greater Phoenix, this partnership has developed to increase the pipeline of students in semiconductor technical programs. The SIEP corporate partners include Intel, Motorola, Microchip Technologies, Medtronic MicroRel, Johnson Controls, Sitix of Phoenix (Sumitomo), Air Products and Chemicals, IPEC-Planar, and SGS Thompson.  They market associate degree programs in Semiconductor Manufacturing Process Technology, Circuit Mask Design Technology, and Facilities Management Technology. The combined efforts of the partners have resulting in more than double the amount of students enrolled in these three technical programs from 900 to over 1,800 in the past three years.

Three state universities, 19 community colleges, 20 accredited degree-granting private colleges and universities, and 180 trade and technical schools produce a highly trained work force. Arizona State University develops research that can be transferred to business through its nationally recognized Engineering Excellence program. The Arizona community College System works closely with business and industry to provide immediate and accessible customized training.

Tempe facility schooling mobile installers
by Tony Natale, Tribune

“Our students learn how to install all the latest in mobile electronics,” said Tom Gazda, 46, founder and president of Mobile Dynamics, a private school at 415 S. 48th St., Tempe, Arizona.

Mobile Dynamics occupies 12,000-square feet of space in the commercial-industrial area bordering Tempe and Phoenix. Gazda of Scottsdale opened the school in a smaller facility in 1995 in Phoenix, then moved to the larger quarters five years ago.

It is the only school of its kind in the United States and one of only two mobile electronic training schools in North America, according to Gazda. The other was started in 1990 by Gazda and his business partner, Derek Lee, in Toronto. Lee still directs the Toronto school. More than 80 percent of the students at the Tempe school are from out of state, Gazda said, and many come from foreign countries.

Students are mostly young men who attend classes 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week for eight weeks before receiving a certificate from the Mobile Electronics Certified Professional Association. Among the skills they learn are installing remote-control devices in vehicles, audio systems in vehicles and buildings, vehicle cameras, DVD players and satellite radios and dishes.

The school is licensed by the Arizona State Board of Education for private vocational training and, combined with the Toronto school, has to date trained more than 4,700 students in consumer electronics. “We’re officially the largest and oldest school in the car audio installation industry,” Gazda said. Cost for the eight weeks of training is $6,000 per student, and does not include living expenses. Most of the out-of-state students stay at nearby hotels that offer reduced rates or apartments with dormitory-style housing, he said.

Gazda said one of his biggest customers, Best Buy, worked with Mobile Dynamics to establish an internal training program for its employees. In addition, the school is developing a training program for future students at DeVry University in Phoenix.

“Most of our students get good-paying jobs immediately after graduating,” said Gazda, who has six instructors at the Tempe school teaching two classes with more than 20 students in each class. “As technology grows in the audio and auto industry, the demand for trained equipment installers is also growing,” said Gazda, who traces his interest in technology back to his teens when he got a summer job as a car audio installer in London, Ontario.

“It’s no longer called, ‘car audio,’” said Gazda. “Today, it’s mobile entertainment.”

For information, call (480) 557-0674, 1 (800) 610-2122.