Fast times are ahead for Central Arizona College and its upcoming partnership with Lucid Motors. Lucid, a California-based electric car company, will be breaking ground on a new factory in Casa Grande sometime in 2017. With production expected to begin next year, the company has chosen CAC to act as their training grounds. Over a year and a half ago, Lucid began its process of searching for a college that had what they needed. With so many options available, our president, Dr. Jackie Elliot, brought CAC into Lucid’s spotlight. Dr. Elliot met with the company owners, and convinced them CAC has the curriculum, facilities, and people in place to successfully train future Lucid employees. According to Kristen Benedict, chair of CAC’s Engineering/Technology Division, Dr. Elliot’s visit was part of the reason Lucid chose the college. Signal Peak’s proximity to Casa Grande was another factor.
To fulfill the anticipated hiring of 2000 employees, CAC’s Engineering Department will be slightly revamped to accommodate Lucid’s employment needs. Classes in the Advanced Technology Manufacturing program, such as manufacturing, will be first to receive changes. Benedict says, “Lucid needs people to maintain facilities, maintain robotics, and people to be on those production lines.” At this time, Lucid is working hand in hand with CAC on curriculum to make sure classes are more in tune with their needs. That being said, Benedict assures that the skills attained in the program can still be applicable in any field involving manufacturing.
On January 17th, CAC’s Governing Board approved the Advanced Technology Manufacturing program’s revised curriculum. Enrollment into the Advanced Technology program has increased tremendously as a result. Classes are set to begin on February13th. As of now, students have the opportunity to pursue either an Industrial Maintenance Certificate or Production Technician Certificate while in the Advanced Technology Manufacturing program. Following their completion of the 18 credit certificate, students also have the option to continue on to an Advanced Industrial Maintenance certificate or an Advanced Production Maintenance Certificate, both worth 35 credits. Benedict hopes that the program will eventually expand into a degree. “CAC has A.A.s and B.A.s through NAU so students can get their BA at the same time,” says Benedict.
Although the course is year-long, students have the potential to make “good pay” following completion and for good reason. Benedict insists that people need to understand that the students coming out of this program have a skill set that can not only take them to employment in a factory, but can also take them into pre-engineering, robotics, and many other fields in Advanced Technology. The skills students acquire will be invaluable in the region in the coming years. As Benedict explains, “The [Advanced Technology] industry is really looking at Pinal County… Big deals are ahead for CAC, Lucid is not the only one.” Many high-tech industries are moving into Pinal County, and with all these businesses comes the need for employees.
With all these changes coming, Benedict extends her gratitude to Dr. Elliot. “All this is happening because our college president has the foresight to know “hey, we got it all, let’s get out there and show them what we have,” say Benedict. This Cactus reporter believes this is true. CAC has some great programs, but many are unknown and sometimes an extra push is helpful to get the college where it needs to be. With these innovative times ahead, CAC and its students are up for the Lucid Motors’ challenge.
If you are interested in learning more about the program, please contact Sandra in the college Engineering/Technology Department at 520-494-5308.