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CAREER DEVELOPMENT is required to meet this challenge. Of course, airlines, MROs, and manufactur- ers will provide training to their new hires regardless; however, they will hire those with more training and experience before those with less. Third-party certifications supported and influenced by the aviation industry as a whole, can provide enough special- ized training to allow the employer to focus on the training specific to their needs. Collaboration among competitors will be vital. AMT John Gamble is an education and busi- Wichita Area Technical College Partnerships with technical colleges help industry keep their work force trained at the leading edge of technological advancements. An example of this type of collaboration is the program at the National Center for Aviation Training (NCAT) at Wichita Area Technical College. Thanks to partnerships with both local avia- tion companies and globally recognized corporations, WATC is able to offer its students state-of-the-art train- ing in composites. Jon Pine, WATC’s program coordinator for Aerostructures and Composites, has worked with local aviation companies in addition to globally recognized corporations. Partnerships with companies like Cessna, Spirit, Bombardier, and Hawker Beechcraft make it pos- sible for WATC to offer its students hands-on training specific to what they will encounter in the workplace. Hawker Beechcraft donated a Hawker 4000 all-com- posite fuselage and Spirit donated 787 composite engine cowlings. Snap-on provided all the tooling and tool storage for the Aerostructures Lab and the Composite Lab; the latter has Level-5 tool storage, complete with foam and asset management software, giving students an additional lesson in FOD control systems. Another example of industry partnering with edu- cation is the National Institute of Aviation Research’s (NIAR) relationship with WATC. As NIAR builds test panels for different manufacturers, students at WATC can observe their assembly and learn why they are being built one way and not another. In order to share practices and procedures nondisclosure agreements are typically required. While training new workers is in the interest of the entire industry, it is a difficult effort to undertake alone. So, while it is not common for competing companies to work together toward a common goal, that is what ness partnership manager with Snap-on Industrial, focusing on the aviation and aerospace sector. He can be reached at john. gamble@snapon.com. New certifications per- tinent to aviation soon to be offered by Snap-on include Tool Control/Asset Management, FOD, Precision Hole Drilling and Hole Preparation, as well as Precision Measurement. You can learn more about current Snap-on education programs at http://education.snapon.com. We're very big on small parts. Long known as the industry leader in PMA carbon brushes, we have expanded our market and product offerings to include our new line of PMA bearings and other products for a variety of aircraft motor applications. We work closely with our customers to identify potential replacement part needs and have the ability to move quickly on a range of new products from design to PMA. 345 Rt. 17, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604 201-288-8877 • Fax: 201-288-7356 • email: mirajcorp@aol.com • www.mirajcorp.com PMA DESIGN, MANUFACTURE AND SALES. www.AMTSociety.org • www.AMTonline.com • Aircraft Maintenance Technology August 2011 19