AMTECH expands its field training
CANTON, Ga. – The Marine Career Training Institute of North America (MCTINA), will be expanding its field training to 18 different locations, the Association of Marine Technician’s education division reported in a recent statement.
In addition to the field training dates it has established, MCTINA will also be conducting nine technical workshops at AMTECH’s National Marine Service Expo trade show in Daytona Beach. NMSE ’08 will be held at the WyoTech Daytona campus in Ormond Beach, Fla., Jan. 18-20.
“We are happy to be bringing more technical training to the marine industry this year,” said Joe De Marco, AMTECH president. “The advancing propulsion system technology that is taking place in our industry is outdistancing our workforce’s ability to keep pace with the newer engines. MCTINA training is designed to provide technicians with sound, fundamental, core skills training on marine propulsion systems. We place a heavy emphasis on troubleshooting skills so that the technician will truly understand how the system operates. Our training is generic in nature so that once the technician understands the system’s operation, he or she will be much better prepared to advance to manufacturer product-specific training in the future. Our students develop better troubleshooting skills that allow them to locate the root-cause of system failures much quicker, thereby increasing their overall productivity.
“We have found that much of the problem in learning the newer engine technology is due to on-the-job-training (OJT), which is the way the majority of marine technicians have gained their fundamental skills,” De Marco added. “This is also very true for the marine technician who is currently working for an authorized marine dealership for a major engine brand. It is not the job of the engine manufacturer to educate the technician on fundamental systems; it is their job to teach the technician on their particular product. The instructor has to assume that the technician already has the core skills needed to advance in training, however, this is not always the case. It’s like trying to teach a college course to a student who hasn’t completed high school training yet. That’s why AMTECH’s MCTINA training is becoming so valuable to the industry. As a result, we are gaining more support from the engine manufacturers because they realize that our training helps deliver a more qualified technician to their training programs.”
AMTECH is also using more training sponsors to help advance industry training. Organizations interested in becoming training sponsors can call De Marco at 800-467-0982. For more information on MCTINA training and AMTECH, you can visit its website at www.am-tech.org and click on Training & Meetings. The complete list of training dates is listed, as well as course descriptions for all MCTINA courses.
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