Success Stories
Company: Allseas Group
Karen travels the world working as a pilot "flying" underwater robots (ROVs) which are used to monitor underwater pipe laying. She is also responsible for maintaining and repairing the ROVs onboard the ship. Since they are out at sea, Karen needs to be very self-reliant when troubleshooting problems and implementing fixes. She says "Good troubleshooting skills are paramount to any technical job, especially on a ship where the equipment and supplies are not always plentiful. Sierra College really provided a place for me to practice and refine those skills." She adds that "My job really kicks ass!"
Company: City of Roseville, Environmental Utilities Maintenance Division
Shane's job is to calibrate and provide preventative maintenance for industrial grade sensor equipment that in turn, through computer control, activates or shuts down various processes which make sure that the quality of Roseville water adheres to State regulation. By being cross-trained in both electrical and mechanical skills, he is qualified to address virtually any technical challenge that he may face. Shane says, "The Sierra College Mechatronics program taught me the multiple skills and thought processes necessary to approach my new (well paid) career with confidence."
Company: Anheuser-Busch (Fairfield, CA)
Nick is working on a wide range of tasks in Anheuser-Busch's bottling plant in Fairfield, CA including instrumentation (calibration and ranging of sensors, etc.), PLC programming and a wide array of electrical and mechanical tasks. His work truly spans the full range of the field of mechatronics. With machines that can fill and cap 26 cans per second, the equipment he works on is state-of-the-art industrial automation. Nick enjoys his new career and the new challenges it brings him every day. And with a starting hourly payrate of $27.75 an hour ($57k per year), technician jobs at companies like Anheuser-Busch show that a mechatronics education can be financially rewarding as well.
Title: Technican (Level 2)
Company: POS Portal (Sacramento)
Kent's job is to troubleshoot, repair and refurbish Point-Of-Sale (POS) credit card and debit card machines. His daily work involves electrical and mechanical repair, reading of schematics, detailed electrical soldering and a wide array of other mechatronics skills. Kent was one of 52 applicants for this job and his supervisor told him the reason he got the job over the other applicants was that he brought in some of the projects he built as a student in our program. Those projects were concrete evidence that Kent had the electrical and mechanical skills needed and also that he understood the value of high-quality workmanship. Kent says "Being able to learn quickly is important in this job and the knowledge and skills gained at Sierra College gave me the foundation needed to learn new skills quickly".
Title: Engineering Student
School: Brigham Young University
Title: Production Technician
Company: Nestle Waters (Sacramento)
Heathere works for Nestle Waters on their water bottling equipment. She is responsible for keeping production up and running on her equipment including identification and correction of any electrical or mechanical problems.
Heathere says "Once the folks at Nestle realized all the skills a Mechatronics education included, they were confident I would be a good fit and be able to handle any technical challenge that came my way."
Updated news: Less than 6 months after being hired, Heathere was promoted to a higher level of responsibility and received a sizeable pay raise with it. Congratulations, Heathere!
Title: Construction Electrician
Company: Sierra Pacific Industries (Lincoln, CA)
Kevin fabricates automated equipment used to sort large and small lumber. Soon he will be updating the entire Lincoln mill to the newest Allen-Bradley PLC systems that can speed up the cutting process and have the ability to work on the system from any computer on the network. Cutting an entire tree into finished lumber in seconds requires very high-power, precision controlled equipment. It is a great example of mechatronic systems on the job.
Kevin says "I am using my knowledge from Sierra College everyday
to fabricate new electrical equipment that is used to sort, move,
band and package units of lumber from 4 feet to 26 feet.
Without my training from the mechatronics program I couldn't have
got this job."
Company: Vannelli Foods (Rocklin, CA)
Mitchell was already an experienced machinist/welder with some millwright experience when he enrolled in our program to broaden his skill set. After graduation he was hired by Vannelli Foods to perform all the maintenance, and repairs on mechanical, electrical, and control systems required to keep the plant operational. He also works on expanding the plants operational capabilities by installing new and refurbished equipment. Mitchell says,"Without the education I received at Sierra, I wouldn't have the range of knowledge and skills to do this work. I keep learning more on the job all the time. I love this job and the wide range of tasks I get to do every day."
Company: Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
Josh's goal when he entered our program was to work where he wanted to live, outdoors in the mountains around Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. He worked hard to learn as much as possible from his studies and with some perseverance after graduation, he obtained a position at Mammoth as a maintenance technician. Josh says "The real-world skills I learned at Sierra College were exactly what I needed to obtain this job. I love living and working in this area and studying Mechatronics at Sierra College got me on the path to make it happen."
There are too many great stories about our graduates to tell them all here, but the ones above give you an idea of some of the paths you can follow after completing our program. Lots of different job specialties in lots of different industries (see diagram on left). And earning a living wage doing it. Real skills for real jobs!