Ohio Governor Mike DeWine visited the Advanced Science and Technology Center at Zane State College on Thursday, September 1 to delve into what the engineering technology programs have to offer students. While there, the Governor toured the Bachelor of Applied Science, Electrical Engineering Technology lab and training equipment as well as the robotics, mechanical engineering, and IDEA labs at the college and met with students and faculty.
The new Bachelor of Applied Science Electrical Engineering Technology Program is one of only a few in the country like it. Additionally, it is the only one in the field to provide a bachelor of science degree. Students who graduate from the program will have the skills necessary for entry-level engineering roles associated with the control of equipment used in the power industry and the protection of the power grid. There are four additional engineering technology programs offered at Zane State College.
According to Mike Waite, a protection and control manager at AEP and professor at Zane State, jobs in the field are in demand and pay upwards of $60,000 per year.
Since 2019, more than two million dollars have been invested to back engineering technology at the college. Private funding from AEP has been vital in initiating the Bachelor of Applied Science Electrical Engineering Technology Program and helping it succeed. AEP’s help goes beyond monetary assistance. In the early stages of developing the program, AEP donated a drop-in control module (DICM) to Zane State, saving the college about one million dollars. Other funding sources include a grant from Ohio Mid-east Government Association, Jobs Ohio, Ohio Department of Higher Education RAPIDS program, and grants from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia. These financial resources have aided in the purchase of equipment that is instrumental to the program such as relay test sets and power system simulators, laptops, software, PPE equipment, and a plotter printer.
In the last five years, 297 students have graduated from the engineering technology programs at Zane State. This past spring, the first Bachelor of Applied Science Electrical Engineering Technology Program students graduated. There were 10 in the graduating class. Since 2001, 170 Zane State College Electrical/Electronics Engineering Technology graduates have earned their associate degrees and were employed by AEP. Other Electrical Engineering graduates have begun their careers working for comparable industry giants such as Canon, IBM, AT&T, Verizon, Columbia Gas, etc.
DeWine urges other businesses to work directly with community colleges to build connections to fill jobs throughout Ohio.
To learn more about Zane State College’s engineering technology programs visit www.zanestate.edu.