Friday, September 18th, 2015
Tri Star addresses demand in robotics field
By Claire Giesige
Photo by Claire Giesige/The Daily Standard
Jerry Kohnen, the robotics, electronic and computer technologies instructor for Tri Star Career Compact, watches as a RECTech robot at the Frank Dennings Vocational Building in St. Marys takes action to crush a can. The robot was donated a few years ago by Wright State University-Lake Campus and is programmed by students. Tri Star officials hope to soon buy a robot that is similar to those used in area industries.
ST. MARYS - As more robots fill factory floors these days, a demand still exists for the human touch.
Jerry Kohnen - the robotics, electronic and computer technologies instructor for Tri Star Career Compact - and program director Tim Buschur have seen that demand firsthand.
"A lot of companies move to them (robots) because they don't take breaks, they don't go to the bathroom, you don't have to pay them," Kohnen said. "But that's where these students come in. Someone has to install them, program them, keep them running, repair them when they break, all those things. This is an awesome opportunity because they're everywhere in factories."
To capitalize on the pressing need for robotics employees that companies have expressed to Tri Star officials, they plan to purchase a new, state-of-the-art robot.
As of Wednesday night, a majority of the nine area school districts involved in Tri Star had approved the $44,199 purchase of the FANUC robot for the RECTech program. Fort Recovery, Marion Local, St. Henry, New Bremen and St. Marys school boards have approved the purchase.
More than half the cost of the robot is covered by donations from local businesses. The remaining will be paid from Tri Star's technology fund.
The program already has a robot that diligently crushes cans on command. The new robot will help keep the program up-to-date, officials said. Robots from the FANUC company are being used in factories where Kohnen's students may one day work.
"Seventy percent of the robotics in this area are FANUC robots," Buschur said. "There's a huge demand for people who can work with them."
The FANUC robot could be available to Tri Star in November or December. The demand is high, resulting in a waiting list, Buschur said.
"Once we get the robot, my plan is to intermingle the 80-hour certification course with electronic and computer lessons. There's also an opportunity for cross-trade collaboration with the robots," Kohnen said. "For example, the machining class made the grip for our current robot."
The proposed Tri Star 2.0 project, which would combine all programs at one site near the Wright State University-Lake Campus, likely would prompt no other major changes to the RECTech program, Buschur said.
"The current program is morphing into the new program," Kohnen said. "In previous years it was pretty much just computers and electronics."
Because of the implementation of the robotics education component in the program, the class recently changed its name from biomedical and electronics technology to RECTech.
"With the electronics and the computers that we've always done, robotics is a good fit," Kohnen added.
The RECTech program represents an opportunity for students with a passion for robotics. For a modest lab fee of $50 per year, students can earn FANUC certification and expect a starting salary of $40,000-$50,000, Buschur said.
With the high demand for workers in the field and the head start students gain in college robotics programs, the job placement rate of the RECTech program is 100 percent, Buschur said.
"Anybody that wants a job is going to get one because the demand is that high," Kohnen said.
Kohnen's students aren't the only ones learning something new. He, too, must take a few classes to be certified and is looking forward to it, he said.
"I'm excited," he said. "Let's do it."
