Cayuga Community College’s advanced-manufacturing institute prepares for student training

The new advanced-manufacturing Institute (AMI) at Cayuga Community College (CCC) will provide training for any student interested in entering a high-tech, plastics technology or advanced-manufacturing career.

The students can be recent high-school graduates, people retraining for a career, or dislocated workers or veterans who are coming back to school, says Carla DeShaw, dean of community education and workforce development at Cayuga Community College. She spoke with CNYBJ on Jan. 8.

“We are also focused on corporate training, which would be customized training for employers that need to upgrade the skills of their workers, expand their workforce. We do a lot of customized training,” says DeShaw. 

The first classes begin Jan. 25.

Cayuga Community College formally opened the AMI at its Auburn campus during an event held Jan. 7. The school also dedicated its new plastics laboratory in honor of Raymond Currier, founder of Currier Plastics of Auburn.

“The plastics laboratory is one part of the AMI,” DeShaw adds.

“Our 3,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art AMI is designed to serve the training needs of Cayuga County and regional employers and students preparing for high-demand careers by offering a range of industrial courses with emphasis on mechanical, plastics, and electrical technologies. The strong relationships and support between local plastics manufacturers and the college distinguishes the AMI’s program offerings from any other college in New York … We are delighted with the continued support of the Currier family and industry partners for their contributions to this project,” Brian Durant, president of CCC, said in a news release.

AMI origin
Cayuga Community College created the AMI, in part, through an award of more than $629,000 from the U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program.

Cayuga’s project has two parts, including the AMI and the four new programs involved, says DeShaw. 

The State University of New York (SUNY) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED) both approved Cayuga’s request for a plastics-technology certificate and degree-option program.

SUNY and NYSED also OK’d the creation of four new options within Cayuga’s existing mechanical-technology degree program. Those include mechatronics, facilities design, computer-aided design, and precision machining.

Under the TAACCCT grant program, Cayuga Community College held regional meetings with employers in the plastics industry, collected data, and developed ideas to help train future workers.

“We were the only ones to develop a plastics lab … but we have a lot of employers that gave input … from Utica to Rochester,” says DeShaw.

From there, a group of seven people from Auburn’s Currier Plastics helped Cayuga Community College in developing and planning for the AMI.

That process, which involved the program approvals and development and renovation work, lasted about two years, according to DeShaw. 

Currier Plastics of Auburn donated an injection-molding machine; Welch Allyn, Inc. of Skaneateles Falls contributed shelving, a band saw, a grinder, and work tables; and ITT Goulds Pumps of Seneca Falls donated a spectrometer. 

Currier’s relationship with regional sales representatives also generated no-cost loan agreements on a Niigata electric-injection molding machine and a robot from Cranston, Rhode Island–based Yushin America, Inc., DeShaw says.

With the agreements, Cayuga Community College can “switch out the equipment every six months to a year, so that we always will have state of the art [equipment],” she adds.

The renovations for the AMI, which operates in a former book store, included electrical work, painting, and installing a new roof.

“The electrical [work] was our largest expense,” says DeShaw.

Architect Thomas Pratt from Fayetteville handled the design work on the project.