Nertjon Hoxha, a senior at Tolles, and Don Klingler of KTH Parts talk about the robotics equipment in Tolles’ new RAMTEC learning center and about career opportunities in manufacturing and engineering.
(Posted Oct. 29, 2015)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Don Klingler, engineering manager for KTH Parts, is having trouble finding qualified candidates to fill job openings at his company. Based in St. Paris, Ohio, KTH makes parts for Honda and is opening a research and development facility on Route 33 outside of Plain City.
Klingler sees the new RAMTEC Center at Tolles Career and Technical Center in Plain City as a beacon of hope for filling the workforce skills gap.
“We want to get more kids interested (in manufacturing and engineering). This is a good thing to push,” he said.
Klingler was among 75 guests at the grand opening of the RAMTEC Center on Oct. 26. Representatives of business, industry, government and education attended. RAMTEC stands for Robotics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Education Collaborative.
Outfitted with $1.5 million in state-of-the-art robotics equipment, the center provides learning and training oppor-tunities for high school students and adults.
“The next generation of manufacturing and engineering professionals is in this room today,” said Tolles Superin-tendent Kim Wilson at the dedication ceremony.
Nertjon Hoxha, a senior at Tolles from Hilliard-Davidson High School, wants to become one of those professionals. He is especially interested in programming and robotics and has enjoyed working with the new equipment in the RAMTEC lab.
When I started to get good at it, I thought, this is fun. It just seems to come naturally,” he said.
In the school setting, Hoxha can test and demonstrate various engineering and robotics tasks. He said he looks forward to putting that knowledge to practical use upon graduation.
“I’m excited and nervous about the opportunity to get out in the world and create and try new things,” he said.
