Tours offer students look at careers in industry
High school students given glimpse at skilled trades through industry tours
Robots, 3-D printers and deer antlers could be the key to addressing a skilled trades shortage in Windsor.
Local businesses opened their doors to hundreds of young students Tuesday to give them a taste of what it’s like working in the skilled trades.
“We want to expose them to this, as they go on and have to make decisions of what career they’re going into, that our industry is a very viable industry,” said Pete Naysmith, director of spare parts and sellable services for Valiant TMS. “We need talent. We need to have a continuum of talent coming in, and this was a way of introducing these younger folks to our business.”
The tours were part of Workforce WindsorEssex’s first ever Test Drive Day, giving students a chance to meet skilled tradespeople, experience the working conditions and get a close-up look at the tools of the trade. It’s one of several initiatives Workorce WindsorEssex has launched to address a skills shortage.
A total of 18 employers — representing the construction, industrial and manufacturing, motive power, and service sectors — brought in students for tours.
One of the companies was Valiant TMS, which specializes in powertrain solutions, automated welding and assembly systems. It has facilities in 14 countries and 800 employees in Windsor. Naysmith said Valiant TMS already brings in St. Clair College and University of Windsor students for co-operative education programs.
“What we wanted to do is extend that and introduce younger people — those in high school, those in grade school — to the industry to try and give them an idea or understanding what we do in the machine tool business,” he said. One of the most popular stops on the Valiant tour was the company’s additive manufacturing lab, more commonly known as 3-D printing. “It’s relatively new in our industry because most things in our industry have been made out of steel, aluminum, brass, rubbers,” said Naysmith.
“They were able to see additive manufacturing where we’re now building componentry that’s an idea, and literally hours later we can have a component that we can try and test.”
The printer can make all kinds of items, including gauges, gears, handles, and service tools. “There were deer antlers,” said Devin McCarthy, 16, in Grade 11 at Essex District High School. “They found deer antlers in the forest and they remade it.”
“It’s pretty neat. It’s cool to see all this happen, because in school you don’t really get exposed to it except for videos. So being here and actually seeing it is pretty cool.”
The tour also exposed students to Valiant’s massive robotics training facility for welding and other applications.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” Megan Bearelle, 16, also in Grade 11 at Essex high school. “It’s neat to see and actually experience what they do in a trade like this, and see the job opportunities.”
The plan to lure students into the business seems to have worked. “I’m thinking about being an electrician,” said McCarthy. “So I’m thinking maybe I’ll do a co-op here, try to get in and see if I like it. It seems like a good place to work.”