On January 24 & 25, 2019, Eustacio Hernandez, (Southampton High School) and Peter Biondo, (Eastport-South Manor High School) from the Automotive Technology Program at H.B. Ward Technical Center, along with their teacher, Mr. Mike O’Hara, were invited to attend a special two-day training at the BMW training facility in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. This training was to prepare for the Greater New York Automobile Dealers’ Association State Competition to be held on February 13^th. They spent two days working with BMW technical trainers, Cesar Castaneda and Kenneth Ramsey in learning about online tools, diagnostics, repairs, and hand tools for the BMW X3 model. In addition to the training, students received a tour of this facility, the largest BMW training facility in North America that included; corporate offices, a sneak peek at prototype models, the motorcycle division, and many other career options in the auto industry.  This was a unique opportunity, an intensive two-day training, and the students greatly enjoyed the trip and expressed great thanks for the opportunity.

Welding, Auto Body, and Auto Technology Classes Assist Community

A three-way collaboration among students from different programs at the Eastern Long Island Academy of Applied Technology recently resulted in a renovated trailer for the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD). The participating classes included Welding, Auto Body, and Automotive Technology. The Academy is the Career and Technical Education Program of Eastern Suffolk BOCES and there are three Academy locations on Long Island (Oakdale, Bellport, and Riverhead). This project took place at the Edward J. Milliken Technical Center in Oakdale.

SCPD came to the Auto Body class with a trailer in need of repairs, which they planned to use for transporting barriers once it was restored. Welding students designed and custom fabricated the front, sides, and functioning doors on the rear of the trailer based on a picture the police provided, taking raw material and cutting it to size, mocking it up, and then performing all the strategic welds. Auto Body students sand blasted, prepped, and painted the four rims, prepped all the bare surface metal and doors that the welding students had fabricated, and applied primer sealer and high-strength paint to match the SCPD fleet. They also applied decals, name badges, and reflective tape that SCPD supplied. The Auto Technology class installed and tested a new trailer lighting system and performed a health check on the entire trailer, making it clear that the bearings on all four wheels needed to be replaced. They also checked the function of the electric brake system, mounted and balanced new tires.

The Academy and SCPD have worked together before in similar capacities. These collaborations provide students with the opportunity to engage in project-based learning while helping their community. Said Brian LaBarba, Auto Body teacher, “Our students are proud to participate in endeavors that help the police, especially large projects like this that involve classmates from other programs in the school.”

On Thursday, September 13, 2018 Mr. Mike Law from Ohio Technical College visited Ward Tech to discuss options for after graduation. Highlighting his programs and discussing trends in Industry, Mr. Law engaged students from Automotive Technology and Auto Body Repair and Car Customizing. Thank you Mr. Law for taking the time to discuss these topics with our students!