"The career education OCC students receive produces outstanding automotive service technicians, engineering technicians and apprentices," says Professor Tony Hildebrandt, who’s in charge of OCC’s ATA program. "OCC’s automotive faculty could place approximately 10 students a week in excellent paying positions based on current need, and this need is expected to continue well into the future," he says. After just a few courses, ATA students qualify for entry-level positions in automotive servicing – positions that pay $10-$12 an hour.

Students who complete more courses and obtain three or four licenses to work in specific areas "can support their families and have comfortable lives," says Professor Hildebrandt. Other students may want more education and can complete 38 credit hours for a certificate, or 73 credit hours for an associate’s degree. "With a certificate or degree and four years of solid work experience, automotive technicians and engineering technicians could earn $50,000 to $70,000 a year or more," he explains.

Companies such as General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler require an associate’s degree for individuals hiring in as automotive or engineering technicians. And many of those individuals may find career advancement a possibility if they complete bachelor’s degrees at Wayne State, Lawrence or Ferris State universities, Professor Hildebrandt notes.

OCC’s Automotive Service and Technology program is unique and comprehensive. Eight courses currently make up its core: brake systems, front suspension and steering, electrical systems, engine support systems, engine tune up and emissions, automatic transmission, manual transmission and rear axle, and air conditioning and heating.

Two new experimental courses on hybrid vehicles are in the works, Professor Hildebrandt says, and he hopes to return seven other courses in diesel engines and advanced automotives to the curriculum as independent or special certificate programs.

Each ATA course is designed in accordance with the State of Michigan’s mandatory Auto Mechanic Certification Tests for that particular specialty. Students can take the OCC courses in any order, since each one begins with the basic fundamentals for its particular area, then progresses to theory, diagnostic service and repair.

"Students completing ATA courses with grades of B or higher should have no problem in passing their state licensing tests or their Automotive Servicing Excellence (ASE) Certification exams. In fact, the first-time pass rate for our students in 95 percent," says Professor Hildebrandt.

Students get lots of hands-on experience in the OCC program. Its auto lab on the Auburn Hills Campus can accommodate 38 vehicles during each class period, and 19 of those 38 bays have hydraulic lifts. Four classrooms and a research dynamometer cell are also available, and the college provides access to all of the tools and equipment students need to use in class.

For individuals pursuing an ATA associate’s degree, two co-op internship experiences are available to enhance their real-world knowledge of automotive servicing.

Professor Hildebrandt estimates that since 1979, more than 10,000 individuals have taken automotive classes at the campus. The Auburn Hills auto lab is a far cry from OCC’s first auto servicing building, he says; that facility opened in the late 1960s in a rented two-bay garage near the Highland Lakes Campus.

Professor Hildebrandt says students of all ages are enrolled in OCC’s ATA programs. "They range from 18 to 60, and in every class of 25, we typically have about three women." Because classes are offered at night, as well as during the day, many working adults are able to take advantage of the evening programs.

And during difficult economic times like these, the programs tend to fill up, Professor Hildebrandt says: "Automotive servicing is an area where job demand remains strong.

Manufacturing jobs may get moved to Mexico or China, but we don’t send our cars overseas for repair."

OCC students in the ATA program often attend for a variety of reasons.

In October 2002, several students appeared before OCC’s Board of Trustees to explain their interests in the college’s program:

• Brian Wright works as an engineering technician at the General Motors Proving Grounds. He’s also working toward an OCC associate’s degree – something his employer now requires of all new salaried technicians.

• Bill Wagner is a finance system analyst at DaimlerChrysler with a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan. He’s taking classes to enhance his knowledge about automobiles.

• Anthony Watterson is only a senior at Lakeland High School, but since the 10th grade, the all-A student has been taking classes in OCC’s ATA program, as well as the college’s CAD program, learning how to be a designer. By the time he graduates from high school, Anthony will have completed a full year of college courses.

• Krystle Howell is a full time OCC student majoring in business administration and also studying to be a hospital pharmacy technician.

Krystle, her sister and their mother have enrolled in the ATA "Fundamentals" course so they can learn how to make their vehicles last longer and how to reduce maintenance costs.

So whatever your reasons for getting close to a vehicle – a secure and well paying career that you can transport to any part of the country, enhanced knowledge about the field that makes the Motor City run, or a desire to do a little repairing under your own hood – OCC is a great place to begin.