Automotive and Aviation

1. Automotive and Aviation Technician Education Summit SWOT ANALYSIS Trident Technical College

2. Strengths • Being able to draw from accomplishments of other ATE centers. • Tremendous need for personnel, especially in the Charleston area. • Filling job openings with qualified trained candidates. • Synergy • Industry’s commitment – companies are in the area for the long term. • Training without extensive and expensive travel time. • Transforming offsite courses into an online onsite course, without leaving the workplace. • Efficiency of education. • ATE Center could access both Basic and Targeted training. • Learning with Flowcharts vs. Simulations • SC has a learning environment that is focused on serving industry needs. • The State is eager to help industry. • Taking people that are usually rural and in farming, and quickly changing them into new industry. They become used to change. • Having Clemson in the lead, creates a central convener for all colleges in the state

3. Weaknesses • Proprietary issues. • Generic vs. Specificity • Response time – training quickly enough to meet the needs of industry as it pertains to new technology. • Industry tends to lean towards 4 yr degree graduates, and pushing away from 2 yr degree graduates. • Quantity and Quality of the prospective students. • Trying to come up with a mechanism that will be compatible with the systems in all colleges and partners. • Very qualified people, however cannot maneuver through online mechanisms. • Age: growing up with e-formats vs. those who have not • Tie e-Learning with hands on learning – Hybrid environment • Poor rural state – no access to VR

4. Opportunities • People attracted to the Charleston area because of the presence of Boeing. Therefore, the community colleges in the area, as well as the center, need to have clear career paths. • Growing lack of highly skilled workers. • How to portray a real career in this type of technical environment. • Develop training standards and platform that can be customized. • Outreach to K-12 that tie into industry standards. • Creating a real close relationship between the colleges in the state. And can go into K-12. • Sharing information among the state educators • Cost of aviation maintenance equipment and with this partly covered by the ATE Center, funds can be moved to other areas. • Engaging military bases not only for support but also to serve as a resource. Also, to ensure transition of careers from military to industry. • Opportunity to engage and educate designers and manufactures on aviation maintenance and automotive technologies. • Much more technology savvy generation.

5. Threats • Cost of training • Money to support continued development • Automotive technology changes constantly – • FAA approval. • Making sure to include professional development for faculty. • Center does not get funded. • Computer capabilities and hardware goes out of date quickly and the Center and partners need to be able to catch up. • Keep up with technology. • Education cycles trails industry technology cycles. • FAA books have not been updated in the last 20 yrs. • Trying to educate the educators of where technology is going. Aiming a moving target.