Graduation caps and big smiles will be worn proudly this week as the four students in the inaugural class of the Industrial Production Apprenticeship program at Bendix’s Acuña, Mexico, facility celebrate completion of their studies.
Bendix says the graduates will receive both their high school diplomas and technical degrees through a two-year dual-education program designed to prepare them for careers in the manufacturing industry.
The apprenticeship program was designed through a partnership between Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and Colegio de Estudios Científicos y Tecnológicos del Estado de Coahuila (CECyTEC), a local technical vocational school in Ciudad Acuña. Bendix says the goal of the partnership is to help prepare students for the manufacturing workforce by improving the practical, hands-on educational opportunities available in Acuña.
Through the unique two-year program, Bendix says students gained work experience in an industrial setting while earning a high school diploma. The program is officially recognized as part of the Dual Education Mexican Model (MMFD), thanks to its combination of technical applied apprenticeships and the high school curricula.
“Bendix is proud to give back to the communities where we live and work,” says Carlos Hungria, Bendix chief operating officer, who serves as project coordinator with Maria Gutierrez, director of corporate responsibility and sustainability. “In Acuña, the educational opportunities available do not fully align with the technical jobs in the area. Through this apprenticeship program, we are able to expand the opportunities for technical education and help prepare the next generation for the workforce.”
Four students from CECyTEC were selected in 2017 for the inaugural class of the program, which combined their classroom instruction with four-day-a-week hands-on vocational training at the Bendix Acuña operation. Bendix says their program courses were complemented with four 16-week rotations at Bendix, covering occupational safety, quality, industrial engineering, and materials/logistics. This experience places students on a path to enter the manufacturing workforce or to continue their manufacturing education through college.
Bendix says it worked with CECyTEC and the Coahuila state government to develop two concurrent initiatives to support technical education in the area. One was creating the apprenticeship program for select CECyTEC students. The other was designing and building a new industrial production laboratory, open to all CECyTEC students.
