Retraining for a new career in the midst of a pandemic is a fact of life many will face into the new year. Thanks to Workforce Education funding, that reality can be a lot less daunting.
Alex Langenstein is a student in the Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics program at Shoreline Community College. She’s transitioning from a career as an illustrator, animator, and artist for games to a career in mechatronics and is using Workforce Education funding to pay for her tuition.
Thanks to the program’s hands-on training and state-of-the-art equipment, Langenstein has already landed a job as a mechanic on mask-making machines at Seattle-based outdoor recreation outfitter, Outdoor Research.
“She’s one of the most important maintenance people in her plant because she knows how to program their robot,” said Keith Smith, faculty in the Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics program at Shoreline. “She’s one of only three employees who are FANUC-certified (the only National Certification for Robot Operations), so she’s been working around the clock getting the company’s robot set up on a new job.”
Langenstein is also one of only two people in the company who can machine parts. “Alex really demonstrates why those two aspects of our program are so important,” said Smith.
Langenstein was able to enroll in the Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics program tuition-free thanks to Workforce Education funding. “Having financial support to pay for school took a MASSIVE weight off my shoulders. I could afford gas to get to school AND work, I could eat more than once a day, so many things were much easier,” said Langenstein.
She began at Shoreline by pursuing a degree in the aeronautical and astronautical engineering transfer program, but didn’t enjoy “doing too much theoretical math and not enough applied. Mechatronics has been amazing for getting hands-on time with different systems and has really been satisfying,” said Langenstein.
The robot rock star’s ultimate goal is to build spaceships. The Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics program at Shoreline “is a great way to get hands-on training and experience. I haven’t even graduated and I got a job working as a mechanic from what I’ve learned in this program,” Langenstein said.
She plans to stay at Outdoor Research while finishing out her degree, then potentially move on to aerospace in the hopes of getting to fulfill her dream of building spaceships.
Learn more about Workforce Education funding and Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics at Shoreline.