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Success Stories

Karen M
Title: ROV pilot and maintenance technician
Company: Allseas Group

Karen travels the world working as a pilot "flying" underwater robots (ROVs) which are used to monitor underwater pipe laying. She is also responsible for maintaining and repairing the ROVs onboard the ship. Since they are out at sea, Karen needs to be very self-reliant when troubleshooting problems and implementing fixes. She says "Good troubleshooting skills are paramount to any technical job, especially on a ship where the equipment and supplies are not always plentiful. Sierra College really provided a place for me to practice and refine those skills." She adds that "My job really kicks ass!"
Shane M
Title: Electronics Technician I
Company: City of Roseville, Environmental Utilities Maintenance Division

Shane's job is to calibrate and provide preventative maintenance for industrial grade sensor equipment that in turn, through computer control, activates or shuts down various processes which make sure that the quality of Roseville water adheres to State regulation.  By being cross-trained in both electrical and mechanical skills, he is qualified to address virtually any technical challenge that he may face. Shane says, "The Sierra College Mechatronics program taught me the multiple skills and thought processes necessary to approach my new (well paid) career with confidence."
Nick B
Title: Maintenance Technician
Company: Anheuser-Busch (Fairfield, CA)

Nick is working on a wide range of tasks in Anheuser-Busch's bottling plant in Fairfield, CA including instrumentation (calibration and ranging of sensors, etc.), PLC programming and a wide array of electrical and mechanical tasks. His work truly spans the full range of the field of mechatronics. With machines that can fill and cap 26 cans per second, the equipment he works on is state-of-the-art industrial automation. Nick enjoys his new career and the new challenges it brings him every day. And with a starting hourly payrate of $27.75 an hour ($57k per year), technician jobs at companies like Anheuser-Busch show that a mechatronics education can be financially rewarding as well.
Kent N

Title: Technican (Level 2)

Company: POS Portal (Sacramento)

 

Kent's job is to troubleshoot, repair and refurbish Point-Of-Sale (POS) credit card and debit card machines. His daily work involves electrical and mechanical repair, reading of schematics, detailed electrical soldering and a wide array of other mechatronics skills. Kent was one of 52 applicants for this job and his supervisor told him the reason he got the job over the other applicants was that he brought in some of the projects he built as a student in our program. Those projects were concrete evidence that Kent had the electrical and mechanical skills needed and also that he understood the value of high-quality workmanship.   Kent says "Being able to learn quickly is important in this job and the knowledge and skills gained at Sierra College gave me the foundation needed to learn new skills quickly".

Michael B

Title: Engineering Student

School: Brigham Young University

 

After studying mechatronics at Sierra College, Michael decided to continue his studies, pursuing a bachelor's degree in engineering at Brigham Young University.
 
Studying mechatronics at Sierra College helped Michael be confident that engineering was the educational path that he wanted to follow. Engineering is always a challenging major, but Michael reports that "The education I recieved in Sierra's Mechatronics program really helped prepare me for the challenges of engineering school. The course content and the hands-on work at Sierra proved to be very helpful in keeping up with the fast-paced classes I am taking now." 
Heathere S

Title: Production Technician

Company: Nestle Waters (Sacramento)

 

Heathere works for Nestle Waters on their water bottling equipment. She is responsible for keeping production up and running on her equipment including identification and correction of any electrical or mechanical problems.

 

Heathere says "Once the folks at Nestle realized all the skills a Mechatronics education included, they were confident I would be a good fit and be able to handle any technical challenge that came my way."

 

Update: Nestle was so happy with Heathere and the education she received at Sierra, that they have since hired three more of our mechatronics graduates as full-time technicians and two more for seasonal help!

 

Another Update: Less than 6 months after being hired, Heathere was promoted to a higher level of responsibility and received a sizeable pay raise with it. Congratulations, Heathere!

Kevin M

Title: Construction Electrician
Company: Sierra Pacific Industries (Lincoln, CA)

 

Kevin fabricates automated equipment used to sort large and small lumber. Soon he will be updating the entire Lincoln mill to the newest Allen-Bradley PLC systems that can speed up the cutting process and have the ability to work on the system from any computer on the network. Cutting an entire tree into finished lumber in seconds requires very high-power, precision controlled equipment. It is a great example of mechatronic systems on the job.     

 

Kevin says "I am using my knowledge from Sierra College everyday to fabricate new electrical equipment that is used to sort, move, band and package units of lumber from 4 feet to 26 feet.  Without my training from the mechatronics program I couldn't have got this job."

Mitchell P

Title: Plant Maintenance Technician
Company: Vannelli Foods (Rocklin, CA)

Mitchell was already an experienced machinist/welder with some millwright experience when he enrolled in our program to broaden his skill set.  After graduation he was hired by Vannelli Foods to perform all the maintenance, and repairs on mechanical, electrical, and control systems required to keep the plant operational.  He also works on expanding the plants operational capabilities by installing new and refurbished equipment. Mitchell says,"Without the education I received at Sierra, I wouldn't have the range of knowledge and skills to do this work. I keep learning more on the job all the time. I love this job and the wide range of tasks I get to do every day."

 

Update: Less than one year after being hired, Mitchell was promoted to Maintenace Manager. Congratulations, Mitchell! This is a great example how a mechatronics education can be a great addition to other technical and workplace skills you may already have, leading you to an even better career!

Josh I
Title: Lift Maintenance Technician
Company: Mammoth Mountain Ski Area

Josh's goal when he entered our program was to work where he wanted to live, outdoors in the mountains around Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. He worked hard to learn as much as possible from his studies and with some perseverance after graduation, he obtained a position at Mammoth as a maintenance technician. Josh says "The real-world skills I learned at Sierra College were exactly what I needed to obtain this job. I love living and working in this area and studying Mechatronics at Sierra College got me on the path to make it happen."

Brandon S

Title: Field Technician / Electrician

Company: D3 LED (Rancho Cordova)

 

Brandon works for D3 LED. They make the large animated lighted signs you see everywhere from Raley Field to Times Square in New York City. In fact, they designed and installed over 80% of the animated signs in Times Square! These signs (which can be 30,000 square feet or larger) are a complex mixture of electronic components, computer hardware, electrical power and mechanical framing structures. They are a great example of the blend of technologies that encompass mechatronics. Brandon says: "I love this job. The best part is that I get to travel all over the country from New York to Texas to Oregon constructing, installing and maintaining these signs. And I get to work with all kinds of electrical wiring, computer routers, cabling and fiber optics. I even get to do welding and work with cranes! The education I received in the Sierra College mechatronics program set me up so that I am ready for just about anything they throw at me!"

John-Mark M

Title: Mechatronics Engineering Student

School: California State University - Chico

 

John-Mark is working on getting his bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering at CSU-Chico. John-Mark says: "Starting my engineering education in the Sierra College Mechatronics program definitely gave me an advantage with my schooling now. Having a solid knowledge of the basics from Sierra is allowing me to learn the complex new material here at the fast pace they expect us to pick it up. In one digital electronics lab, my partner (another Sierra Mechatronics graduate) and I were the only ones to succesfully complete the lab!"

Tyler W

Title: Technician:

Company: Cique du Soleil

 

Tyler works as a technician with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas and is part of the crew that keeps the shows running smoothly. If you have ever seen a Cirque show, you are probably not surprised that they are using the most high-tech automation equipment available anywhere. And their pay and benefits package is outstanding. When Cirque came to Sierra College Mechatronics to recruit employees, they said that our program is one of three in the entire United States providing this level of training. Tyler loves the work he does and the opportunities that this career is providing to him and his family.

 

Update: Cirque was so happy with Tyler that they have hired another Sierra Mechatronics graduate. Congratulations, Jaques G!

Brandon O

Title: Designer

Company: Smartrise Engineering

 

Brandon works for Smartrise Engineering, designing elevator controllers. He started about 1.5 years ago in tech support answering phones, but rapidly moved into field support and quickly becoming the "go to" guy for technical troubleshooting. He made a point of studying their microcontroller programming and became their local expert on VFD control of motors. He then took on a project rewriting their controller code, earning the company a national safety certification for their products. It was obvious from the start that Brandon was a very bright guy, he just needed somewhere to learn the basics.

 

A quote from Brandon's latest email update: " I work directly under the owners of the company, have my own office and am very well taken care of. I love my job, it has a blend of everything. MCU's, Drives, PLD's, Motors, Relays, Hydraulics, etc.. You and the mechatronics program were a great influence in helping me get here. I will always appreciate the program. The best news out of all of this is they want me to get my engineering degree. I start at Sac State this Fall (Computer Engineering) and they are giving me the time I need off to go to classes. Thank you again for all that you have made possible."

More To Come!

There are too many great stories about our graduates to tell them all here, but hopefully the examples above give you an idea of the possibilities. Besides all the companies listed above, our graduates have been hired by Schilling Robotics, Michrom Bioresources, Telefunken Semiconductor, Harris & Bruno International, Ceronix, Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, Linear Design Group, Alameda Electric, Solar Edge Technologies and many others. We have graduates working at over 50 local technical companies and the list grows every day.

 

We can't promise an amazing career to every student that enrolls in our program, but we can promise to provide you with the same training and hands-on skills that all of these people received. After that, your career opportunities are only limited by your motivation, aptitude and imagination.

 
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