Automotive equipment donated to college
PRESQUE ISLE — Equipment donated to Northern Maine Community College from a national automotive industry organization will benefit students in three mechanical trade programs.
Photo courtesy of Northern Maine Community College
NMCC INSTRUCTOR Paul Lajoie, right, shows students, from left: Phil Chase of Houlton, Scott Long of Fort Kent and John Parent of Caribou, features on one of the new digital multimeters given to the college by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation.
The gift to NMCC from the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) of 15 digital multimeters will enhance the learning opportunities of students enrolled in the automotive collision repair, automotive technology and diesel hydraulics programs. Altogether, more than 85 first- and second-year students are enrolled in the three mechanical trade offerings.
“The digital multimeters will be used for course offerings in automotive electricity and automotive electronics. These are very good tools for students to use to measure voltage, amperage and resistance, which is helpful in trouble-shooting with all of the electronics in today’s vehicles,” said Paul Lajoie, automotive instructor. “With the technology in vehicles today, a multimeter is essential.”
According to Lajoie, the new equipment will be used both in class and lab sessions to perform practical exercises and work on vehicles.
The donation of the digital multimeters from NATEF to NMCC was the result of a gift to the national education foundation by Amprobe Test Tools of Everett, Wash. The corporate donation of electrical testing equipment is the largest donation in NATEF history — a total value in excess of $500,000.
With the donation of the thousands of Amprobe DM7C Digital Multimeters to the organization, NATEF had enough to donate five each to all of their accredited programs throughout the country. All three of NMCC’s mechanical trade programs are accredited, and, as a result, the college recently received 15 units that will be used by faculty and students. The total value of the units received is just over $500.
