Essential Facts - Heavy Duty Equipment Technician Program

Summary: Not only does this Heavy Duty Equipment Technician article include vital information about Centennial College’s program, it also features a graduate’s testimonial.

A program’s worth can be measured by its graduates’ success. Mike Rice is a recent Centennial College Heavy Duty Equipment Technician program grad. Here’s what he had to say about why this program’s heavy equipment courses appealed to him. “Centennial College first stuck out to me as the facility I wanted to attend because of the advanced courses they offered, and also the business aspect that was injected to better prepare technicians,” he says. “The theory classes are engaging, with open discussions about the topic at hand. The engine, electrical, hydraulic, and heavy labs offer students a place to put everything they have learnt to practice, with engine teardowns, hydraulic simulation boards, electrical simulation devices, and real world machines such as wheel loaders, excavators, and skid steers. Simulated faults and problems allowed us to diagnose and repair the schools machines in a controlled environment. Perhaps my favourite part of [the Heavy Equipment Technician program] was the final project where students were tasked with creating a machine that tied into our advanced electronics and alternative fuels class.”

While Mike’s testimonial offers insight, here are more specific facts of this Heavy Duty Equipment Technician undertaking.

• The offering is structured so that that in-school training is combined with practical on-the-job experience in the form of a co-op work placement.

• Students of the program spend eight months in school attending heavy equipment courses, followed by eight months in a co-op term working for an employer on a full-time basis and a final eight months in the program.

• During in-school sessions, students first obtain basic knowledge to make them comfortable when heading out to work in the field. During co-op, what they learn prepares them for more advanced topics.

• Among the Heavy Duty Equipment courses offered during the first eight months of the program are: Trade Practices, Engine Systems, Drive Train Systems, Electrical Systems, Fluid Power Systems and more.

• Once students come back from their co-op placement, heavy equipment courses become more specialized and include: Alternate Fuel Systems, Heavy Equipment Logistics, Fixed Operations Management, Hoisting and Rigging Technology as well as advanced levels of previous semester courses.

• Some of the heavy equipment courses offered are only available at Centennial College.

• Rounding out students’ Heavy Duty Equipment Technician training are courses in business, English and general education.

• Hands-on application is a big part of the Heavy Duty Equipment Technician Co-op Apprenticeship.

• Centennial College’s transportation training hub, Ashtonbee Campus, gives students access to fully equipped labs that boast tools of the trade and the opportunity to practice fixing actual heavy duty equipment vehicles.

• Heavy Duty Equipment Technician grads work as heavy-duty equipment technicians, service managers, service writers or coordinators, equipment company representatives, or college and industry teachers.
  
  
• Professionals work in industries among which are: forestry, construction, mining, transportation, landscaping, land cleaning, farming and more.
  
  

If you have completed at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or General Educational Development (GED) or equivalent; as well as English Grade 12 C or U, or equivalent or can take the Centennial College English Skills Assessment for Admission, you have the requirements needed to apply for this Heavy Duty Equipment Technician program. You will also have to attend an interview during which you will submit a résumé and questionnaire that describes experience and work readiness. Lastly, it is worth noting that successful Heavy Duty Equipment Technician applicants must be eligible to work in Ontario and have an Ontario driver’s license.

Author Details: Emma gives readers insight into the type of heavy equipment courses at Centennial College.