Southern Oklahoma Tech Center Cranking Out New Diesel Technicians for Today's Job Market

By Mark Francis, Staff Writer
The Daily Ardmoreite, Reprinted with permission
10/ 09/ 06

A diesel technician needs more than mechanical skills to survive if he or she wants to be a part of the competitive market.

Gone are the days when auto and diesel technicians were considered mechanically inclined, but less, if not mostly, unintelligent academically.

Today, however, they are required to learn reading and writing skills, as well as math and science to be in the competitive world. New technological advances in automobile and diesel engine production have seen to that.

Southern Oklahoma Technology Center's Diesel Service Technology instructor, Jeff McCathern, said a career diesel technician also has to be adaptable to the constant technological changes, and being academically inclined will help.

"It's a lifelong process to keep up with the electronics and computer technology," McCathern said. "With all the changes coming with alternative fuels and hybrid technology, it's important for technicians to have good, basic skills."

McCathern, who has been teaching at SOTC for eight years, said diesel technicians now must keep written records of each repair and submit them to him. He said the same process transpires after the student has completed school and has entered the working field.

One such example is the story of Beau Pruitt, 19, of Lone Grove.

Pruitt, while in the seventh grade, believed he didn't need to know how to read because he wanted to be a diesel mechanic. A seventh-grade counselor asked McCathern if she could bring the student by for a reality check.

"We sat down and I showed him service manuals, computer diagnostic machines and other technical devices required in the diesel-technology field," McCathern said. "After he left, I was unsure I made an impact. Then one August, when meeting a new class of high school juniors, one asked 'Do you remember me?'"

After the introduction, McCathern said Pruitt was one of the best diesel technicians to leave his class. Pruitt is now employed by MHC Kenworth and is sponsoring him to attend Oklahoma State University Technical Branch-Okmulgee to specialize in their product line.

Pruitt said his stepfather was a truck driver and he always knew that he wanted to be a truck driver or an automotive mechanic, but after he entered McCathern's class, he decided diesel technology would be his lifelong career.

"Taking that course is what helped me get my career started," Pruitt said. "I love working as a diesel technician and I enjoy working on diesel engines more than gasoline engines because more money is involved."

McCathern said the students learn from hands-on experience and are able to get on-the-job training before their tenure in the course has ended.

The Diesel Service Technology Program provides training for industrial applications using various types of special tools and special repair procedures. It provides students with broad transferable skills that will allow entry into the job market with more flexibility to function with new and emerging technologies.

McCathern said students may enroll in morning or afternoon classes, and adults may attend both. He said the course, which contains 15 morning students and 15 afternoon students, is currently at full capacity, including two females.

About 80 percent of McCathern's students have gone to work as a diesel technician or in a related field.