High Tech for Electricians

By MICHAEL JOHNSON, News-Record Writer
Published: Sunday, December 13, 2009 12:19 AM MST
To earn a Gillette College degree in one of three technical fields, students must now travel a nine-mile radius between any of four sites. Diesel technology, welding and electrical students, along with those in the engineering and mining technology programs and a host of others, now will be housed under one roof. They only have to trek across the bridge for extra classes on campus.

After years of lobbying the state Legislature for money to build the Tech Center, the state agreed to split the cost with Campbell County and passed state Sen. Michael Von Flatern’s bill in 2007.

“The Legislature understood how important Gillette was to the rest of state,” McGrath said. “With all of the minerals and industry here,” legislators realized this is where that center should be.

Von Flatern had argued that, without the building on campus, students did not have the chance to mingle and learn from one another.

“When you’re located so far from the college, you don’t catch the connection,” he said.

“It will help save me gas,” said Lance Chase, a 19-year-old diesel student.

He’s working on a two-year degree and now commutes between the main campus and the diesel technology building. Other students thought the new technologies were going to be a boost for their careers. They said learning from the most up-to-date equipment would give them an edge.

That’s something that Arch Coal Vice President Greg Schaefer also looks forward to. He sees the well-educated welding, diesel and electrical students as a great opportunity for the local industry.

“We would be potential employers to all of those,” Schaefer said.

It all works together.

“You get all the technologies under one roof and you’ll have some synergies,” said Ray DeStefano, an industrial electrical instructor.

It might not be instantaneous but the demonstration labs will bring students together from multiple disciplines to work on the same machinery. It’s not by accident.

The entire building was designed around making sure people cross paths, said Joel Anderson, design architect of CTA Architect Engineers.

“There is an overriding goal to cross-pollinate,” he said.

Here’s a little of what all of that entails:

$36,800,000 includes the cost of the building, the site plan and all the equipment. The State of Wyoming and Campbell County split the cost. Plus, the 13 acres it sits on is a $2.8 million contribution from the City of Gillette.

91,054 square feet in the Technical Education Center and a 4,050-square-foot storage building provide space for programs now housed at three separate locations to come together under 74,289 square feet of roof. And it doesn’t have to end there. “If some day we’re doing space shuttle maintenance, we can add on,” Young said. “The whole east side of the building ... was designed to add on to.”

30,000 gallons of water can be stored at any one time underground in a cistern that will collect about 400,000 gallons of water that annually runs off the roof. That will be used to water lawns and for xeriscaping. It’s about half of the water that is needed. By cutting down on water costs, the $55,000 system could pay for itself in about 10 to 20 years depending on water prices and annual rainfall, Anderson said.

13,000 tons of concrete. It’s also built on 11,500 feet of steel piling. When coupled with the steel used to build the structure, it totals 480 tons.



4,500 square feet of space in the “flex area” can seat up to 300 people. It becomes the Donkey Creek Cafe for three daily meals for students and faculty provided by Campbell County School District. The space also can be divided to create three smaller rooms. Another 26 glass panels create a divider that separates the multi-use commons area from the Pronghorn Room.

1,083 light fixtures inside and outside the building don’t have to be on in many large rooms thanks to 33 large skylights.

232 standard chairs for 30 round tables, plus another 30 lounge chairs.

144 parking spots, a number determined by the city ordinance. There’s room for more.

104 miles of wiring. Enough to reach Sheridan College from the Gillette College. About 14 miles of electrical conduit and six miles of pipe.

48 seats in a mini auditorium. Young said it was a bonus room that can be used for teleconferences and presentations by students and the public.

38 instructor office spaces for teachers, administrators and staff. A bank of rooms will house industrial safety including Mining Safety and Health Administration and Occupational Safety and Health Administration trainers. Rooms also have been set aside for visiting teachers. Many of the rooms are multi-use. Even the six storage rooms have windows. The second-floor, “corner office” space with the view has not been assigned. Young said it will be a mini conference room so it can be used and enjoyed by everyone.

32 rustic wooden beams and six timber pillars line the front entrance. Young said they serve to tie in the architecture of the original building. Students can cross the 170-foot bowstring truss pedestrian bridge made with Douglas fir supports that carry through with the theme. Once past the timber beams at the Tech Center entrance, Young said students and visitors will leave any hint of the rustic behind for the latest in technological advances.

16 cross-beams throughout the building are not load bearing. They are exposed to continue that “techy” feel throughout the facility.

15 instructors buildingwide. That’s it. Young said the operation is lean and mean. Each department takes care of its own needs.

12 permanent classrooms and two flex rooms can be used in multiple scenarios. The largest room can accommodate 50 students — it’s the computer-aided drafting room.

24 flat screens positioned throughout the facility used as part of a digital sign system for messages, training information and job announcements.

1 document production system room will be the source of most instructional material, which all comes in a digital format that’s print-on-demand.

Diesel Tech

The 50 students in the diesel program are about all the two instructors Brent Heusinkveld and Travis Grubb would like to take on. In fact, they would like to see smaller classes in order to give each student more time.

The facility at 509 S. Second St. across from AVA has housed the department since 2001. In the past, the department had to pass up on large workshops because the equipment would have overloaded the 8,400-square-foot building, Heusinkveld said. The new building is more than double that size.

20,000 square feet of space about 36 feet high is devoted to diesel technology programs.

10,000 new tools including sockets and wrenches housed in 32 upright portable tool boxes. Each will be shared by two students.

64 students can work on cutting-edge equipment at the same time. Instructors signed up an extra 30 students this semester partially thanks to publicity of the new building, Heusinkveld said. They took them on knowing space would be available the spring semester. If enrollment ever warrants it, a second shift of classes would allow 128 students.

32 work stations. The current building on Second Street has 12 work stations and is overloaded.

12 jib cranes with 2-ton capacity, along with two bridge cranes that can lift 5 tons each and one center crane with 10-ton capacity. Students will learn to work on heavy equipment similar to what’s available at companies like Wyoming Machinery and Komatsu. The idea is to train students in an environment that’s like the workplace they will end up in. “They can show up, day one, and be ready to work,” Young said.

1 engine dynamometer and one chassis dynamometer brings the program to a new level. Students will be able to bring in a big motor, run it at full speed and see how it performs. They don’t have to worry about noise and exhaust fumes thanks to a sealed control room between the two dynamometers. From that room they can view a computer that analyzes the performance. Diesel instructors believe the machines are the only ones of their kind in a tri-state area. They are worth about $250,000 each.

Culinary Academy

The program, just like the entire Tech Center, is about providing careers, Young said.

“It’s a start for the hospitality and tourism industry,” he said. “We had heard from those industries for years and kept saying ‘some day.’ Well, some day is here.”

The area is like the average home kitchen on steroids. Thanks to input from area businesses like The Chophouse, Prime Rib, Clarion Inn and Convention Center, Boss Lodge, Cam-plex, and Coffee Friends, it’s a nicer kitchen than most of the students will find if they continue into the culinary profession.

The culinary program in Sheridan has become so popular that the Gillette Campus will take on students who want to earn a certificate in baking. Once the program gets going, Young said they hope to start weekend cooking classes for anyone.

“Think of this,” Young said. “Imagine people from Cheyenne and Jackson Hole coming here for a weekend getaway.”

10 burners on one range, along with a 10-gallon mixer, a 30-gallon kettle and a 25-gallon skillet. It’s also equipped with a bread-rising machine, a meat slicer, an oven, a deep fryer and a roaster.

1,200 square feet in the professional prep kitchen will allow classes of about 25 to practice culinary skills at a time. The kitchen will allow high school students to join the new culinary academy. The academy will start in the fall of 2010 by enrolling 50 sophomore students. It includes:

1 big fridge. It’s an 8-foot by 15-foot walk-in attached to a 6-foot by 8-foot deep freeze.

1 fireplace in the Pronghorn Room, which can be used for board meetings or groups for teleconferencing. The room will be converted into a restaurant once the culinary program is operating in the fall. Once a week, up to 30 people will be able to reserve space for a gourmet meal.

Welding Center

Instructor Bryant Hagg now has 25 students enrolled at the building north of Gillette on U.S. Highway 14-16 near the airport. In its new digs in the spring, the program will have room for 50 students during one shift. That number could double by adding another shift.

His only worry is that the equipment students will be working with may be more advanced than much of what’s available in area welding shops.

“It’s not your father’s welding shop,” Young said.

10,000 square feet will accommodate 50 students and twice as many with two shifts. The program now is swamped with 25 students.

40 torch bodies will be available for use.

30 welding booths will handle the three primary welding processes including MIG, TIG and stick welding.

1 5-ton floor-mounted jib crane at the overhead door will be used to move welding metals in and out of the bay.

Industrial Electronics

The electronics program at Gillette College has moved around town some, but spent the last semester packed into a room in the main campus. There is very little room for practicing real-world lessons in a field that demands thousands of hours of experience, said Ray DeStefano, one of the industrial electrical instructors.

5,000 square feet will provide room for 100 students, quadrupling the current enrollment. There now is lab space available. The new space has three labs that will be filled with electrical simulators that offer lessons including circuit theory, AC/DC, electrical circuits and power distribution. When put together, they represent an actual setup that students would find at a coal mine. Two students work on each simulator at a time.

4,160 kilovolt supply in a high-voltage lab, which provides students with a scenario that they might find in the field. “It’s exactly what they would find at a mine site,” Young said. “They can pull a cable out and cones and set up a training scenario.” The difference is, in the real world they may have to work on this equipment in the dark in a downpour. DeStefano describes it as hazardous equipment, but not dangerous.

1 demonstration bay shared by the diesel, welding and electrical programs will allow local industries to display their equipment in a central location between the diesel, industrial electrical and welding departments. Anything that fits through the 20-foot by 20-foot door can be brought into the 3,600-square-foot space that also houses a 15-ton bridge crane overhead.

To start things off Cloud Peak Energy and Flanders Electric are bringing in an electrical rotating apparatus found on draglines.

This will be an important part of some students’ senior projects, which require a collaboration of diesel and electrical skills, Young said.

Project Lead The Way

Junior high students interested in pre-engineering classes will have their own room devoted to enhancing their hands-on skills.

“It’s just a wonderful environment for students to act like college students,” said adviser Lyn Velle.

Project Lead the Way works to get students interested in engineering at an early age to give them a focus of study through the rest of their education if they enjoy it.

There isn’t enough room at Twin Spruce Junior High to teach all of the students interested in the program. It requires a large space for them to build and design.