Aspiring diesel technicians gain versatile engine repair skills from the OSUIT School of Transportation and Heavy Equipment’s North American Equipment Dealers Association (NAEDA) Agricultural Equipment Technician program.

Cody Wornkey, a NAEDA faculty member at OSUIT, traveled to Hot Springs, Arkansas, last week to show prospective students the career opportunities that the program offers.

OSUIT offers a wide range of diesel technician training programs, including Caterpillar (CAT) and Komatsu, which prepare students to work specifically on machines manufactured by those companies.

“[NAEDA students] will be diesel technicians working on ag equipment or construction equipment outside of Caterpillar and Komatsu,” Wornkey said.

The NAEDA program offers a two-year Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree designed to prepare students for high-demand careers in the evolving agricultural equipment industry.

The program provides students with a gateway to their professional career.

“My students work with a sponsor dealership throughout their program. Most of them will do a work study before they come to campus,” Wornkey said.

The NAEDA program has a 97% job placement rate for its graduates, according to Wornkey.

“That's very high. And that's because we foster that relationship with the dealers from the very beginning,” he said.

NAEDA students receive in-depth, hands-on training at OSUIT that prepares them to get right to work once hired.

“I have engines and transmissions in the shop that we tear down, and I have a partnership with some ag dealers that provide tractors for our use in the shop lab also,” Wornkey said.

The program teaches students versatility by having them work on a diverse range of machinery, including Caterpillar diesel engines, transmissions from John Deere four-wheel-drive tractors, several different C&H transmissions, hydrostatic and gear drives and Volvo articulated dump truck transmissions, according to Wornkey.

OSUIT’s NAEDA program partners with the NAEDA Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1988 to create educational programs that benefit dealers, employees and the equipment industry. It also establishes scholarship programs at post-secondary schools.

The NAEDA Foundation sponsors a portion of OSUIT’s NAEDA program, according to Wornkey.