Students in the electrical academy at St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic Secondary School now have access to a new piece of equipment to help provide real-world, hands-on learning.
The Windsor Electrical Contractors Association on Tuesday unveiled a new mobile electrical training device, designed and built by Flexible Industrial Solutions.
The device will enable students to learn fundamental electrical skills that they can apply in real-world settings as the next generation of skilled trades workers.
President of the Windsor Electrical Contractors Association Mike Hope says they were looking for ways to promote apprenticeships.
He says the device starts with a main electrical panel like you would see in a home, and it leads to light switches and receptacles, everything you would see on the job.
“Back 40 years ago when I went through the trade, we did everything little banana clips and plugged in yellow to yellow and red to red, didn’t really learn anything,” says Hope. “Here, they’re actually going to see this is what goes on in the industry. Any job site that we have currently going on, you would see the same thing. Running conduit, putting connectors in, and mounting boxes. They would get all that experience.”
Hope says they want to show that being an electrician or any kind of tradeperson is just as important as being an accountant or a lawyer.
“Look around, right. There’s solar, there are wind farms, and there’s electrical. There’s going to be communications and data; that whole industry is starting to explode as well. There’s going to be all kinds of work, for sure,” he says.
Electrical Academy Teacher Jesse Mulveney says they’ve set up the device to have 24 volts so it’s safe for the students to use, and there are practical applications attached, such as lights and doorbells to be wired up.
“I grew up as a hands-on person, so basically doing the stuff with my hands is how I retain any information,” he says. “I find that any of the students who are in here, that’s the way they pick up too. I would say a very high importance, in my opinion anyways.
The device is being donated in honour of William Smith, the retired chairman and CEO of Electrozad Supply.