The skill of turning wrenches will be taking a 21st century leap at Shoreline Community College.
It recently joined with the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium, making it one of only four sites on the West coast where people can go to learn how to repair and maintain their hybrid, bio-diesel or hydrogen-powered vehicles.
“We were thinking we needed to get ahead of the curve,” said Mark Hankins, who oversees the college’s automotive programs. “It fits what we see is going to be needed to help with what the public wants to know about the vehicles.”
He said that Washington is ranked third in the nation in new hybrid vehicle registration and Seattle is fifth in the nation amongst large cities.
The result will be specialized courses ready by summer that mechanics or car owners can take in order to learn about how to repair vehicles. Hankins said that he will also offer a course to emergency responders so they know how to approach a vehicle in a fire or after an accident.
The consortium provides the curriculum to the school. All it needs to provide is a space and instructors. Hankins said he thinks that finding students won’t be an issue. The first generation of hybrids, which uses both a gas engine and an electric motor to power the car, are beginning to come off of their warranties and are appearing on used car lots.
Shoreline is one of 27 colleges nationwide that will be offering the courses. For now, the classes will be taught as evening or weekend courses and not part of the general automotive curriculum. Students in the program are sponsored by a particular manufacturer and they already learn about the alternative fuel programs that company offers.
The public’s interest in bio-diesel, which is derived from vegetable oil, also factored into the school’s decision to pursue joining the consortium, Hankins said.
“Every other day you read something about bio-diesel in a newspaper,” Hankins said. “Why send our money halfway around the world? Let’s have our farmers share in that and keep it local.”
He said his new car will run on the alternative to traditional diesel. He said that the school could potentially offer a class on the production of bio-diesel, how to purchase an alternative-fuel vehicle and the maintenance of those vehicles.
“If you want people to purchase these cars, they need to know about them,” he said. “Right now, we’re focusing on the servicing of these vehicles.”
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