Ethan Uribe of Yerington High School earned MT1 certification during his senior year of high school.

In the past, Tesla, Panasonic and Click Bond are some of the local manufacturers who have sent their employees through Western Nevada Colleges Automation and Technology Centers manufacturing technician training program. WNC students have also enrolled in the program and have been hired by some of these same companies.
But for the first time, a high school student from Yerington High School has completed the three-course program and passed three exams to earn the prestigious MT1 certification from the Manufacturing Skills Institute. Uribe, a recent graduate of Yerington High School, completed the program during the spring and is one of two dozen high school seniors who have earned the MT1 certification.
Ethan has been a strong communicator and he has overcome the challenges of taking college classes while in his senior year, said WNC Electronics and Industrial Technology Professor Emily Howarth. He has earned both his college credit and MT1 industry certification before high school graduation, and Yerington High School can be very proud of this student taking on the challenge to increase his future opportunities!
Howarth said that seniors who complete the program are extended job offers before they graduate from high school.
Uribe took the classes as part of WNCs Advanced Industrial Technology Rapid Hire MT1 program for high school seniors and with the support from the colleges new AIT mobile lab, which was made possible by the Governors Office of Economic Development. The lab will enable WNC to train and certify even more students in the Yerington area this fall and provide them with high-tech career opportunities with college partner Nevada Copper.
The program provides students with foundational knowledge of the fundamental skills needed in advanced manufacturing. The Rapid Hire program for seniors accelerates intense focus on the three classes so that students are certified and job ready upon graduation. It includes math and measurement, quality and Lean concepts, and an introduction to manufacturing processes. Problem-solving strategies are developed while learning about simple machines and industrial systems through practice with computer and web-based tools.
Uribe said he was apprehensive at first when Mark Calhoun, who teaches math, automation, engineering, physics and astronomy at Yerington High School, presented the opportunity to him, but that anxiety subsided when talking and meeting with Howarth.
Of all the students at Yerington High School the opportunity only went to me, and I think that with the program being more focused on achievement and seeing how far I could go with it, it was comforting, Uribe said. I think the most attractive thing about the program at that time was that I was obsessed with computer hardware, so I was also drawn to how circuits and technical concepts work.
The certified manufacturing technician also sees the program as a means to become more diversified in his technology knowledge and skills as he enters the Navy.
The opportunity presented itself and I was already planning to enter the Navy as an aviation mechanic, Uribe said. My recruiter had told me that my special study as a MT1 could benefit me for the future and help me acquire more responsibilities. I was also curious about what I would learn in that program. I think it was more like a leap of faith and my impulse was my desire to grow.
Dedicating time to complete the program during his senior year meant that Uribe needed to be flexible. Calhoun provided Uribe with time in his classes to complete some of the work. But Uribe also used his lunch hour and advisory period, as well as several hours daily at home to learn the material.
All the time I was thinking about how to do more of the program without complications, Uribe said. When I got home I also studied one or two hours, trying to meet my goal per day. Basically, all of the time, I was studying except on Sundays.
Since Uribe has completed the three-course program and passed his certification exams, he has some advice for individuals who are considering but are unsure about entering the program.
If the opportunity presents itself, you have the time, the desire to improve yourself and the desire to learn, even if complications arise, just do it. Every opportunity that presents itself in order to give yourself a better future, just take it. Uribe said.
Uribe is glad he stepped outside his comfort zone and broadened his skillset.
We look forward to seeing Ethan start his successful military career with these accomplishments already on his resum, and we know that his community and high school will join WNC as we all celebrate his hard work and this noteworthy achievement, Howarth said.
To learn more about WNCs industrial technology program and the adaptive expertise individuals learn from it, contact Howarth at emily.howarth@wnc.edu.