TSTC’s new Diesel Equipment Technology facility to open to Marshall campus students in upcoming spring semester

(MARSHALL, Texas) - Construction of the new Diesel Equipment Technology facility at Texas State Technical College's Marshall campus is on track to be completed in November.

"We're incredibly excited to welcome this new addition to TSTC's Marshall campus," Bart Day, the campus's provost, said. "The expanded footprint and $2.6 million investment in new equipment will greatly enhance the skills our students gain while they're with us, and in turn provide employers with a technician with an even stronger capability to add to their bottom line."

The $14.5 million building is one story and 21,720 square feet. TSTC senior construction manager Adrian Del Rio said it will be opened to students in the upcoming spring semester.

"I'll have furniture coming into the building the first week of December and the academic side will be relocating equipment from the existing building to the new building and relocating their offices into the new offices," Del Rio said. "They'll have a troubleshooting period to make sure everything is functioning the way it should."

Bradley Hayes, program team lead for Diesel Equipment Technology and Welding Technology, has been acquiring equipment from bulldozers to an excavator for the new facility and updating the Diesel Equipment Technology program's curriculum to incorporate it.

"Our old model had a lot of theory and trainers, but only a limited amount of real equipment," Hayes said. "Going from the theory to a trainer and then to the live equipment is going to give the student the most realistic experience in what their career is going to be like."

Trey Smith, a maintenance shop supervisor for construction equipment supplier HOLT CAT 's Longview location, graduated from TSTC's Diesel Equipment Technology program in 2012. He said it really speaks volumes that the program has outgrown the old building since then.

"The footprint on the newer facility and being able to accommodate more machines and more trainers for these students to get their hands on, I think that's really going to close some skills gaps in our industry here over the next couple of years," Smith said.

Registration for TSTC's spring semester is underway. For more information, visit tstc.edu.