By Angelica Johnson, Journalism student

Education and technology are coming together like never before, as Los Medanos College and Tesla launched a partnership by presenting a “Manufacturing & Robotics Information Session” via Zoom. This collaboration has already led to many opportunities for students to partner with Tesla, as they complete their education at LMC and start great jobs after graduating. A total of 66 LMC students and alumni from five majors attended a company-hosted information session in early December. By the end of that month, 28 students applied for jobs, and seven had already accepted job offers!  

Tesla initially reached out to LMC to learn more about our Electrical & Instrumentation Technology (ETEC) program, which is part of the in-demand advanced manufacturing sector that also include Process Technology (PTEC), Welding, and Automotive Technology. The company already employs several LMC graduates and wants to strengthen their workforce pipeline by hiring more trained students straight from the College. Qualified LMC applicants are guaranteed to receive a screening interview – in fact, Tesla built a special application page just for LMC students. Tesla is also engaging with LMC faculty to participate in program advisory boards and share ideas for more real-world projects to embed in classes. 

The PTEC, ETEC, and Auto Tech programs committed a total of over $57,000 in federal Perkins funds to equipment upgrades this year, and LMC is investing over $1 million of California’s Strong Workforce Program funds to remodel the lab that is shared across all of our Vocational Technology programs. 

Ricky Baeza – a Tesla recruiter and LMC alumnus, said, “As part of Tesla, I’m delighted to be able to share potential opportunities with an innovative and industry-leading company to a community of alumni and students enrolled in great programs. We’ve seen great success and hires from these programs, and we’re just getting started!”  

If you are interested in a hands-on, in-demand technical career, contact an LMC counselor today!

A version of this article was originally published in The LMC Experience newspaper on December 2, 2020. It was updated with results of the information session.