What's Happening at Ranken Technical College

Students Show Off Skills at State Competition

Over the weekend of March 30 - April 1, Ranken students who placed first or second in the Regional SkillsUSA competition had the opportunity to go to Linn State in Linn, Mo. to compete in the Missouri State competition. As in the past, Ranken students fared very well and 10 of them will be moving on to the National competition to be held in Kansas City, Mo. the weekend of June 25 -26.

Congratulations to all of our students who competed and to the first place finishers who will be moving on. Thank you to all of the faculty and staff who made the trip to Linn State to participate and support our students!

Architectural Drafting

Bryan Sohn 2nd place

Alexander Carter 5th place

 

Architectural Drafting Technical Information

Bryan Sohn 2nd place

Alexander Carter 5th place 

Automated Manufacturing Technical Information

Ian Wille 1st place

Blaine Mescher 2nd place

Jeremy Franklin 3rd place

Scott Martin 4th place

Nick Goris 5th place

Ghreg Wellmaker 6th place

 

Automated Manufacturing Technology (Teams)

Scott Martin 1st place

Blaine Mescher

Ian Wille

Jeremy Franklin 4th place

Nick Goris

Ghreg Wellmaker

 

Automotive Refinishing Technology

Katie Beck 1st place

Shawn Brummet 9th place

 

Automotive Service Technical Information

Lucas Klinkhardt 1st place

Josh Myers 3rd place

 

Automotive Service Technology

Josh Myers 1st place

Lucas Klinkhardt 2nd place

 

　

Carpentry

Ryan Faust 1st place

Joseph Len 5th place

Carpentry Technical Information

Joseph Len 2nd place

Ryan Faust 5th place

 

CNC Milling Technology

Matthew Warnecke 1st place

Jared Cheatham 4th place

 

CNC Turning Technology

Andy Schaefer 2nd place

Aaron Farrington 3rd place

 

Collision Repair Technology

Stephen Hayn 2nd place

Ben McLean 7th place

 

HVACR

Chris Duwa 3rd place

Jeffrey Thompson 4th place

 

Precision Machining Technology

Nick Moutrie 5th place

Robert Bindrim 6th place

 

Welding Fabrications (Team)

Tyler Doerr 1st place

Jeff Pope

Robert Thompson

 

　

 (Blue indicates moving on to the National competition.)

 

NATEF Recertifies Automotive Division

Every five years, Ranken’s Automotive program must be recertified by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF). The process is tedious and includes a lot of documentation, reports and a site visit.

On Friday, March 30, an evaluator from the NATEF and two local automotive industry experts came to campus to review the general automotive program to ensure that they are continuing to meet all NATEF standards in curriculum, faculty credentials, equipment, tools and consortial partnerships. Ronnie Raines served as the program’s accreditation coordinator and was responsible for most of the organization and documentation needed for the visit. The evaluator was very complementary of Ronnie’s careful organization of the data and supporting evidence.

The department will be recommended for recertification without any corrections. Congratulations to Ronnie Raines and the entire Automotive division!

 

Spark Plug Challenge

Enter the Spark Plug Challenge with a friend at the upcoming Ranken Car Show on April 15th. 

Sponsored by the Alumni Council this challenge will test your skills at spark plug changing— 4 out and 4 in—the fastest time wins a prize! At the end of the day are you the fastest? Champion trophy will be given during the awards ceremony for the fastest time recorded. Singles, duos and teams are welcome. The cost per timed contest is $1 and all proceeds go toward the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.

See you there!

 

"Rebuilding Day" Annual Community Service Event

Alumni and students are invited to participate in the national Rebuilding Day sponsored by St. Louis' Rebuilding Together organization. This day of giving back to the community by repairing, rebuilding and upgrading homes of the elderly, handicapped and low income in the St. Louis area will be held on Saturday, May 5 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Groups all over the country will be joining together to help others on this national day of service. This is the 3rd year for Ranken's involvement in this event and is a fun day supporting a good cause. Only a helping attitude, 25 workers and a house captain are required. Personal tools are a plus! Join us as we assist a homeowner near the Ranken campus and continue support of our neighbors.

Pictures of previous Rebuilding Days can be found at our Flickr Page.

Contact Kathy Fern, (314) 286-4895 or email ktfern@ranken.edu with your interest or questions.

Time To Nominate Distinguished Alumni!

It is time again for annual nominations for the Distinguished Alumni and Distinguished Young Alumni Award to be presented at Ranken's May 12 graduation celebration at the Chaifetz Arena. These awards honor Ranken graduates who have excelled in their career and given back to their community. The deadline for nominations is January 31, 2012. 

The criteria, nomination form and additional information can be found at  http://www.ranken.edu/alumni/honoring-our-alumni under Awards. Any questions can be answered by contacting Kathy Fern, (314) 286-4895 in the alumni office.

Recipients will receive a commemorative plaque and name inscribed on a perpetual plaque. 

Past recipients are Distinguished Alumni Earl Walker (2010) and Tom Wood (2011) and Distinguished Young Alumni are Andy Raines (2010) and Jeff Scott (2011).

Automotive Installs New State-of-the-Art Equipment

Automotive Maintenance recently installed new equipment from Hunter Engineering in their shop. The new additions include tire changers, wheel balancers and alignment systems. This week a representative from Hunter came to campus to do a training session for the Automotive instructors and some second-year students.

The Hawkeye Alignment System features WinAlign software that fully integrates the functions of the console, sensors and lift into one highly efficient alignment system.

The up-to-date balancers have upgraded features that improve productivity and help service today’s challenging wheel assemblies with unique tools such as the TPMSpecs™ database, VIN scanning capability, automatic cost-savings tracking, and the Road Force® audit.

The newest version of their tire changer includes a leverless tool head that eliminates tire and rim damage, side storage for accessories, center-clamp design which can accommodate a wide range of diameters and a bead press arm which aids in mounting and dismounting.

"We feel really fortunate to have this type and amount of equipment in our shop," said Dan Kania, Automotive division chair. "Of course its a great benefit to our students to have the latest equipment to learn on but it also helps local tire sales companies like Dobbs and Firestone by having well-trained graduates available to hire in their stores."

"This all came about by a collaboration between Hunter and Stan Shoun and we can’t
thank them enough for giving our students this opportunity."

For more information on Hunter Engineering and their products, visit www.hunter.com.

 

Alumni Remember the Past

William Boedeker (Machine Shop 1965) retired in 2001 from the Los Alamos National Laboratory and tells us he was recently evacuated from his home during the Las Conchas wildires. Luckily for him he was able to return after seven days without any loss. What Bill remembers about his Ranken education is "the personal attention I got from the instructors".

Rob Wirth (Architecture 1971) is the president of Wirth Professional Services, Inc. in Gillespie, Ill. He remembers "the only attitude that was acceptable at Ranken was that I was there to learn. All the instructors had a personal interest in me, our well-being and to give us a good education."

Dean Tepen (Automotive Maintenance 1986) remembers "the fact that I made it!"

Marshal Pinnix (Precision Machining 1999) wrote that his favorite memory of Ranken is "walking across the stage to receive my diploma. I'm proud to have gone to a college with zero tolerance for those who choose not to succeed. Ranken was hard and demanding. Thanks to all for the experience!"

Elizabeth Maue (Advanced Welding 2009) is a maintanance engineer at Dillard's. She says, "my favorite Ranken memory is meeting new people and having great teachers!"

Send your memories of your Ranken education to ktfern@ranken.edu to be posted or published. We are happy to hear from our alumni and look forward to seeing you back on campus in the near future. 

Scholarship from Forest Pharmaceutical

Pictured L-R: Craig Hood, financial aid; Ken Meyer, development, Theresa Belding, senior manager of fleet services and Lisa Geringer, senior fleet administrator.

Theresa Belding, senior manager of fleet services for Forest Pharmaceutical came to Ranken to deliver a $5,000 scholarship check for students interested in our new Fleet Management certificate program. Belding was recently selected Fleet Manager of the Year by the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA). Part of her recognition is the ability to award a scholarship to the organization of her choosing. Funding for the scholarship comes from Wheels Inc. and AFLA and Belding also approached Forest Pharmaceutical about matching the award and they readily agreed.

Belding has chosen to utilize the award funding she received to establish scholarships at Ranken. These $1,000 scholarships will be part of an effort to identify students who have an interest in fleet management and encourage them to pursue that certificate program at Ranken. The scholarships will the named The Belding Fleet Management Scholarships.

 

 

Recent Scholarships Awarded

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Martin, a second year Precision Machining student who was recently presented with a $5,000 scholarship from the St. Louis chapter of National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA). Martin is from St. Charles, Mo. and graduated from Francis Howell High School.  

 

 

 
 
Shauna Wollmershauser,a second-year Automotive Maintenance student was recently awarded The Arnie Knepper Memorial Scholarship. This $500 scholarship is presented annually to a student in the Automotive division at Ranken who takes a particular interest in racing. It recognizes the winning student’s commitment to the motorsports industry and is based on grades, teacher recommendations and two essay questions. Wollmershauser is from St. Louis, Mo. and graduated from Cleveland Navy Junior ROTC High School. Last year she was the official photographer for Ranken’s Annual Car Show and recently had one of her photos published in Hot Rod Magazine.  

Automotive Hosts Conference for Local Teachers

 
On October 6-7, Ranken hosted the 72^th semi-annual Illinois College Automotive Instructors Association Conference (ICAIA). The first day of the conference began with a trade show where more than 30 vendors from industry set up and displayed their products. By 8:30 a.m. more than 120 automotive instructors had made their way through the trade show.

Conference attendees included 143 automotive instructors from Missouri and Illinois, many were from the Chicago region. Technical presentations took place throughout the day and presenters included representatives from GM, Ford, Hunter Engineering, Snap On , and 3M. Lunch was served to 220 people in the atrium of the Mary Ann Lee Technology Center.

On Thursday evening, a banquet was held at the Pear Tree Inn and 135 people were in attendance. Jim Halderman was the guest speaker and gave an excellent presentation on the emerging technologies in the automotive industry. Two $950 scholarships were awarded to Ranken students. Lucas Klinkhardt from AMT and Steven Hayn from ACR received the scholarships. The scholarship money was donated from ICAIA, Mac Tools, Keystone and ATI.

The second day of the conference continued with technical presentations from Ranken instructors, Omar Trinidad from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale , Tom Freels from Sinclair Community College, a representative from Snap On and a representative from 3M, just to name a few. Many positive comments were made by attendees on Ranken’s facilities and overall everyone seemed very impressed on what the College has to offer.