Simulator equipment enhances VGCC Heavy Equipment program
One of the newest programs at Vance-Granville Community College recently received high-tech equipment thanks to grant funding from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The Heavy Equipment Operator training program, based at the college’s Warren County Campus in Warrenton, now has three computerized training simulators manufactured by John Deere.
Each simulator allows students to virtually train on a different type of equipment: a motor grader, a four-wheel drive loader and a backhoe. Students use foot pedals, joysticks and steering wheels that mimic those found in actual heavy equipment, while large computer monitors in front of them display a virtual jobsite in the first-person style of a video game.
These simulators offer a safe and efficient way to train new operators in a risk-free environment. Highly detailed and realistic lessons teach proper operator technique, machine controls, and safe operation. The simulators feature real-world situations, jobsite hazards, safety violations, hand signals, equipment damage, budget based scoring, and replica machine controls.
VGCC students use the equipment not only for practice and experience but also for testing that is required to pass the course.
The class is scheduled to be offered again at the Warren Campus , starting Jan. 25 and continuing through April 27, 2016. The schedule will again be Monday-Thursday from 6 until 9 p.m. Jason Jones of the N.C. National Guard, who has 19 years of experience in the operation of heavy equipment, is the instructor.
Upon completion of this course, the student will have a general understanding of the requirements necessary to work as a heavy equipment operator for a company preparing a site for the construction of buildings, roadways or other structures.
VGCC’s partnership with the N.C. Department of Transportation has not only provided the simulators but also involves helping those who complete the course find jobs. DOT has also supported a summer camp for high school students at VGCC.
The cost of the course is $185.25 plus the cost of the textbook. Funds are available to help eligible students pay for tuition, fees, and materials through the NCWorks Job-Driven Initiative. For more information, contact VGCC at oex@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3300.
Above: VGCC Heavy Equipment Operator instructor Jason Jones (standing) gives pointers to student Maurice Thorpe, a Granville County resident, as he trains on a motor grader simulator in a classroom on the college’s Warren County Campus. (VGCC photo)
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