Automotive News Canada - March 2022 - 25

* MARCH 2022
25
New techs needed faster than they can be churned out
JEFF OAKES
EDUCATOR'S CHALLENGE?
MESH SCHOOLS WITH INDUSTRY
TRAINING A STEADY SUPPLY
of automotive technicians can be
challenging as new vehicles rapidly
evolve with electrification. On
the cusp of dealing with skilled-labour
shortages is Jeff Oakes, chair
of trades and apprenticeship at
Conestoga College in Guelph, Ont.
" We're the largest apprenticeship
trainer in Ontario and we're
at capacity for students, but the
average age of an auto tech is 47,
and more people are exiting the
trade than being replenished from
the schools, " he said. " We're constantly
getting
phone calls
from employers
saying, 'Do
you have anybody
for us?' "
Oakes,
One of Jeff
Oakes'
challenges
is getting
high school
students to
consider the
trades, which
they might not
see as a career.
PHOTO: NANCY
DOMSIC KINGS
50, attended
Conestoga
to become a
licenced automotive
technician,
and
apprenticed
at a two-bay
independent
garage.
He mostly
saw older
cars there
and moved
to a General
Motors dealership
in 1998
to learn about
newer technologies.
A
former
teacher suggested he try teaching
at the college, which hired him as
an instructor in 2002.
" Our school got the summers
off, and I made a deal with the
dealership to work there during
the summer to get training on the
newer vehicles. I did that every
summer for 10 years. "
He became coordinator of the
automotive program in 2014. Five
years later he became the trades
chair, overseeing repair programs
for automotive, motorcycle,
bus and coach, and heavy-duty
equipment, plus heavy construction
operator. He also has
helped rewrite the province's curriculum,
which sets the standard
taught by schools to apprentices.
Oakes is in charge of hiring
staff, reaching out to high schools
to recruit students and updating
courses for new technologies.
" Auto companies have been
fantastic about donations, but
keeping our fleet current isn't
cheap and we need what's new to
keep students up to date. "
RALPH SCHLOTTKE
PULLING WHAT'S BEHIND
HELPS GM PULL AHEAD
IT'S NOT OFTEN THAT
people can turn their hobbies into
careers, but Ralph Schlottke did
just that. An avid outdoorsman
who tows boats and snowmobiles,
Schlottke heads up trailering
technology at General Motors in
Oshawa, Ont.
" We realized a number of years
ago that the battle for trucks isn't
won by how shiny your paint is,
but what we can do for customers.
I've been towing for 40 years and
there are a lot of things we can
make better for customers when
they tow. "
Schlottke virtually meets weekly
with engineers worldwide
to manage the
development and rollout
of trailer technologies,
including those that work
with GM's semiautonomous
Super Cruise system
that allows limited
hands-free driving.
" A lot of the [electronic] vision
systems are done in Israel, some
vehicle dynamics are done in
Michigan and now that we have
[a test facility] in Oshawa we can
do our testing here. "
Schlottke, 56, studied electrical
engineering at the University of
Waterloo in Kitchener, 120
kilometres west of Toronto,
and then worked for
Transport Canada installing
communications systems
and radar at airports
across Ontario. His love of
cars led him to designing
electronic systems for auto
supplier Magna International. He
joined GM in 2000, working first
on compressed-natural-gas (CNG)
vehicles and then on vehicle electrical
architecture. He eventually
Ralph
Schlottke's
extensive
experience with
trailering helps
him create and
improve towing
technologies
for General
Motors.
PHOTO:
GM CANADA
moved into advanced safety technologies.
" People
were coming to me
with questions about trailering
because I tow so much and it created
my role. I have a counterpart
in the U.S. who takes our technology
and prepares it for production.
There's a need for trailer
safety and there are a lot of things
we can do for the customer.
" We always want our features
to be better. " - ANC
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Automotive News Canada - March 2022

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