2019 Annual Report - 6

Faculty Spotlight
" That was a blow to me. I thought I'm not doing this
anymore, " said Richardson. " Dr. Vincent Miles, who
teaches a criminal justice class, said he could relate to me
and he helped me get through it. He said, 'you're going to
take lumps in your life.' He helped me out of that negative
mindset. "
Fast forward to today. Richardson is an industrial
electrician at Armstrong Flooring, Inc. in Lancaster,
troubleshooting the high-tech automated machines that
make tile flooring.
" My favorite thing is the thrill of the hunt, " he says. " When
a machine goes down, we have to figure out why it isn't
running. The machines are pretty complex. There are lots
of sensors, and coders and it can be a challenge to isolate
the issue. "
Dr. Vincent Miles
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology presented
the Excellence in Teaching award to Dr. Vincent
Miles, social sciences professor with Thaddeus
Stevens College. Dr. Miles was nominated by
students and selected by faculty for this award,
which is presented to an outstanding faculty
member who exhibits the following: enthusiasm
in the classroom, preparedness and currency in
material, ability to encourage diverse view points
and values differences.
The industrial track of electrical technology at Stevens
College taught him about motors, automated processes,
and installing, programming, and troubleshooting
machines. " It's really satisfying to get it back up and
running and know that company is making money again, "
said Richardson.
Today, Richardson is " making an income that I never
thought I would make and enjoying what I do on my
job. " Richardson has traveled to Detroit and Chicago for
Robotics and Lean Manufacturing training as part of his
job, and he is being groomed to move into a supervisory
role.
Not surprisingly, Richardson has more goals. He plans to
go back to college for a bachelor degree in engineering.
" I've worked my way up but I still have so much more
opportunity to grow - whether in my job or to go on to
get my engineering degree, " said Richardson.
" If you're willing to work hard enough, you can slowly
crawl out of any hole, " he added.
Richardson has a new motivation for his continued
personal growth - his son.
" Now, I have a little boy, " says Richardson, " and a lot of
this is for my son. My dad wasn't around and didn't help
me. I want to be there to guide my son, to point him in the
right direction and hope that he will make good choices. "
6
2019 Annual Report

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2019 Annual Report
