Cleaned, polished and ready to roll.
Two vehicles given to the College of New Caledonia’s (CNC) Automotive Service Training program are set to help students learn about the new technologies on the road in the day and age.
Prince George Ford hands the keys to a Ford F150 and Expedition today (Feb. 18) at CNC’s John Brink building, both of which were damaged in a flooding in 2020 and were deemed irreparable, so it sought to donate them to tomorrow’s technicians.
Lucas Rene de Cotret, a two-year auto trade student and currently in week six of the local program, is looking forward to soaking up the knowledge that’ll help move his young career forward.
“We’re in a trade where there’s a major transition happening from combustion engines to electric, and with the way the environment is going and all that stuff, it’s pretty much inevitable that we’re going to get to that,” he said in an interview with PrinceGeorgeMatters.
“So being able to work on these vehicles which are at the cutting-edge of technology and state-of-the-art is what’s really going to benefit us into the future because our trade is going to be less mechanical and more electrical as more time goes on.”
This year, Rene de Cotret has experienced what a lot of students have dealt with… learning from the comfort of his own home through a computer screen.
He says needing to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic and staying home for the sake of safety has added some stress, but is hopeful with hands-on classes making a slow return.
“You’re sitting at home staring at a computer for eight hours a day and doing all this stuff online is very different than just the two days we’ve had in class with these guys,” Rene de Crotret explained.
“You’re teaching yourself concepts you’ve never seen then trying to process that information [...] In the same way, we’re guinea pigs. This is all a test, we’ve never gone through this before; eight months ago, wearing masks wasn’t normally, but [CNC] is making it work.”
Ford of Canada is also giving students at CNC, and across the nation, access to its online Automotive Career Exploration training, which has potential to open career opportunities in the industry.
Rene de Crotret is prepared to go into what he calls ‘scrap mode’ in remaining focused and passionate about his work, especially during unusual circumstances.
“It’s like a doctor working on a body, you know, all these things have parts and they operate other parts, so it’s interesting to have that knowledge and that’s where your mind goes. It really makes you think and that’s the part I think I like the most is the diagnostics and thinking ‘Hey, how am I going to approach this?’, and it’s about helping people out too. Cars aren’t going anywhere and pandemic definitely makes it more difficult.”
The Ford F-150 and Expedition are two of 95 total vehicles donated to similar programs across Canada by local Ford dealerships.
