Dissatisfied with the changes on the new autos? Talk to some students at the Allegan County Area Technical and Education Center and see what they can do to improve that.
Talk to the 18 students who attended the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last week.
“The students were in awe of what they saw and they were very talkative and sharing photos of cars with each other” on the return trip home, said engineering/CADD and early college instructor Bill Cain.
The classes attended the auto show’s 13th Education Day on Jan. 18.
“I learned a lot about the new models,” said Plainwell junior Mandi Siples. “If I’m ever looking for a new car, I have got a lot of knowledge. I did learn a few new things.”
The next time you see Wayland senior Josh Cross pull into the parking lot, it might be in a lime green Honda.
“It was nice and when I checked it out, it was not overpowering,” he said.
In the market for a driverless car? Ask Hopkins junior Chae’ Barker what she thinks of the “smart” cars before you take the plunge.
“Before you go buy a smart car it is really important to take a look at them,” she said. “It is important to see how they are and if they can really drive by themselves.”
Many in the class said they plan to further their education at a university in the engineering field or a related field.
“There are such amazing cars here,” Fennville junior Alexander Tietsort said. “It is definitely an inspiration to me.”
Cain, who has taken two classes to the show for five of the last six years, said these students are expected to write a paper on the excursion, including an explanation of what and how they would change something in the cars they saw. After their lunch break, the students visited all of the vendors gathering literature and other information for their assignment.
The guys won’t be designing all of the changes; the girls in the class were just as into the assignment.
“But we are respected as equals,” Siples said. “We expect nothing less from the guys and we are all treated with lots of respect in class.”
Siples’ comments were echoed by Hopkins junior Becca Colby who reiterated the fact they were treated equally.
“They (the males) treat us with complete respect,” she said. “They treat us like everybody else.”
The auto show’s Education Day offered the tech center students a customized view of the event. A discounted admission price included not only a pizza lunch but also access to pre-and post-show lesson plans, tours hosted by experts, hands-on activities and career-based presentations.
But the best part of all, at least in the eyes of Matthew Jenson, a Wayland senior, was the venue.
“This building (Cobo Hall) is amazing,” he said. “It is so much better and bigger (than the Grand Rapids auto show).”
Larry See Jr. is a retired freelance writer and editor who is a resident of southeast Michigan.
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