Launching lives: UC Clermont manufacturing program to offer paid internships

The program will place students in semester-long, paid internship roles to gain on-the-job experience with local employers.

“This new program will help bring the skills learned in class to life and help students gain advanced footing in their careers now and in the future,” said UC Clermont’s Manufacturing Engineering Technology Coordinator Doug McPhillips. “Hands-on experience is critical in manufacturing because employers need graduates who can hit the ground running — those who not only understand the concepts but can also operate equipment, interpret technical drawings and solve real-world problems on a manufacturing floor.”

The college’s Manufacturing Engineering Technology program prepares students for a variety of positions within the manufacturing sector. Students gain specialized education in manufacturing processes — lean manufacturing, project management, additive and subtractive manufacturing, computer-integrated manufacturing and robotics, computer-aided design and problem solving.

“We have a combination of a great facility, strong curriculum and good relationships with industry leaders in the area,” McPhillips said. Top employers for UC Clermont graduates include Milacron, Nestle’ Purina, L3Harris and many area companies. “Manufacturing is a broad field and offers tremendous opportunity right now. Students graduate and get hired quickly with the large demand for skilled workers.”

The associate degree program prepares graduates to be hired immediately as machinists, CNC programmers, designers, detailers and inspectors for engineering firms.

Student Dorca Torres Figueroa, who graduates in May with her manufacturing technology associate degree, hopes to find her professional path right away. Figueroa said her love of design started in a CAD class in high school, but life as a full-time working mother of two left little time to pursue her passion.

When she decided to continue her education, an engineer cousin helped her find UC Clermont’s program. The degree appealed to Figueroa because of its flexibility and hybrid structure that combines in-class, hands-on learning with online instruction. Once she arrived on campus, she found even more to recommend the program.

“I work in the morning and could attend class in the evening and online,” Figueroa said. “The small class sizes made it easier to interact in the hands-on classes. And the instructors take their time to offer one-on-one help; they really try to get to know their students.”

Figueroa found that the program deepened her enjoyment of design — and she feels prepared to succeed in the field from day one.

“I love working little by little to create something out of nothing,” said Figueroa. “With this program, I have options once I graduate for whatever I want to do for a job.”

This summer, Figeuroa will gain paid experience with Milacron thanks to UC Clermont’s Cronin Career Scholars program, which collaborates with on-campus and community organizations to create local internships. Students work part time, learn professional skills and apply what they learn in the classroom to the workplace. Launched in 2024, it is the first paid internship program of its kind available to UC Clermont students, thanks to donor Dennis Cronin, a graduate of UC’s College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning. UC invented cooperative education in 1906 and is ranked the top 5 for co-ops and internships by U.S. News and World Report.

In addition to the two-year manufacturing engineering associate degree, the college offers a certificate in Computer-aided Manufacturing, Robotics and Automation, and Computer-aided Design, providing valuable training for a career in the manufacturing industries or allowing students to stack credentials toward an associate degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology. Students get hands-on experience in UC Clermont’s state-of- the-art computer numerical control labs while also completing coursework online.

Learn more about Manufacturing Engineering Technology at UC Clermont.  

Featured image at top: Dorca Torres Figueroa, who will graduate from UC Clermont with her associate degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology in May, works in the college’s robotics lab. photo/Danny Kidd