(ROSENBERG, Texas) – Ryon Korenek chose to pursue Robotics and Industrial Controls Technology at Texas State Technical College’s Fort Bend County campus because it is cutting-edge technology.
“It’s more important to our economy right now because of how backed up everything is,” said the El Campo resident. “We just need to get stuff moving rather than waiting on stuff and waiting on parts. With this kind of technology, we can jump forward.”
Students in the program take classes in elementary physics, business and technical writing, AC and DC circuits, and robotics diagnostics and programming.
“Students need a desire to learn and attention to detail,” said Charles Sparks, lead instructor in TSTC’s Robotics and Industrial Controls Technology program at the Fort Bend County campus.
More than 90 employment openings have been posted in the last two weeks on indeed.com for robotics technician-type jobs in Texas that are paying from $25 to $33 an hour.
“Houston provides a lot of opportunities, more so recently in the past few years,” Korenek said. “Houston is turning into a startup area that will produce a lot of jobs for our field.”
Electromechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians in Texas received in 2021 an annual median salary of more than $61,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOne Stop website. There will be a need for more than 1,500 workers in Texas in 2030, according to the website.
TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree and a certificate of completion in Robotics and Industrial Controls Technology at the Fort Bend County and Waco campuses.
“(The program is) for people that actually want to put in the work and dedication every single day and come in here with a purpose and actually get stuff done,” said Marvin Ely Trujillo Cruz, of Houston, a Robotics and Industrial Controls Technology student scheduled to graduate in spring 2023.
The Robotics and Industrial Controls Technology program is part of TSTC’s Money-Back Guarantee. Participating students who graduate but are not hired in their program field within six months of graduation may be eligible to get a tuition refund for their time at TSTC.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
