Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Pics from Instructor Zach Wallace's fifth year, second semester Commercial Electrical Apprenticeship class at WECA's Rancho Cordova HQ in June, 2022



It's that time of year! Before graduating, WECA Commercial Electrical Apprentices must complete assessments (AKA "capstones") to demonstrate their knowledge of myriad real-world, on-the-job scenarios. The apprentice pictured here is working on Commercial Capstone Exercise 2: Commercial Miser Control, which requires apprentices to design a motor control circuit for a commercial bakery mixer from scratch and then install the circuit on the lab wall.



The apprentice pictured above is installing the conduit for the commercial mixer control circuit in the bakery.







Celebrating a job well done! As part of their final semester capstone projects, the apprentices in this class received a request in the form of a change order to add a mixer control circuit to the larger bakery project they were working on. This bakery project is used as a foundation to assess key competencies within the Commercial Electrical Apprenticeship program. Students are given instructions stating the circuit requirements, and then they design the circuit in our simulation software. Once this is complete, they then install the entire circuit, including boxes, conductors, and equipment.

?Well done, everyone!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pics from Instructor John Arias' third year, second semester Low Voltage Apprenticeship class at WECA's Rancho Cordova HQ in May, 2022









The third year, second semester Low Voltage Apprentices pictured above are working on a hands-on assessment of a data/phone system. This system is one of six systems that make up their program capstone. In their final semester, WECA assesses apprentices' complete system knowledge including designing, estimating, documenting, installing, and commissioning.

Students are also pictured installing the cable and terminations for a building network system. This system includes all wiring and connections typically found in a copper Structured Cabling System within a commercial building -- from the modem, through the cross-contacts, and all the way to the data and phone jacks found in an office work area. Students are then assessed on a comprehensive list of criteria to ensure mastery of this type of system, and others, before they are able to graduate.

Fun fact: the six systems that make up their program capstone are CCTV, data/phone, fire alarm, intrusion, audio, and access control!