InTech's Manufacturing Day Brings Together 600 Inland Empire Students

Carl Opsahl prepares his students for careers in civil engineering and architecture as a teacher at Yucaipa High School. On Friday, he took them out of the classroom to look at career possibilities at the Chaffey College Industrial Technical Learning Center in Fontana for National Manufacturing Day.

“When you order something on Amazon, people don’t understand that a machine is putting together that order and people behind the scenes are maintaining them,” Opsahl said.

Hundreds of middle and high school students from 15 San Bernardino and Riverside County schools visited InTech to meet with employers, try their hand at welding simulators, program robots and more. Manufacturing Day is an event that gives companies and schools a chance to showcase modern manufacturing careers to students, parents and the public.

In addition to Yucaipa, students came from Carter, Rialto, Eisenhower, Los Osos, Montclair, Grand Terrace, Granite Hills, Valley View, Patriot, Nueva Vista, Colony, Chaffey and Jurupa Valley high schools. Students also came from De Anza Middle School in Ontario.

Manufacturing involves the mechanical, physical or chemical transformation of materials, substances or components into new products, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Students can pursue careers in industrial maintenance, as robotics technicians, machinists, welders and more.

Employers including Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, California Steel Industries/Nucor, Target and FedEx, and others answered questions for students about job prospects and how they can prepare for manufacturing careers.

Aidan Alarid, a student at Eisenhower High School, tried out a program called zSpace at the event, manipulating a bionic hand on a laptop screen by using a stylus. He says he wants to go into the military and later college. Checking out manufacturing jobs now is giving him a chance to weigh multiple options.

“It’s pretty amazing because it opens our eyes to opportunities, pay and hours, and gives us an idea of what we want to do,” he said.

Granite Hills senior Belen Silva, who wore a NASA shirt to the event, says she wants to become an aerospace engineer or an aircraft mechanic. She came to network and get information on what she needs to take in college to prepare for those careers.

“I’m very grateful to be here. I wouldn’t know anything about these careers without this event,” she said.