Student launches new career thanks to HVAC program, hard work
Making semiconductor chips is a precise process. It's so exacting, in fact, that the clean rooms in GlobalFoundries’ new Malta facility cannot vary in temperature by more than a few degrees. Just hired as an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) Technician, Anthony Lewis of Troy will help to keep the chip fab’s facilities up to standards, using the education and professional certifications he earned in the HVAC Certification Program for Adults at the Capital Region Career & Technical School.
Lewis is a 2004 graduate of Redemption Christian Academy in Troy who had been serving as a youth minister. Married with a young son, he researched careers and decided to pursue training in HVAC. “Career websites showed HVAC as having high employment rates, and I thought it would be a good paying job that I would like. As a kid, I wanted to be involved in technology and even have my own business some day.”
After finding a local college’s HVAC program was full, Lewis located Career & Tech’s class on the Capital Region BOCES website and enrolled in August 2010. He paid for his own tuition, saying it was “the best investment I ever made, career-wise.” He also noted it will be a positive investment at income tax time as an educational expense.
At Career & Tech, Lewis earned nationally recognized professional certifications including OSHA 10-hour Safety Course, EPA 608 Certification, Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing (CSST), and Green Awareness Mechanical Council certification. He began working as an HVAC Technician at GlobalFoundries position on July 11, a position he landed after first applying online and then successfully completing a series of interviews.
“I applied to other HVAC companies,” Lewis related, “and had another job offer besides GlobalFoundries. All were very nice places that look out for their employees.”
Lewis endorses the education he received at Career & Tech. “I would very much recommend the BOCES program to others. It has been an awesome opportunity for me. Mr. Ando is a great teacher, a great help and a good friend. He cared about students personally and prepared us well for our tests.”
Qualified HVAC professionals are always in demand. Anthony Lewis was among more than a dozen adult students who studied HVAC this past school year at Career & Tech through a program offered in partnership with Schenectady County Community College and funded by a grant from the New York State Energy & Research Authority (NYSERDA). Other alumni of the program have secured employment or enhanced their current positions at businesses including WK Clough & Sons, CA Albright & Sons, and Draper Development.
A new session of HVAC Certification for Adults begins in September and registrations are currently being accepted. More info
