Most college students are filled with ambition and a desire to make an impact in a field that they’re passionate about. Ivy Tech Community College provides students with the opportunity to go to school close to home while still having the ability to achieve big things.
Dean of Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering and Applied Science School at Ivy Tech Valparaiso Jennifer Ortiz admires the level of dedication in these students. It gives her confidence that the educational institution will continue to thrive for many years to come.
“We have programs in engineering, manufacturing, welding, HVAC, industrial technology, robotics, machine tools, design and more,” Ortiz said. “All of those programs are within our engineering technology department. We also work really closely with industry sponsors. We meet with them to review our curriculum and our equipment to ensure we’re meeting the needs of their future employees. This allows us to create a pipeline of jobs for our students.”
Ivy Tech is motivated to give its students the best chance to perfect their skills and maximize their potential through these programs.
“It’s very important that our students receive not only the technical skills, but also what it looks like spending a day in the life of their specific program,” Ortiz said. “It creates a seamless approach for getting the students more involved in their careers. Our career link department is staffed on finding students' jobs. They bring internships to us and employers that are looking to teach classes in these areas.”
One student who found their job through the Career Link is Alana Gorski, engineering student and supplemental instructor. She attended a spring Career Fair in 2024 and was recommended to apply for a position.
Gorski serves as the captain and co-founder of a student organization at Ivy Tech that is building an electric car for the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas 2025 competition. This event invites more than 100 schools in North America to participate in the ultimate battle of energy efficiency. Teams get to design, build and test-drive their vehicles while creating a cleaner energy future.
“We’re called Team Ivy for the competition,” Gorski said. “Both Ivy Tech and Team Ivy helped me land a co-op position as a project manager with SMS group, which is a steel industry company. Ivy tech offers a solution to make our biggest passions come true. Our team faculty advisor for the Shell Eco-Marathon team is also the department chair of engineering and energy technology with several years of industry experience. Our team includes all of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.”
This will be the first time that Ivy Tech has sent an electric car to the Shell Eco-Marathon Americas.
“We’ve learned things like technical certificates in computer-aided design software and manufacturing skills,” Gorski said. “We have students and faculty from every program in the college of advanced manufacturing. It also takes members of the engineering and applied sciences programs to bring this together. It’s nice because everyone plays a different role. We're a school that focuses on renewable energy, so an electric car felt like the best option for us. This was created to increase the ability of branching out at Ivy Tech and showing people that just because we’re a community college, that doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish national level feats.”
While this national experience has been a blessing for Gorski and Team Ivy, she’s very appreciative of the staff and students that have helped shape her career path through courses and student organizations.
“All of our professors at Ivy Tech are incredibly approachable,” Gorski said. “Our student organizations are critical as well, especially the one that I work with. A lot of our students are working for sponsors right now, and we're able to connect with people in a workshop with Autodesk from Canada.”
Ivy Tech is focused on directing students in a way that ensures them a job once they graduate. The university hopes to continue its impressive success rate and increased student opportunities for many years to come.
“We have a pretty high success rate for our graduates obtaining employment when they leave here,” Ortiz said. “They’re ready to get into the workforce and make an impact. It’s important for us to fuel our workforce throughout Indiana. A lot of students are getting their tuition up through a technical certificate for free due to the need for manufacturing work in the state. One in every five workers in this state come from a manufacturing background. This allows us to get more graduates into the field, and we couldn’t be happier to see the impact this has on the students.”
For more information on Ivy Tech Community College, you can visit its website.
