As Arizona industries demand in career and technical education certificates continues to increase, education districts in the state are continuing to meet that demand with new CTE programs available for high school students.

Western Maricopa Education Center introduced a new Automation and Robotics Systems program at its Southwest campus located in Buckeye. The program started in August to give high school students training in industrial automation, a field expected to be in high demand for the rest of the decade. 

“A lot of requests from is industry is for automation robotics,” said Julie Rodriguez, West-MEC’s director of Program Research and Development. “We’re constantly growing and meeting the needs of all the industry in our region here.”

Robotics engineering job opportunities are expected to have almost 20,000 new jobs needing to be filled by 2029, according to a news release from Lavidge, a Phoenix-based advertisement agency that works with several groups in Arizona, including West-MEC, Arizona Public Service and the Secretary of State’s office. 

The automation robotics program is available for high school sophomore, junior and senior students. Enrolled students are taught about robotic automation design and maintenance. 

Rodriguez said while jobs in this field have typically been for robotics on an assembly line, that is no longer the case. Now, students are often identifying potential issues from machines  at a computer that they share with engineers, which requires data analytics skills.

Some jobs that students may go on to once they enter the workforce include robotics technicians, control panel builders, mechatronics technicians, and electro-mechanical technicians. 

“West-MEC’s mission to empower all students to participate fully in the economy by providing and enhancing CTE is very important because we truly are training the next generation of workers, innovators and leaders in the West Valley,” West-MEC Southwest Campus Administrator Aaron Parsons said in the news release. 

The program is a one-year program with two sessions; one in the morning and another in the afternoon. The course is taught by Sabrina Bandin and Rodriguez said it was important for West-MEC to have a woman teaching in a field that is represented mostly by men with the hope of drawing more female students to the class. 

Male students are more likely to participate in CTE courses, according to a 2019 report from the U.S. Department of Education. About two in five male high school students in the report went on to concentrate in a specific CTE area while a third of female high school students concentrated on a CTE field.

Rodriguez said the automation robotics program started this August with a temporary lab and there were some minor difficulties in getting all the machines ready for the first day of class, but those are typical minor issues that can come up with a new course and a new instructor.

“Now things are almost a well-oiled machine and we’re just excited for when that new lab does open up,” Rodriguez said. 

In 2023, West-MEC students earned more than 7,000 industry-specific credentials, which covers a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, aviation maintenance, coding, information technology, culinary arts, hairstyling, nursing and veterinary science. 

West-MEC serves more than 45,000 students across 49 different high schools in the Phoenix metropolitan area to provide opportunities for students to earn college credit and industry credentials. Other campuses are located in Glendale, Phoenix and Surprise. 

The growth of industries and the requests for skill sets that businesses want students to have can be hard to keep up with for many education centers, Rodriguez said. West-MEC works with food and beverage companies like Pepsi, Gatorade and Nestle with thousands of jobs expected over the next five years, she said. 

“They’re meeting weekly because they see a need for students to come out with these skills working in food and beverage,” Rodriguez said. “We work closely with our industry partners to promote what their need is.”

The CTE district also offers seven adult education programs with aviation maintenance technology, dental assisting, HVAC, IT security, pharmacy technicians, manufacturing and welding.