The President established this award to reward students whose grades were “B” or better combined with a record of good attendance, attitude, and work ethic. These students received Solid Works and OSHA 10 Certification classes for one week at the expense of the college.  The awards program includes an extra incentive for the top ten students in the class, which is an Introduction to Welding in a one week class.  

The Awards were presented on Thursday, May 19. The classes will be held during the month of June.

Joseph DeFeo Program Director Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, stated that the “Presidential Award is a wonderful incentive for our students during their first semester of the AMTC program. These awards add value to the students’ resumes, and give them a competitive advantage in the work place with this additional knowledge and skill base.” 

The College also recognized successful students in their Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program at the May commencement.  The Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center (AMTC) awarded 41 certificates in Advanced Manufacturing Machine Technology. To date, 100% of the evening AMTC cohort graduates from December 2015 have been placed in full-time manufacturing jobs. This spring, 100% of NVCC students from both day cohorts were placed in industry internships.  It is fully anticipated that upon graduation this May, 100% of these students will transition into full-time manufacturing positions with their sponsor companies. Since the inception of the AMTC program in 2012, more than 140 AMTC graduates have been placed in full- time manufacturing jobs throughout the greater Waterbury and Danbury regions. The full-time job placement rate of AMTC graduates at NVCC is now approaching 100%.

On May 16, the Smaller Manufacturer’s Association in collaboration with NVCC honored Joseph Maciejko as the 2015-2016 SMA NVCC Student of the Year. 

Joe Maciejko made a successful return to manufacturing which he began when he attended Wilcox Technical School for Machine Tool.   After graduating in 1988, he worked for ten years at Verus Works Inc. in Middletown, Ct as a CNC Lathe Department Lead Man. In 1999, Joe had the desire to see the country and made the move into the transportation business, where he worked until September 2015.   Joe said “although I loved driving and seeing our country, I missed tooling every day – but more importantly New England Motor freight was where I met my wife Kathy.” 

In 2015, Joe was injured on the job and had four surgeries. He knew he would not go back to driving, but after hearing the news of the possibility of manufacturing jobs returning to Connecticut, Joe decided to return to what he always enjoyed - manufacturing.  Joe knew technology had advanced a great deal since 1999, and that he would need to be retrained.   Through the assistance of the Department of Labor Joe was able to attend the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center at Naugatuck Valley Community College and receive his certification.

Academically Joe ranked in the top five students in his cohort.  Luiz Santos his lead instructor said Joe “shows tremendous pride in all of his work, has great people skills, and is always working on learning and improving as a manufacturing technician.” 

Joe is a wonderful example of our non-traditional students excelling in our manufacturing program and has accepted a position with Navtec Rigging Solutions in Guilford, Connecticut.

Opened in 2012, the AMTC is making a difference for students, their families and the communities served by the College.