Michigan Career and Technical Institute may seem like a traditional center for higher education. But what's inside its walls is one of the most technically advanced woodworking institutes in the country.

Jim Wellever, the department head of the Cabinetmaking/Millwork Training Center, runs a department within the on-campus cabinet shop that trains people with disabilities to operate the machinery that is most likely to be found in woodworking shops across the United States.

The program serves as the Midwest Advanced Woodworking Technology Center. Students are trained to safely operate machinery so that they can immediately enter the workforce upon graduation.

The program has an open enrollment policy for students who don't have conventional learning styles. Tuition is free to qualifying students thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the program's accreditation by the Centers for Occupational Education.

Students are usually between 19 and 21 years old at the time of enrollment. The average student is in this training program for four to seven ten-week terms, depending on the individual student's needs.

The curriculum, based on Woodworking Career Alliance National skill standards, trains the students on machines ranging from basic core machinery to automated chop saws and ripsaws to moulders, sanders, and CNC routers.

The program picks machinery brands that are commonly found in woodworking environments, including Weima machines.

"We chose a Weima shredder due to brand recognition. Students run machines that they will encounter in the field and Weima has a large footprint in the area."

Weima is also a sponsor of the Woodworking Career Alliance, which works to bridge the technical skills gap and provide guidelines to train current and future woodworkers.

"What we are good at is giving the students enough experience at learning how to run a machine so that whenever they are entering the market, they know how to learn any machine they encounter," said Wellever.

Upon graduation, the students are matched with area employers and transition into the workforce. This program boasts a high placement rate for their students and looks forward to many more years of educational excellence.

In the last few years, a Weima briquette press was installed in the building as part of a new dust collection system. The 13,000 square foot facility was equipped with a 1960s air system, which provided no return air to keep the building warm.

The result was a high power bill due to low energy efficiency. The shop is now equipped with a modern return air system with fire protection, which allows it to be heated continuously throughout the snowy Michigan winters and adds an extra level of safety due to the dust control.

When considering what machine to buy in order to assist in heating the shop, Wellever briefly considered a pelletizer instead of a briquette press. The institute decided upon a briquette press fed by a Weima grinder because no specific pelletizer oven was necessary to burn the briquettes. See http://weima.com.