CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — There's a huge demand for millwright mechanist abroad and here in the Coastal Bend at refineries, power plants, steel plants, and more.
What is a millwright mechanist? A millwright mechanist specializes in fixing all equipment.
“Compressors, pumps, turbines, blowers center fuses, gearboxes, fin fins, cooling towers, we work on all of them," said Del Mar College asst. professor of industrial machining applied technology/millwright Danny Anderson.
Del Mar College offers an associate in applied science degree certificate.
Anderson said the program is very hands-on and great for students who like to work outside, pull on wrenches and get dirty.
“Hands-on you are going to learn the theory behind what makes a pump work, what makes a pump fail, and then you learn how to overall repair it and put it back to an as new condition," said Anderson.
According to Del Mar College, female workers make up only 2.8 percent of the millwright field in comparison to women making up to 6.2 percent of the workforce in the refining industry.
Yesica Juarez graduated from Del Mar College and now works for Cheniere. She said she had no idea what she wanted to do until she went to one of the seminars.
“You get to work outside, sometimes you’re inside, you’re working on turbines, you’re working on motors whatever it is that comes your way. You kind of learn and you get to do, and that was very interesting to me," said Juarez.
To break the barriers of not having enough women in the field, Juarez encourages women to just try it out and don’t be scared.
“Follow what you want to do. Come in take a seminar see if that is what you like and go on from there, if it's something that you are interested with," said Juarez.
Click here if you are interested in getting a certificate as a millwright mechanist through Del Mar College.
