A Career and Technical Education (CTE) senior building a career as an electrical engineer got a “charge” this year watching a project she worked on come to fruition in the Albany area.
Megan Emerich is completing the Electrical Trades program in June and will head to Western New England College in the fall in pursuit of an electrical engineering degree.
Though she hasn’t yet entered the construction industry full-time, that doesn’t mean she hasn’t had a meaningful impact on the region’s skyline.
In fact, in between her junior and senior years, Emerich—who attends BOCES from the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District (BH-BL)—helped with the electrification of a new lab building on the NY Creates campus.
“I worked on a lab at NY Creates for about a month last summer, working on the conduit because of the experience I have had here at BOCES working with conduit,” said Emerich. “Seeing some of my work going into an actual building that is going to be used for something important was an amazing experience.”
The scholar was able to gain real-world experience because she was hired for the summer by Tech Valley Engineering thanks to a counselor at BH-BL and Emerich’s experience at Capital Region BOCES.
“My counselor saw the [job] posting and recommended me. Because of my training [at Capital Region BOCES] and my academics, I was hired” said the National Technical Honor Society inductee.
During her three months at the firm, Emerich worked on electrical distribution design and designing the conduit runs for industrial buildings.
She plans to return to Tech Valley Engineering this summer before heading off to college.
Emerich chose the Electrical Trades program at BOCES because she believed it would prepare her well for learning about electrical engineering.
“Electrical work is a concept I can easily grasp. How it works is something I easily understand, and I enjoy working with my hands, so why not attend BOCES to learn more about the hands-on aspects of it?” she said.
Students in the two-year Electrical Trades program learn fundamental skills in electrical theory through classroom instruction and hands-on work. They also learn basic electrical skills and cutting-edge, 21st-century green technologies—all of which prepares them for the in-demand field of electrical trades.