STEM

STEM major leads to out-of-this world career at NASA

Southwest professor celebrates 50 th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing

When Southwest Associate Professor of Mathematics Bill Weppner graduated from college as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, little did he know that his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering would propel his career to astronomical heights as a flight controller at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The job landed him in Houston, Texas, where he began the journey of a lifetime as a member of the Apollo spaceflight program, Missions 7 through 13.

The year was 1968 when military personnel approached Weppner and asked him if he would like to be assigned to NASA in Houston. At the time, Weppner was completing a four-year tour at one of the Air Force labs in Massachusetts. “I jumped at the chance,” he said. “I had been following the Gemini program all along and was excited by the opportunity.” Project Gemini was an early NASA human spaceflight program that preceded the Apollo program.

It also was a time when the United States was in a Cold War with then-Soviet Union and in stiff competition to build launch vehicles with the possibility of lobbing nuclear weapons at each other. “The Soviets beat us to the first human to orbit (the earth) when Yuri Gagarin completed his mission in April of 1961,” Weppner said. NASA’s human exploration into space came in 1962, when astronaut John Glenn completed his Mercury mission becoming the first American to orbit the earth. Seven years later, on July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 program landed the first humans on the surface of the moon—astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Weppner was 32 years old when he arrived at NASA and one of about 200 Air Force officers assigned to all facets of human space flight, from mission planning and analysis, to landing and recovery. He had graduated from the University of Buffalo in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and three years later accepted an Air Force assignment through the University of Oklahoma where he earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. “You’d be surprised to know that most of the mission employees were just young kids straight out of college who only had a bachelor’s degree,” he said.

“There were just a few, maybe three or four, who had a master’s degree, including myself. The one thing we all had in common: we were STEM majors.”

Weppner knew his education and training in the Air Force would equip him with the fortitude to carry through on any project. Within a week and a half of being assigned at NASA, he was learning about the Apollo systems. “I had directed some small scale rocket sounding projects, so I was familiar with rocket countdowns and launch systems, but I had never worked as a controller on a console,” he said. “We weren’t conscious of the fact we were making history, but we sure were!”

More than 400,000 people worked on the historic Apollo 11 program—from contractors and subcontractors to drafts people to machinists. Flight controllers like Weppner were the finishing touch. On the day of the moon landing, Weppner was on Shift Four of the Maroon Team (the re-entry phase). “I was in the control center in the support room near my desk so I could plug in and listen to the landing,” he said. Weppner described the moment when the Eagle module landed as euphoric and that it was exciting to hear Neil Armstrong take the first step on the moon. “I was proud to be an observer and proud of what our country had achieved in just a few years.”

Weppner stayed with the Apollo program for two more missions. In 1970, the Air Force reassigned him to the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for two years. From there, Weppner took on other assignments and eventually landed himself in Memphis in 1988, joining Southwest as a part-time mathematics instructor. He was promoted to fulltime instructor in 1993.

Reflecting back on his education and Air Force career, Weppner says the greatest lesson he teaches his students is to ‘aim high’ in all their work. “Regardless of what your background is, or your degree, your supervisor and the organization you work for are going to put you on a project where you are needed,” he said. “Your responsibility is to accept it and learn what it takes to do the job—always aim high, be flexible, and do a good job.” S N

major leads to out-of-this world career at NASA

Bill weppner

Instructor George “Buddy” Bonner shows students in the Automotive Engines 1 Lab how to disassemble a harmonic balancer to get to the timing chain and oil pan.

Automotive instructor helps students prepare for strong job market

George Bonner’s father really wanted him to go to college after he graduated high school. But a four-year traditional college just wasn’t for him. Instead, he enrolled at a two-year technical college and earned a degree in automotive service technology that qualified him for high-paying jobs in Memphis as a mechanic at Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, FedEx, and the City of Memphis. “That degree prepared me for every good job I ever wanted,” Bonner said.

Now an instructor and Automotive Services Technology program coordinator at Southwest, he says good paying automotive jobs abound, especially in Memphis. “Everywhere I go, they are begging me for mechanics,” Bonner said. “I’d say 99 percent of our students already have jobs when they leave. I got a student a job at the Sheriff ’s Department in fleet

maintenance starting at $25 an hour. When he tops out he will be making about $35 an hour.”

Once Southwest students earn their Associate in Applied Science degree in automotive technology, they emerge prepared to compete for and excel in entry-level technician jobs in the automotive service industry. Graduates work as technicians at new car dealerships, independent repair shops, and companies with vehicle fleets like FedEx and the Shelby County Sheriff ’s Department.

A growing program The Southwest automotive program is on the move. The number of graduates nearly tripled between 2016 and 2017 and there were about 50 students enrolled for the fall 2019

Roland Rayner, President of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Memphis, and Dr. Tracy D. Hall, President of Southwest Tennessee Community College, sign an articulation agreement that enables TCAT-Memphis students to matriculate to Southwest where they can earn an Associate of Applied Science degree in automotive technology.

Bonner (left) and second-year automotive service technology student Doug Partington diagnose a problem in the air conditioning system using a state-of-the-art trainer.

semester. These students are enjoying new, state-of-the-art equipment. In 2018, Southwest invested $175,000 to outfit the Macon Cove Campus lab with equipment that rivals any found in Memphis’ high-volume shops. The College purchased seven new cars and an industry-standard alignment machine. The new model cars include a hybrid, one flex fuel car, one hybrid pick-up truck and a Camaro with a turbo charge system to train students on high performance fuel injection. “This is a top of the line shop,” Bonner said.

The program is designed to train everyone—from the mechanical novice to the experienced tinkerer who has a knack for repair. The building blocks of the program include classwork and labs on engines and electronics systems where students learn how an engine runs and how all of the components work. “We start with the basics,” Bonner said. “We teach them the nuts and bolts and where the general parts are that make an engine work. They learn about automatic transmission, manual transmission, differentials, transfer case, and along the way, electronics systems and how to fix something that is electrical.” The shop also trains students on heating and air conditioning and has two lift bays where they learn how to repair and replace parts, align wheels and perform such basic maintenance as changing oil, checking fluid levels, rotating tires, and tune ups. “Any facet of a car that is mechanical — they can do it,” Bonner said. “We teach all that.”

The gold standard Doug Partington is a second-year student already working as a lab technician for Southwest. He says the program prepares students like him to pass all of the Automotive Service Excellence tests, which is the industry gold standard to qualify for a job. “It’s a great program for me,” Partington said. “If you pass those courses, you can work in any automotive service job. And if you apply yourself in the program, you’re going to be a good tech.”

Partington said he would love to stay on with Southwest in the lab after he graduates, but may do some repair on the side. “Whether that is having my own repair business or maybe doing something specialty-wise like helping someone build a street car, this is preparing me to get to that point.”

Growing demand for Southwest graduates Jobs in automotive service technology are expected to grow over the next decade. The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics forecasts that the US economy will create an additional 45,900 automotive repair and maintenance jobs—a six percent increase from 2016 to 2026—making automotive technicians one of the top 20 jobs with a high median earnings potential for significant job openings in the next decade.

The jobs run the gamut—from technicians to parts distribution and wholesaling, to collision repair and vehicle maintenance. According to salary.com, automotive mechanics in Memphis earn an average of $36,938 annually.

Bonner says with more and more drivers on the road and with many of them keeping their vehicles longer than ever, graduates from the program will find no shortage of job opportunities.

Tim Albin, fleet manager for the Shelby County Sheriff ’s Department, says a master automotive technician earns about $60,000 there. He says he has had good luck hiring Southwest students. “It’s a good program. I just hired one of Buddy’s students within the last seven months,” he said. “Sometimes I work them into the workforce as trainees and bring them in as a full tech later.” S N