February 2005
Contact: Dorothy Wills-Raftery
(845) 255-1400 xt. 1209

Corporate Donations Benefit HVAC Training at Ulster BOCES

It sure is cold outside, but that’s not stopping the students in the Ulster BOCES Career & Technical Center’s Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) program from warming up to their future careers in this field. Through extensive coursework and hands-on training, the students learn about this constantly growing industry on state-of-the-art HVAC equipment. Credit for the modern training equipment is due in part to many major corporate donations to the HVAC program at the Career & Technical Center.

One such benefactor is the Carrier Corporation. Through the Albany-based RJ Murray Company, a wholesale dealer of Carrier parts and equipment, a donation of more than $25,000 worth of equipment has generously been made to Ulster BOCES. The items donated include high efficiency furnaces, heat pumps, rooftop units, and most recently, a central air conditioning simulator system valued between $5,000 to $6,000. This simulator brings the world of HVAC right out of the pages of textbooks and directly into the hands of the students in training.

“These are substantial contributions that allow us to operate a program that is on the cutting edge of current technology. These donations enhance our labs and help us prepare students for high paying jobs as well as meet the needs of industry,” says Howard Korn, director of Career & Technical Education and Adult Services at Ulster BOCES.

The ARI (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute), which also donated approximately $15,000 worth of equipment to the HVAC class, is the national trade association representing manufacturers of more than 90 percent of North American produced central air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration equipment, developing and publishing technical standards for industry product performance. According to the ARI, “People are needed in so many areas of the heating and air conditioning industry that they are in one of our country's most stable industries. The supply of trained people has not kept pace with the demand for many years. This rapidly expanding industry with its new technology not only provides new job opportunities but creates numerous openings for advancement.”

Ulster BOCES HVAC instructor Gene Mattiaccio agrees. “There is a huge demand for HVAC technicians, and with the generosity of manufacturers, we are able to give our students the up-to-date training they need. In the classroom here, the students do everything the technicians in the field do.”

As part of the HVAC curriculum at Ulster BOCES, the students learn about electrical concepts, manifold gauge reading and interpretation, electrical trouble-shooting, oil and gas heating systems, performance evaluation of refrigeration cycle, HVAC servicing, and geothermal energies. At the end of the two-year program, the students are prepared to take the EPA refrigeration exam, which is required for a refrigeration license.

Another source of donated materials is the Honeywell Corporation, which has donated over $5,000 worth of electronic and digital controls. These controls are used for hands-on training demonstrations for the students, allowing them to work on wiring and installing thermostats, transformers, and other components that go into HVAC units.

“HVAC is all encompassing,” says Mattiaccio. “The students are more diverse in what they know and this makes them more employable and prepares them for continuing their education at a post-secondary college.” Currently, Ulster BOCES has articulation agreements with some colleges where the students can earn between four and six college credits for the work they complete at the Career & Technical Center.