Foundation to a Career

An introductory and developmental class. For new employees, we look to provide an assessment of fundamental literacies, skills and competencies to the client. The tech will leave with exposure to all elements of a repair, but with an emphasis on support steps. Hands on focus is on the filling, fairing, and finish where the new technician will more likely be tasked.
Topics and processes covered:

Geometry, math, measurement literacy
Blade structure, materials, measurement, markup, safety, PPE, tools
Kitting glass, mixing resin systems, layup polyester board in mold with gelcoat
Grinder / sander training, scarfing, Quality checkpoints - plywood practice board
Templating, kitting glass, mixing epoxy resin systems, layup of repair, horizontal surface
Fill fair and finish

The Experience

Completing one’s first repair is a milestone in a technician's career. We ensure everyone gets a chance to execute from start to finish. Early morning lectures focus on safety, blade types, structure, materials, tools, and processes. The bulk of the training time is in the shop, handling and processing the elements of that morning lecture in context of the repair process.

Low stress environment builds confidence

The Environment

Mistakes are expected and allowed. Here, mistake are often more educational than the perfect repair. All trainees share their steps along the way and discuss. The environment encourages critical thinking, engineering solutions, and finding better, cleaner ways to do things. Each tech will complete a repair and document the results. The tech will provide a report themselves, and our staff shares a report with the client about the trainees results and our impressions.

Tool Introductions

Learning how to operate tools of the trade in the positions and conditions you will encounter out in the field on sacrificial boards builds the time and experience that wisdom comes from.

Good Habits

We focus on proper ergonomics and utilization of guards and handles on grinders. These are not hindrances, they are features. Trainees are taught to process the scarf, Habits to build on when making sense of large repairs.

Chemical Handling

Trainees are taught best practices with real materials used in the field, in quantities used in the field. Trainees repairs are life size, and so are the challenges in training. Lessons are often learned here about exotherm, mix ratios, and timing.

Lamination Techniques

Dry layup is an industry standard, trainees are going to explore many methodologies across the disciplines needed to complete repairs.
Wet layup process is cleaner, less volatile, and provides an excellent resin/glass ratio. It splits the process workload amongst the team members, and allows the team to produce better results faster in many cases. Less exposure to fumes and chemicals and more control of multiple layer laminations are benefits.

Filling and Fairing

These are the steps most Level 1: Support trainees are going to begin to execute for their employer. Ample time is left in the program to iterate here and gain competency.

Setting Standards

In the Academy's environment, talent is going to make itself obvious. Students share tips and tricks in a collaborative effort to improve everyone's repair and set the bar. The group dynamic is helpful to those who struggle. Our staff see what the technicians are bringing of themselves to the session, valuable insight we record and disseminate.