Industrial: More than Repairing and Maintaining Machines

Industrial degrees encompass majors such as industrial maintenance technology, industrial technology and industrial design. Industrial maintenance technology majors learn how to repair and maintain the machines used in manufacturing. Most programs of this major cover a wide range of skills, which is something positive since the brightest job outlook is for generalists, not specialists. As an industrial maintenance technology major, you will learn the art of aligning gears and wheels, recite the difference between reciprocating and rotary pumps, follow a blueprint to connect conveyor belts, get handy with the tools of the trade, wear safety glasses during lab and become a student member of the National Association of Industrial Technology (NAIT).

A successful industrial maintenance technology major has to be a person fascinated by machines. He/she has to have math skills and ability with the hands. The typical courses of this major are: welding, pumps, piping, and valves, principles of industrial mechanics, principles of electrical wiring, motors and motor controls, machine maintenance and installation, industrial programmable controllers, hydraulics and pneumatics, computer fundamentals for technology and blueprint reading.

Industrial technology majors learn the technical skills they need to help industrial engineers put their plans into action. The classes cover topics such as report writing, software use and the way people act at work manufacturing processes. Industrial design majors learn the skills they need to design and refine everyday products, most of them for mass production, such as furniture, cars, and telephones.