Joe Spess is a Mechanical Technology instructor at SUNY Jamestown Community College. He teaches engineering intro, engineering drawing, solid modeling, machine operations, and mechanical drives courses.
Spess started his post-secondary education at a community college and later transferred to Penn State Behrend for a mechanical engineering degree. He has a wealth of manufacturing industry experience, including serving as a plant manager.
Spess has taught at JCC since the spring 2024 semester.
What kind of expertise do you have in Mechanical Technology and manufacturing?
Every class I teach here, I have done in industry at some point throughout my career, from machining to engineering to drawing to really all of it.
My expertise is primarily in machining and manufacturing engineering. I've been in manufacturing my whole career since I got out of high school. But I would say primarily machining and manufacturing engineering process development and finding really innovative ways to solve a problem with regards to machining.
What led you to a career in manufacturing?
machining and manufacturing.
I didn't go to college right out of high school. I went to work. I worked a minimum wage job in a factory and realized that as I kept getting promoted into different roles, I had a knack for it. So that's really what got me into manufacturing.
Then I went to school for precision machining technology. I have an associate's degree in that, which then led me to my degree in mechanical engineering.
What’s your favorite class to teach?
One of my favorite classes to teach is Intro to Engineering. Why I like to teach it is it's kind of an honor to be the first touchpoint of an engineer’s future. I get to be one of the first people that get to teach them. We get to teach them a lot of cool stuff like engineering ethics and just some really cool things that help get them on their path to success.
What’s a favorite project you’ve worked on?
I'm actually working with Sean Nowling, the physics instructor. We are working on and are just about to complete an outreach project for one of our CNC mills that we have. It runs on 110-volt power.
We can take it to different places, get students excited about it. The cool thing is Sean used AI, leveraged AI, to write a program to convert scribbles into G-code so that we can machine them on a piece. Before, you would have to draw it up on the computer, convert it into a DXF, run it through a CAM software. Very time-consuming process.
When I'm doing outreach projects with students, a lot of times they're like, "Hey, can I write my cat's name?" And it’s like, "Not right now, no, it’d take too long.” Whereas now, through outreach, we can take this machine to schools, and they can write whatever they want, whatever they can dream up, they can now machine on a part.
Why do you teach at JCC?
I teach at JCC because there is a huge need for people to mentor the young generation.
I was very fortunate in my career to be mentored by some really wonderful people, people that took me aside, took the time to help mold me, to help teach me all the right things that need to happen in order to be successful in this business. I think it's my time. I've worked long enough in industry, I've done enough of this work, and now is my time to give back.
And I just love spending time with the students, helping mentor them. Teaching is one thing, but I think that mentoring piece is what I bring to the table. Because I started out as entry-level, minimum wage.
I've been the manager of a company, the general manager of a company. I've kind of done all those roles, so I know what it takes to do each. And I love sharing that information with people.
What would you tell high school students considering careers in manufacturing?
There are far more people retiring out of this industry than we have students enrolling. This industry is in very dire need of skilled people to do these jobs.
Right now, a lot of retirements are happening. Not enough people to fill the gap. So, companies are moving towards automation, which is great, but we need people that know how to design automation, how to program automation. So that's what we're teaching here.
The real answer is there's a real need for it in the industry for people to get interested in this and to fill those gaps.
Why is JCC a good place to learn manufacturing?
I think JCC is a good option because of the small class sizes and the attention that each instructor can give to the student. Every school that I've went to, I went to a small school in Scranton, Pennsylvania for my machining. Very small class size. The professor had all the time in the world to work with us and to share all of his knowledge.
I also think when I went for my mechanical engineering degree, it was to a small school, Penn State Behrend. I got to know all the instructors. They knew me. I was able to fully leverage my potential there because I wasn't just a number. I was Joe. They were my teachers. And I had contact with them. They had contact with me. It was just a really good experience.
The main reason to come to JCC is the small class size and intimate setting where professors will work with you to get you to your fullest potential.
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JCC offers Mechanical Technology Design and Mechanical Technology Machine Tool degrees, plus a Machine Tool Technology certificate as part of its Advanced Manufacturing offerings.
Request more information about those and other JCC learning opportunities.