Collin Portlock, a 2016 graduate of Poudre High School, will enter the Precision Machining Program at Front Range Community College in the fall with financial support from the Northern Colorado (NoCo) Manufacturing Partnership.
At the July meeting of the partnership, Portlock received a $2,000 scholarship toward a career in manufacturing. The funds are directed through the Front Range Community College Foundation.
“This is a natural way to promote manufacturing careers,” said Darren Pape, a principal at Wolf Robotics of Fort Collins and a member of the NoCo board of directors.
Portlock became interested in a career in manufacturing from classes at Poudre in the Technical Education Department. He completed an Engineering Exploration class as well as Metals I and Engineering Drafting.
“I learned about the classes from my counselor, and my interest grew from there,” he says.
Portlock has an “open-ended career goal right now. I want to stay in machining. I’m very optimistic about a career in machining.”
FRCC’s Precision Machining Program is housed at the Advanced Technology Center at the Boulder County Campus in Longmont. It features state-of-the-art machining equipment and offers for-credit certificates for day students and non-credit certificates for evening students. One of the non-credit Introduction to Machining classes is for women only.
From left in photo, Ryan McCoy, FRCC Foundation executive director; Collin Portlock; Darren Pape, NoCo Manufacturing Partnership board member; Paul Harter, NoCo Manufacturing Partnership board president.
About Front Range Community College
FRCC offers nearly 100 degree and certificate programs from locations in Boulder County, Larimer County, Westminster, and Brighton, and online.
FRCC is a member of the Colorado Community College System (CCCS), the state’s largest system of higher education, with 13 colleges across Colorado serving more than 151,000 students annually. CCCS is a vital statewide pathway to individual achievement and economic vitality. Further, CCCS institutions provide an accessible, responsive learning environment that facilitates the achievement of educational, professional, and personal goals by our students and other members of our communities, and each fosters an atmosphere that embraces academic excellence, diversity, and innovation.
