Continuing to invest in training for future technicians, Mack Trucks recently awarding Nathaniel Chyle, a student enrolled in WyoTech’s Diesel Advanced Technology Education (DATE) for Mack Trucks program in Blairsville, Penn., with a Mack Trucks DATE Scholarship. Chyle, who aspires to be a shop foreman or lead technician, will use the $8,700 scholarship to take part in a three-month DATE program in preparation for a position servicing and repairing Mack trucks.

Students enrolled in the DATE program receive specialized training on Mack engines, electronics, emissions and powertrain and chassis components. The program is designed to help students graduate as advanced apprentice technicians with a potential for an accelerated path to achieve Mack master technician status.

“Students who complete WyoTech’s DATE program for Mack Trucks in addition to the core Diesel Technology training program are ready to join the workforce and will bring extensive hands-on experience to their new positions at Mack dealerships,” said Dale Eslinger, executive director of the WTI Foundation, a non-profit organization that administers scholarships for WyoTech students.

Mack’s technician training programs, offered through seven Mack Trucks Academy locations, also recently received recognition, winning a 2013 Excellence in Learning Award from the Brandon Hall Group, a research and analyst organization. Mack Trucks Academy took home a Gold Award, the group’s highest honor, for its comprehensive curriculum and certification program that helps Mack technicians progress through training paths and work toward becoming master technicians.

Mack’s certification program blends online and instructor-led courses, followed by comprehensive skills testing, to help technicians achieve the competencies needed to progress from skilled, to expert and ultimately master technician and maintain those certifications. At minimum, 50% of a Mack dealership’s service technicians must maintain Expert or Master Tech status.