The Clover Park Technical College student is one of only 30 students in the country selected to receive the spring Phi Theta Kappa Walgreens Pharmacy Technician Certificate Scholarship.

While typically a segment of a traditional engineering degree, CPTC offers a direct path to careers in this emerging field. In fact, the college kind of has the market cornered. The BAS degree is the only four-year mechatronics program offered in the Pacific Northwest, the only 2+2 (associate + bachelor’s degree) mechatronics degree in the U.S., and one of only 10 mechatronics BAS programs in the country.   “The BAS builds on technical skills offered in the Mechatronics Associate in Applied Science degree program, with additional emphasis on the engineering piece of the field that industry partners are looking for,” said Jason Sawatzki, CPTC instructor and co-founder of the BAS-Mechatronics program. That includes hands-on work with wireless communications systems, robotic integrators, distributed networking systems, simulation technologies, artificial intelligence, data analytics and more.

“This program is all about getting your hands dirty,” said Jeffrey Turner, CPTC instructor and founder of the BAS Cybersecurity program. “Students will leave the program with the tools, skills and advanced courses they need for a career in cybersecurity.”

Rachael Butler spent two years at Evergreen College before shifting gears. After completing the dental assisting program through Bates Technical College, it took two years on the job to realize dentistry wasn’t her passion. So in 2014, Butler walked onto the Clover Park Technical College (CPTC) Lakewood campus ready for something new.

“I enjoyed being able to learn and practice different types of welding, use various machinery and understand how metal reacts when heated,” Danley said.

On April 7, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) toured Clover Park Technical College’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing, learning about the four programs housed in the Center and how they’re connecting Pierce County to in-demand, high-wage jobs.

Reserve your tickets for the Foundation's fundraising dinner. Gourmet boxed dinners will make your Friday night special.

Clover Park’s 2021 All-Washington Academic Team members are Brandon Lee and Fawzy Youssef, both from the Aviation Maintenance Technician program.

On Wednesday, March 10, the Clover Park Board of Trustees used the authority vested in it to grant tenure to eight faculty members, the largest group to ever be tenured via Zoom.