The Chicago Building Congress has recognized Daley College MTEC with a 2019 Merit Award.
“Daley College is on the forefront of job training in manufacturing technology and engineering, and students will flock to the southwest side to pursue career training at MTEC. The future is now shining even brighter for the students entering City Colleges of Chicago, who can be proud of the education they earn and confident that they are learning the skills they need to get good jobs in growing fields.”
– 18th Ward Alderman Derrick Curtis
The state-of-the-art Manufacturing Technology & Engineering Center (MTEC) at Richard J. Daley College prepares students for the more than 20,000 anticipated jobs coming to the region in the engineering and advanced manufacturing fields during the next decade.
The 52,000-square-foot building spans the main thoroughfare of 76th Street, linking to the legacy college facility via a pedestrian bridge. Inside, high-bay space and five engineering and manufacturing labs provide students with the requisite training for highly-specialized, technology-oriented careers. The building’s bold interior finishes and yellow exterior accents echo the brightly-colored machinery in the high bay. The seamless fluidity of the building’s form was inspired by the constant, linear flow of the manufacturing process. Expansive views of the high-bay training area from the main lobby and 76th Street draw attention to the center’s high-tech manufacturing equipment, which served as an inspiration for the building’s palette. The facility’s industrial aesthetic is further expressed through the use of metal panels, glass and steel, as well as the “Caution Yellow” on the underside of the pedestrian bridge. Inside the bridge, circulation space intentionally collides with seating areas, platforms, and alcoves, encouraging students to congregate and participate in incidental learning outside of class.
“Daley College’s MTEC will help ensure that people from across Chicago’s communities are ready to compete for and land increasingly skilled positions in these lucrative fields and help us create a more inclusive Chicago economy.”
– City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor Juan Salgado
In addition to Daley College’s traditional slate of programs—Welding, CNC Machining, Quality Assurance and Factory Automation—the MTEC enables Daley to launch pathways to careers in Mechatronics, Sheet Metal Fabrication, Operations Management and Industrial Maintenance. The engineering and advanced manufacturing programs offered at Daley College are stackable, providing students with the opportunity to begin a career or transfer into a bachelor’s degree program. Transfer partners include Southern Illinois University and the Illinois Institute of Technology. The new center has increased Daley College’s manufacturing space by 150%, enabling City Colleges of Chicago to serve 1,000 manufacturing students per year—a 5-fold increase in CCC manufacturing enrollment.
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View this project’s contract details here.
