Mechatronics students from Spain visiting SCC, area

Holly Marie Moore, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
Updated ·2 min read

Feb. 27—Onintza Garmendia said she quickly decided she wanted to be a part of the first delegation of mechatronics students to travel from the Basque region of Spain to South Central College.

"They told us there was an opportunity for us to come here and see how this works, and I thought, why not?" she said.

Garmendia, who specializes in robotics, is among nine students and three instructors who will spend the next week attending mechatronics classes on SCC's North Mankato and Faribault campuses, visiting area industry partners and getting a taste of Minnesota culture.

"It will be great if I can see how the things are made here," she said.

The program is part of an educational exchange agreement formed in 2014 between the Basque government and SCC.

Student trips would later begin in 2019 with culinary students being among the first to travel to SCC, said the college's Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Kelcey Woods-Nord.

Now they've added mechatronics, a branch of engineering that combines mechanical and electronic components in production, to the lineup.

"It's an up-and-coming and necessary skill set for the jobs that are going to be available across the world, so the skill sets they're learning are really applicable to the jobs that are open. It's a high-demand, high-pay career area and a great career pathway for these students to be in," Woods-Nord said.

While in the classroom, the Basque students will focus on five different areas, including mechanical, electrical, pneumatics, hydraulics and robotics topic points.

But the students will also get to take industry tours at Wis-Pak, Dotson Iron Castings, 3M, Schells Brewery, Cambria and SageGlass.

They'll also get to partake in Minnesota-themed activities such as snow tubing, ice fishing, a trip to the Mall of America and more.

Basque instructor Javier Salvador said he hopes his students' trip to Minnesota is both an educational one and a personal one.

"I think for them there's going to be a life before coming to the States and after, because as I said, it's not only what they will learn about mechatronics — which I'm sure it will be a lot — it's what they will learn about life, about people, about other countries, about other cultures," he said.

The students arrived Saturday and will be in town a week.

Garmendia said she's also looking forward to the Minnesota activities and cultural experiences.

"I'm really excited about ax throwing. I don't know if that's different, and ice fishing is nice, too. We did curling yesterday, and it was amazing," she said.

SCC students also participate in the educational exchange agreement; Woods-Nord said right now their culinary students are fundraising for a trip in May.