By Patrick McCready
The Advanced Manufacturing and Composites course at Peninsula College is a uniquely positioned program. James Russell, the course teacher, designed the course to partner students with the Composite Recycling Technology Center, which turns post-consumer carbon fiber into goods for future use.
“We are one of the few companies in the world that is recycling carbon fiber,” said Emma Jones, who is PC’s student navigator for the program as well as an employee of CRTC.
The Center offers night symposiums for students, and offers paid internships for those in the program.
Adam Jordan, who is still enrolled in the course, was hired by CRTC as a paid intern in October.
The Center’s mission is to recycle two million pounds of carbon fiber by 2022, and process one million annually after that.
“We are going to double in size within the next year,” said David Walter, CEO of CRTC.
Walter said the Center is planning on growing its staff by about fifteen new people to increase production.
“We would certainly give [PC graduates] priority in terms of interviews,” predicted Walter.
One of the first things CRTC ever made out of recycled carbon fiber was a pickleball paddle, but the Center has made an assortment of things, and the frontiers are still being pushed.
The center currently produces professional-level sports equipment, such as hockey sticks and snowboards.
It is assessing the possibility of manufacturing cups, as well as parts for cell phones.
“When people think about manufacturing, there is still a connotation that manufacturing is dirty”, said Walter.
“You’re gonna be coming home covered in dirt, your back’s gonna be sore… It’s not like that at all.”
Walter explained that CRTC’s production area is clean, bright, and climate controlled.
Manufacturing machines are computer controlled.
“We use your mind, we don’t use your back.”