MACC to expand mechatronics program

The Moberly Area Community College Board of Trustees approved an expansion to the Columbia campus at its meeting this week.

The new area will be for the college’s mechatronics program, which will expand into a portion of the Parkade Center on Business Loop 70 in Columbia, where the campus currently is. About one half of the expansion project is being paid for through the MoExcel Grant, said MACC President Jeff Lashley.

The total of the grant was $935,655, and MACC matched approximately 1.3 million, which was more than the grant match requirement, Lashley said.

The new portion of the Parkade Center, which is about 11,000 square feet, will be leased by the college, and the college will renovate the area and add new equipment.

MACC developed the mechatronics degree program after a plant manager at the 3M facility spoke to them about future workforce needs in automated manufacturing, according to previous reporting by ABC 17 News. The school came up with the mechatronics degree program in 2013, focusing on mechanical, electrical and computer skills needed in those work places.

Space that is currently used by the mechatronics program will be made into computer labs and general classroom space, Lashley said.

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