The 45,000-square-foot facility will serve as the College’s fourth campus
There’s already something to celebrate for the 2016 New Year – the opening of the new 45,000-square-foot Maritime Technology and Training Center, San Jacinto College’s fourth campus just for maritime training.
Located at 3700 Old Highway 146 in La Porte, Texas, the Maritime Technology and Training Center will open in January. It’s designed to house 15 classrooms overlooking the water; engineering simulators to train maritime engineers for hydraulic, electric, pump control, motor control, heating and air conditioning, and refrigeration; and a multipurpose space for industry conferences and corporate partner meetings.
Some of the major highlights of the facility include the three room-sized full-mission ship bridge simulators, donated in 2013 by the Houston Pilots, and an industry dock for crew changes. This will allow for vessel specific training for local maritime companies and will serve as an aquatic training facility. The center will also include a training dock with lifeboats, davits, and fast rescue craft. It will even have a “galley.”
September 2015 construction site photo of the San Jacinto College Maritime Technology and Training Center, set to open in January 2016.
Photo credit: Jeannie Peng-Armao, San Jacinto College marketing, public relations, and government affairs department.
All maritime courses, both credit and noncredit, will be relocated to the Maritime Technology and Training Center, moving them out of the Maritime and Technical Training Center (a rented facility on the Pasadena Freeway) and the San Jacinto College Central Campus where they’ve been taught for the past five years. Since 2010, San Jacinto College has awarded more than 3,600 United States Coast Guard (USCG) certificates.
In 2016, all maritime students will be located within the same facility, allowing the students who are studying for their associate degrees in maritime transportation to train alongside the current mariners who are obtaining USCG-required certifications. All students will also receive the chance to meet more industry partners, as many will get the chance to interview for summer internships.
Already, the Maritime Technology and Training Center has received visitors.
Administrators from the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD), along with staff from United States Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, and state and local elected officials, recently visited the Center’s construction site, where they received a glimpse of the waterfront campus.
A major highlight of the facility includes the three room-sized full-mission ship bridge simulators, donated in 2013 by the Houston Pilots.
Photo credit: Jeannie Peng-Armao, San Jacinto College marketing, public relations, and government affairs department.
San Jacinto College student Phillip Morales not only saw renderings of the Center but also drove to the site to see how construction is coming along.
“I’m excited, and others are as well,” said Morales. “It’s waterfront, and that’s extremely important when you have a maritime program. It complements the hands-on training.”
Morales is in his second year of the maritime program, having recently completed a summer internship with Higman Marine. Next summer, he will apply for another internship and full-time employment in the maritime industry. His goal is to one day come back and teach.
“It’s a great feeling to have this team of mentors here at San Jac working together with maritime companies and employers,” said Morales. “It’s a place where you can receive a maritime associate degree and come back later for certifications. I hope to come back one day, maybe even start a group for San Jacinto College maritime alumni.”
For more information about the San Jacinto College maritime program and the Maritime Technology and Training Center, visit sanjac.edu/maritime.
– Jeannie Peng-Armao