Dylan started at Vermont Tech as a non-traditional student. Already working at IBM, he went to Vermont Tech part-time. He had a block schedule that helped current students with full-time jobs, attain their degrees. He explained, “the block schedule made it flexible for me and gave me a huge advantage. I had one class and one lab a week and did two to three classes while working.” In 2014, Dylan graduated with his Bachelor’s in Electromechanical Engineering Technology.
Dylan attended the Vermont Tech Williston campus and commented, “It was super welcoming there. Jean-Marie Clark, current Dean of Williston, knew me by name and they were really good about doing events on campus, and even as a part-time student I felt like we were all together.” (Learn more about VTC’s campus locations). Dylan noted that he liked his professors and one that stood out to him was Ralph Esposito, Professor and Department Chair, stating, “We had a commonality with IBM and all the professors did a great job in making the labs applicable to real-life situations and were super helpful when you had a question.” (Learn more about VTC’s Faculty and Staff). He even noted that he still uses Trigonometry almost every day.
Now, Dylan works for Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO) as a System Protection Technician and explained, “At VELCO we provide transmissions from Bennington all the way to Newport. In my position we maintain, test, and commission, really the brains of the system and this allows us to isolate towns during an event. We also have a couple of other devices that provide power quality for the state. Within my position there is cabling, coding work, maintenance, commission, and more; which makes it a vast position that provides an opportunity for growth.” He further stated, “The utility field has been a great industry to work in and VELCO has given me the opportunity to grow my knowledge of the industry from day one; both in the field and training classes in other states. The job challenges me every day and being able to work across the entire state has been a great experience. The 4yr Electro-Mechanical Degree from VTC has been a perfect match for the power industry. The electrical background I learned at VTC is used almost every day. Mechanical knowledge has been invaluable when it comes to testing equipment and talking about damping curves. It has been a great last 8yrs working for VELCO and being able to apply the knowledge that I acquired at VTC. This has just been a small part of the last 8 years of my life since graduation, but VTC has opened a lot of doors for me in the past, and look forward to the future.”
Dylan’s advice to current and potential students is to be open and advocate for themselves, explaining, “Regardless of whatever major you are in, you’re going to run into roadblocks. Ask Questions and advocate for yourself because it makes it more rewarding once you dive into your education.”
Dylan attended the 2022 Career Fair in October at the Randolph Center campus in hopes of recruiting VTC graduates like himself. (You can learn more at Career Services).