Justin Scott likes working with his hands.

That’s why, straight out Mount Blue High School in Farmington, he enrolled in Southern Maine Community College’s Composite Science & Manufacturing program with its emphasis on hands-on education in our composite manufacturing lab.

But Justin is getting a double dose of learning in the composites field, thanks to our program’s partnerships with area composite manufacturers. In addition to taking courses on our Midcoast Campus in Brunswick, where the program is located, he’s also working as a composite technician at Custom Composite Technologies Inc., a composite manufacturer in Bath.

There, he works on various products for different companies, working side-by-side with professionals, gaining valuable experience and making connections with people in his chosen field. Most recently, he’s been working with components for a flying car — a folding-wing, two-seat aircraft designed to fly in the air and also drive like a typical car on the ground — that a Massachusetts company is now developing. How cool is that?

Justin knows he has a bright future in the growing composites industry. Composite materials are used in thousands and thousands of products, from cellphones, sporting goods and kitchen countertops to aerospace components, boats and automotive parts.

“One of my friend’s brothers came to SMCC, and I saw what he had accomplished and I wanted to do the same thing if not better,” Justin says. “I really like how I can make something with my own hands, and it isn’t just classroom-oriented. You actually get out on the floor and do the stuff you’re studying to do.”

Steve Hassett, who with his wife owns Custom Composite Technologies, says he’s hired several SMCC students in recent years as technicians.

“The school steers the people that are interested in getting into the field to us, and we integrate them and give them hands-on knowledge,” he says.

SMCC’s Composite Science & Manufacturing program provides education and real-world experience to prepare students for entry into many advanced manufacturing industries as a materials/composites technician, shop foreman, fabricator or materials testing technician.

SMCC is now exploring ways to provide more Mainers flexible pathways to grow their skill sets to enter the composites industry or advance their composites careers. We are looking at opportunities to address the changing needs of students and employers by offering short-term training workshops, convenient schedules and stackable courses that allow students to progress at their own pace.

For now, Justin is confident that the composites field will provide him plenty of opportunity for a bright career after he graduates next year. So is Bob Turcotte, the program chairman who teaches composite classes.

“Justin is another one of our students who won’t have to look for a job after graduation,” says Turcotte. “He’ll already have it.”

Ronald G. Cantor is the president of Southern Maine Community College.