Randy Haynes, a Bald Eagle Area graduate who completed CPI’s Precision Machine Technology program, was an honors student graduating in the top ten percent of his class. While at CPI, he was a member of the National Technical Honor Society and earned awards for CPI’s Outstanding Student of the Year, Outstanding Cooperative Education Student, Cooperative Education “Recognition for Reliability”, and Precision Machining MVP for the class of 2012. Additionally, he earned a Certificate of Special Merit
from The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) for obtaining eight NIMS credentials, a CPI
record unmatched to this day.
After a 9th grade tour at CPI, Randy became fascinated with the Precision Machining program and saw the potential for it to open industry doors. Yet, it was a tough sell to his parents. “I did not have any prior experience with metal working. I had some exposure to woodworking at the high school through various shop classes,” Haynes said, “I was rather fascinated by the metalworking process so that instantly attracted me to the Precision Machining program. The instructor also sold the program very well to me and my parents, who initially didn’t want me to attend the program until
their discussion with him.”
After graduating, he had an offer for full-time employment, but opted for college enrolling at The Pennsylvania College of Technology. In just seven semesters, with help from advanced placement credits
earned in the Precision Machining program and strong SAT scores, Haynes earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology. While there, he completed additional courses to receive
an Associate’s of Applied Science degree in Automated Manufacturing Technology. Randy now works in the
Hanover, PA facility of Ring Container Technologies as a manufacturing engineer where he is heavily involved with automation and project management.
When asked what he would offer to parents of students considering going to CPI, Haynes replied, “I would tell them to encourage their children to go to CPI to have the added benefits of learning a trade as well as developing critical thinking skills. With the current state of the economy and the anticipation that many skills-related positions will be unfilled due to a lack of talent, now is time to take advantage of the opportunity that CPI is offering. CPI also provides two different choices of going straight into the work force with a skill that many others in their age bracket won’t possess or going onward to a higher learning. The opportunity to go through CPI gave me a jump start in college and allowed me to perform at higher levels above others in my college major, which enabled me to received advanced placement.”