NC Professor Sukant Chatterjee and Machining Operation Leader at INNIO points to steady hiring of recent NC graduates.
This spring, Mechanical Engineering Technology (Co-op) program students at Niagara College saw firsthand that local opportunities in advanced manufacturing remains strong, even amid global uncertainty, during recent tours of INNIO, a leading energy solutions company operating in Welland at full capacity.
Two groups – students in years one and three – visited the facility on March 11 and 18, guided by part-time professor Sukant Chatterjee, who also works there as a Machining Operations Leader. Chatterjee teaches Advanced Metrology, among other courses, and used the tour to connect course concepts with real-world applications.
Professors Joseph Otta and Neil Walker joined students as they observed how engines are built during an assembly tour that included testing and painting operations.
In the machine shop, students saw advanced equipment in action, including a gantry coordinate measuring machine (CMM) with a REVO head, CNC mill-turn and grinding processes, crankshaft and crankcase machining, and a large multi-head CNC milling machine with line-bore systems.
The scale of the operation stood out.
“Sukant highlighted a very large gantry CMM, likely among the largest in the world, and the facility’s increasing capacity with recent equipment investments,” said Otta. “We also witnessed the first engine block being machined on a newly commissioned $5 million CNC machine from Japan.”
Students were equally engaged by the people behind the work, including peers on co-op and NC alum.
“The Year One students were particularly excited to see our program graduates and co-op students working there,” Otta said. A current junior co-op student also helped guide the tour and shared their experience.
The visit reinforced strong demand for skilled graduates. INNIO’s machine shop employs 90 technicians across three shifts and continues to grow.
“Last year we hired 10 students from the college, and this year we have already hired two,” said Chatterjee. “We are growing quickly to meet demand while maintaining safety, quality, and delivery.”
The Mechanical Engineering programs at NC are designed to prepare students for this demand, requiring them to complete two co-op work terms that provide direct industry experience before graduation.
The tour reinforced the value of hands-on skills that remain difficult to automate.
“These are durable competencies that are highly resistant to AI,” said Otta, noting areas such as precision machining and advanced metrology. “They position our graduates very well for long-term career stability.”
Despite broader challenges tied to tariffs and supply chains, INNIO has remained resilient through diversification and is continuing to expand capacity.
For NC students, the experience connected classroom learning with real-world impact and highlighted clear pathways into a thriving industry.
