Baker Technical Institute (BTI) is a leading provider of career and technical education programs. It uses Mobile Training Centers—trailers equipped with simulators—as part of its curriculum. This video explores how BTI’s approach accelerates learning, builds confidence in heavy equipment operators, and delivers a realistic training experience that prepares students for successful careers.
Video Transcript
Baker Technical Institute, or BTI, we're a nonprofit technical college and we provide workforce development training. We focus 100% on the trades. Probably our biggest program right now, our flagship program, is our Heavy Highway Construction Program, which is where our Heavy Equipment Operator School sits. It's become our largest. It's our fastest growing. And those classes tend to be anywhere from 4 to 7 weeks in length to become certified.
If you push back just a little bit, a lot of that material will fall back in the trench for you, and then you won't have these piles to chase on top of the trench.
We have found that the learning rate is about 2.5 times faster on simulators than it is sitting in the actual piece of equipment. So when we decided we're going to put simulators in trailers and we're going to turn that into a classroom, we had to decide, "Okay what technology?" And we said, "Let's spend the time and the energy and the effort to go see what's out there today," and that's how we found CM Labs. So we really felt like the motion was outstanding, the curriculum was strong, the tasks were visually presented well—that you could tell that they matched industry tasks. So our instructors, coming from industry, gravitated to that immediately, and they said, "Okay that's an A+. That's exactly where they need to be". We really also like the versatility of having multiple machines on the same chassis. So for us if we've got four simulators in here, we really didn't want to have to choose a grader, a dozer, a loader, or an excavator, and you're stuck. With CM Labs, they gave us that ability to be able to have multiple machines at each station. Been years ago now and we've equipped all of our mobile trailers with CM Labs equipment and it's been a fantastic partnership.
What's really real about being on the sims [compared] to the real equipment is the controls. A lot of it is just point on, the controls are there. The movement of the chairs—you rock around as if you're in the equipment. It's stiff if you hit hard. It's just like being on it. There's no other way around it.
Some of the key skills that students learn with the help of CM Labs simulators, you see confidence, team building, self-esteem, and that all transfers to any aspect of your life, not just heavy equipment.
My first day on the sims I was more nervous, because I was like "Well what if I mess up?" And then my instructors, it was basically just telling me you're here to actually learn before you get on to the real machinery, and it's okay to mess up. Learning the controls, digging the trench, just doing everything in the simulator makes me more than confident that I'll be ready for the real equipment.
Being on the simulator, I could try different maneuvering things on the equipment—try different things. Would this work, or would that work? What's more efficient for me? Digging and just everything.
When we're putting them on CM Labs simulators, the environment could not be more work-like. They're getting that opportunity in a safe environment to actually be on a piece of equipment, and experience it exactly like it would be in the field.
With CM Labs solutions and our training methods, we certify every student, whether it be just on simulators or on heavy equipment out in the field. We have our own passing rates, and then the students are challenged every day in the classroom to improve on those.
The simulators have corrected a couple things that I've done out in the field, and I like it. Being able to practice on these—it's fun, you know? You don't get things like this everywhere.
The partnership that we've formed with CM Labs after we've made the investments and now we're working together—you know, almost on a weekly basis, probably. We've... you know, there's relationships that have been made. And they love the feedback that we can give, and we love the feedback that they can give to us. I think it's made us better, for sure, by having their team be a part of our team.
