MOMENTUM - April 2024 - 22

SUSTAINABILITY
A group of trainees discuss the situation at an EVgo charging station.
PROGRAM TO TRAIN EV
CHARGER TECHS GRADUATES
FIRST CLASS IN DETROIT
Certification exam rolls out nationwide this month.
IN FEBRUARY, officials from SAE International, ChargerHelp!,
and Detroit at Work gathered to celebrate the first graduating
class of a new training and certification program for electric
vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) technicians and discuss the
importance of these jobs amidst the ongoing push for
electrification.
The program is the first of its kind and teaches safety above
all else while focusing on seven domains of theoretical and
practical knowledge. The SAE Electric Vehicle Supply
Equipment Certification will be granted to participants who
complete a certified course and pass a standardized test
administered by SAE ITC Probitas. The Detroit participants
have completed the coursework and will sit for the certification
exam. The exam rolls out nationwide in April.
The event was held at Michigan Central, the 30-acre
innovation zone that reclaimed the former Detroit Book
Depository and turned it into a sleek, tech-friendly startup
incubator. Clarinda Barnett-Harrison, Michigan Central's
director of skills, lauded all members of the partnership for
22 April 2024
working to ensure opportunity for all. " As technologies
continue to evolve, usually in black and brown cities, the
people in those cities are often not part of that experience, "
she said. " And they're not able to take advantage of economic
opportunities that come with the advancement of that
technology. "
Sarah Hipel, standards and reliability program manager for
the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation as well as former
co-chair of the SAE Public Key Infrastructure Cooperative
Research Project, said she was proud of the equity goals of the
program. " Workforce development and equity are important
parts of our mission at the Joint Office, " she said, " and this
program taps into the expertise of minority-owned
companies... to provide right-size training to upskill talent and
ensure everyone benefits from the electrified transition. "
To qualify for the four- to six-week program (depending on
class frequency-coursework is 120 hours), aspiring technicians
must live in Detroit, have a high school diploma or GED, and be
able to read at a ninth-grade level. The course is offered at no
MOMENTUM
Michigan Central
https://www.sae.org/learn/professional-development/electric-vehicle-supply-equipment-technician-certification
MOMENTUM - April 2024

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