Opportunity abounds at Chattanooga State Community College, which partners with industry leaders to ensure students have access to quality education, professional connections, and job opportunities after graduation. Last month, representatives from Rolls-Royce joined students, faculty, staff, and community members on ChattState’s campus to discuss careers in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and engineering. 

Rolls-Royce is a global manufacturer of aerospace, defense, and power systems that keeps planes in the air, submarines underwater, and communities powered by advanced, efficient technologies.  

Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Karen Eastman said partnerships like Engines of Opportunity with Rolls-Royce benefit students by exposing them to career opportunities and developing pathways to apprenticeships and employment. 

“We pride ourselves on innovative teaching, curriculum, learning opportunities, access, and student success,” she said. “Creating these strong career pathways is a priority for us. This event acknowledges all the outstanding work our faculty are doing for our graduates.” 

Rolls-Royce representative Pete Wood outlined the company’s products and career pathways, emphasizing how the company uses NDT to ensure safety and reliability in its products. He said the demand for technicians and engineers who can pair hands-on inspection skills with data, robotics, and advanced imaging is growing, and ChattState students can gain these skills in two years.  

“I think in the next five years we will see more change in NDT than we have in 25 years and in the 25 years preceding,” Wood said. “We need a new generation of people, particularly in NDT. What we're looking for is the overlap in the Venn diagram—the heads and the hands.” 

Interested in NDT? Technicians help make the world around safe by using advanced technologies to look inside things like trains, nuclear plants, dams, rocket engines, and more to find and diagnose defects before they become big problems. NDT technicians work in industries like oil and gas, textiles, nuclear energy, aerospace, medical, maritime, automotive, construction, and infrastructure. 

Explore engineering programs at Chattanooga State and connect with Career Services to chart your pathway from classroom to career.