Samsung has opened a Samsung Tech Institute at Toronto’s Centennial College to train electronics engineering students to repair its home appliances.
The partnership “is an opportunity for us to provide career tools for electronics engineers” and allows students to get closer to the brand, says Mark Childs, chief brand officer at Samsung Canada. It will help foster a next generation of Samsung experts, he says.
The Institute includes the Samsung Pathway, which consists of two new courses in Centennial’s Electronic Engineering Technician Diploma program, which has about 30 students. The first classes began in September.
Students who take the courses will receive certification as Samsung product technicians from the company in addition to their diplomas when they graduate. That should set graduates apart from other service technicians, Childs says.
As part of the partnership, Samsung has created a branded digital services lab with Samsung home appliances such as ranges, refrigerators, microwaves, gas appliances, washers and dryers. The lab will be updated every year to maintain its technological relevance.
The Samsung Tech Institute will also offer some graduates co-op and apprenticeship opportunities and three $1,000 Samsung scholarships will be offered to top students.
“For us it’s an interesting initiative because it really is a bridge between innovation and education and corporate citizenship,” Childs says. “We really think it’s the right thing to do.”
He adds the Samsung Tech Institute aims to increase the number of qualified service technicians in Canada and current technicians will be able to take courses in the program.
Childs declined to divulge Samsung’s investment.
The Samsung Tech Institute is being promoted with a microsite on Samsung’s website. North Strategic is conducting public relations for Samsung Canada.
