Turning students into skilled technicians at Lincoln Tech

NEW JERSEY - Lincoln Tech is a vocational institute with campuses across the region and the country that focuses on turning students into skilled technicians to help close the skills gap that many companies are facing. 

“There’s more jobs available than I have students to give them. So our job is to break down those barriers of those technologically advanced careers, teach them the basics, get them out into a career path so that they can start, and a sustainable career path to where they’re going to be employed long-term,” said Robert Paganini, President of the Mahwah Campus for Lincoln Tech.

The Mahwah Campus offers extensive electrical, automotive and HVAC training, though it’s crown jewel may be the Computer Numerical Control or CNC Lab, where students transform metal into parts used by car dealerships and hospitals or even by NASA on the International Space Station. 

Courses tend to run for about 13 months and are taught by dedicated instructors like Jim Warga, who described his job as a way of giving back. 

“Every teacher will be willing to work with you one-on-one,” said Herny Carino, a student. “Not a lot of places will do that. Everybody would consider you as a number, not a student.”