Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Patty Hawkins selected new OMIC Training Center director

Photos and story by James Hill

After a national search, Patty Hawkins has been chosen to be the new director of Portland Community College’s Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Training Center, or known as the OMIC Training Center (34001 NE Wagner Ct.).

Hawkins, who began her new role on Nov. 14, has more than 22 years of experience at PCC working to help underserved students and communities. For the last 10 years she has served as a faculty department chair in the Adult Education Program and since 2021 has been active as an Educational Advisory Council (EAC) leader and chair of the curriculum committee.

Prior to these roles, she served as a student resource specialist at the Cascade Campus working with a wide variety of career and technical education programs and students. Hawkins also has extensive experience working with internal departments, industry and community partners to develop programming, and is deeply committed to social justice, equity and inclusion.

“I am thrilled to serve as the PCC OMIC Training Center director,” Hawkins said. “There are so many partners that have been and will continue to be integral to the success of the OMIC Training Center: OMIC R&D, many business and industry partners, the wonderful Columbia County community, K-12 partners, workforce development and the PCC district. I look forward to collaborating with these partners to bring innovative advanced manufacturing training opportunities to Columbia County and across the PCC district.”

In 2021, years of planning and construction paid off as the college opened the training center to in-person classes and credit offerings. The PCC facility is the educational and training arm of the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center (OMIC) initiative — a collaboration of industry, higher education and government that combines applied research and development and workforce training.

PCC’s facility is located within its Columbia County Center, which is the first permanent physical location for the college in the region. The 32,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing training facility houses a number of manufacturing-related programs, including machining, welding and mechatronics. It supports both traditional and work-based learning models like registered apprenticeship, pre-trades programs and internships, while providing introductory, intermediate and advanced training in machining, computer numerically controlled (CNC) lathe operation, CNC mill operation, welding and fabrication and other areas of advanced manufacturing.

The OMIC Training Center earned LEED Silver for its sustainable construction and operations.

OMIC Training Center

The center is a hub for advanced manufacturing training, including Machining, Computer Numerically Controlled Operation, Welding and Mechatronics, complementing OMIC’s R&D work. Programming is based on an apprenticeship model in order for students to develop industry-aligned skills. In addition, PCC provides career-technical education and other courses as needed by the community.

For more information about the center, visit its webpage for more details on classes and resources.