Ohio Technical College Announces September 2019 Instructor of the Month

OTC Automotive instructor, Brian Akens, spent 25 years working on transmissions. When he first started out at age 17, there were 125 different units, today there are over 2,500 different types of transmissions. His vast knowledge on this integral part of an automobile makes him a student favorite and our newest Instructor of the Month! Akens says when he was working with AAMCO Transmissions, he was familiar with OTC students and graduates as he trained them after they were hired. “Once the shop closed up I thought it would be good to give back, and teaching seemed to be the way to go about it.” Akens admits there was a transition period for him in terms of working in a group. “Transmissions are a specialty and a job where you typically work alone. Now being an instructor I had to be able to explain things several different ways to adapt to the different personalities in my classroom.” Transmissions can be expensive. A customer can expect to pay $3,000 to have one replaced, or about $1,800 to have theirs fixed. Akens says, “Most of the transmission issues I experienced were electrical or related to software, and that is probably the biggest challenge for my students is understanding the electrical and software components.” Akens has been with OTC for less than a year and has already established himself as a ‘go-to’ instructor for those students who may struggle with a specific component of training. “The best part of my job is seeing firsthand those students who I know, based on their classroom interest, will go on and specialize in transmissions.” Congratulations, Mr, Akens, on being named OTC's September 2019 Instructor of the Month!