CULLMAN, Ala. – Charles Daniel was one of the first Fast Track students at Wallace State Community College, taking part in the pilot program in 2006 as a student at Hanceville High School. Today he is the assistant manager over maintenance, productions engineering and facilities at Alabama Cullman Yutaka Technology.
“I started at Yutaka two days after the summer semester ended in 2008,” Daniel said of his journey through the Fast Track program to employment. From 2006-2008, during his junior and senior years at Hanceville High School, he attended the Fast Track program at Wallace State, focusing on Advanced Automotive Manufacturing Technology through the Mechatronics, Electronics and Robotics Technology program.
At Yutaka, he spent four years in the Maintenance department before being promoted to the Engineering department and last year was promoted to his current position of assistant manager over maintenance, production engineering and facilities.
“Every aspect that Wallace State taught me provided what I needed to start my career and make me a successful professional,” Daniel said. “My degree was tailored for the Automotive industry, and every component is utilized to do my every day job.”
Daniel said being able to take high school and college courses at the same time was very beneficial to him. “I was able to work in a technical job as soon as I was out of high school.” He added that he appreciated how his instructor, Joe Hendrix, treated him like any other college student “and challenged me more than most with real scenarios in problem solving.”
While at Wallace State, Daniel also enjoyed working the audio and lighting system at events held in the Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre. “It was a great creative outlet to what I was learning at the time,” he said.
