By Christopher Knause
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Professor Frank Longbottom has been teaching automotive technology for the last five years at Camden County College. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in automotive technology and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, Longbottom is putting his talents and his experiences to work teaching students the aspects of automotive technology.
Longbottom describes his ideal view of automotive technology as a way to get students into learning about automotive work and how to work on vehicles such as cars, trucks and jeeps, how technology has improved in those vehicles since they were first made and how manufacturers have improved on the vehicles over periods in history. His goal is to get students to appreciate the vehicle and the technology within that vehicle rather than seeing it as a thing to drive around from place to place.
Longbottom says, “I just love to work on cars and other types of vehicles, and it is my goal to get students who are majoring in the field of automotive technology to appreciate the vehicle in its entirety, inside and out, and not worry about how expensive or how nice that vehicle is to drive around from destination to destination. If I can do that, then I am doing a great job not only as a professor but also as a guide to help students to be better in automotive technology and help them be better mechanics if they so choose to pursue that career goal.”
Andrew Hewitt, who is studying automotive technology in Longbottom’s class and wants to be a mechanic, says he enjoys the class and wants to take more classes with Longbottom to learn more about automotive technology and its advancements.
Hewitt says, “I absolutely love this class and Professor Longbottom is awesome in teaching about the ways to go about automotive technology and appreciating the vehicle itself both inside and outside. He is a great professor of automotive technology and is very meticulous in how to work on cars and the technology to work on them.”
Longbottom teaches automotive classes with fellow Professor Tony Marchetti during the week at Camden County College. Longbottom hopes to create more automotive technology programs in the near future with Marchetti to create better opportunities for students who want to learn automotive technology, work on cars and start a career in the field.