Press Release
When Madeleine Turley began college, she envisioned a future as an engineer. While life took her in a different direction, today she’s back on the path she always wanted – building, troubleshooting and solving problems as a Systems Maintenance, Automation & Robotics Technology (SMART) student at the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center (MAMC).
The South Charleston native will graduate in December with an associate degree in applied science through MAMC’s partnership with Mountwest Community and Technical College. Along the way, she’s earned Dean’s List honors, secured a maintenance technician internship with Niterra and hopes to become the company’s first female maintenance technician.
“It just brought back that joy of learning that I’d kind of missed for a long time,” Turley said. “I felt like that 18-year-old going into college thinking, ‘I’m going to build really cool stuff.’”
Turley’s journey to the SMART program wasn’t a straight line. She originally enrolled at West Virginia University as a mechanical and aerospace engineering major. After discovering she would need several additional semesters of math coursework that exceeded her financial aid eligibility, she changed majors and earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies and Spanish.
Although she enjoyed her studies, finding a career that provided financial stability proved difficult.
“I was looking around at different programs that would help me in the job market, and I found the SMART program,” she said. “I thought back to freshman me wanting to go build stuff and make things. I thought, “Yeah, that’s right up my alley.’”
She quickly rediscovered what she had been missing.
“I’ve always learned best by working with my hands,” Turley said. “It’s easier for me to troubleshoot when I’m actually doing the task instead of watching someone else do it.”
That hands-on approach prepared her for an internship at the Sissonville location of Niterra, a global manufacturer of spark plugs, oxygen sensors and knock sensors. Turley landed the opportunity after participating in MAMC’s reverse job fair, where employers visited students to learn about their particular skills and career goals.
Since beginning her internship in May, she’s been training alongside experienced maintenance technicians who keep the company’s automated manufacturing equipment operating efficiently.
“I’ll learn how to operate the machines, perform daily and annual maintenance checks, and when something breaks down, I get to shadow and help get it running again,” she said. “It’s really cool. It’s really fun.”
Working with presses, conveyors, laser welders, pneumatic systems and other advanced manufacturing equipment has reinforced what she’s learning in the classroom.
“It’s been really cool to see how the things I’m learning in class directly translate into what I’m doing in my internship,” Turley said. “I’ll be at work and think, ‘Oh yeah, I learned that in class. I know how this works.’”
Niterra plans to keep Turley on part time while she completes her final semester. After graduation, she hopes to transition into a full-time maintenance technician position there.
“I’m really excited,” she said. “I really like it there. Everyone’s absolutely phenomenal.”
Turley is the only woman in her SMART cohort in Point Pleasant and the first female maintenance-technician-in-training at Niterra. She hopes her experience encourages other women to consider careers in advanced manufacturing.
“Don’t ever be afraid to be the only [woman] in the room,” she said. “That makes you that much stronger. West Virginia has a rich history with industry in the state. Add to it. Be a part of it.”
She also encourages anyone who enjoys figuring out how things work to explore industrial maintenance.
“If you have any inclination at all to take something apart and make it better, go for it,” Turley said. “And don’t be scared to break something. You’re not going to be the first person to make a mistake. It’s always a teaching moment. And it’s never too late to start.”
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Responding to industry’s growing demand for skilled industrial maintenance technicians, MAMC and Mountwest launched the SMART program in 2024 with input from more than two dozen area manufacturers. Classes are offered in Huntington and Point Pleasant. To learn more about SMART, visit www.mfg.marshall.edu/smart.
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