From the problem child who took the radio apart to see how it worked to the teacher who tells students to work smart, Tim Gauthier has developed from electrical repairman to senior training specialist.

As a child, he was able to put the radio back together and have it work, so that naturally led to an electrical engineering major. He started out repairing “just about everything electric (low-voltage industrial control and automation equipment).” But he soon realized that his ability to climb into, over, and around things to repair them was getting more difficult because of a spine injury he received during the first Gulf War.

So he eventually came to be an instructor at the AVO Training Institute. His past experiences as an electrician, electronics technician, maintenance superintendent, maintenance and safety director, union president, and township supervisor translates well into the classroom.

“The Steelworkers Union President position gave me the opportunity to work directly with industrial work safe practices and implement them,” Gauthier said. “And for over 10 years, the township supervisor position gave me the confidence to stand in front of a group of people and present a strong case for the topic at hand.”

Gauthier had always wanted to teach, and he initially started with a college major of teacher education in mathematics and physics. So now he has come full circle by teaching basic electricity, electrical troubleshooting, electrical print reading, arc-flash, electrical safety for industrial facilities, the national electrical code, NFPA70E electrical safety, OSHA electrical safety, electrical repair, motor and generator maintenance and testing, motor controls and starters, and circuit breaker maintenance.

Gauthier is presenting Motor Controls and Starters, Low-Voltage on Jan 18-22, 2010 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and Feb. 1-5, 2010, in Dallas, Texas. Students will learn:

• Components and operation of motor control circuits from basic to advanced
• Interpret wiring diagrams and schematics
• Applicable safety procedures
• Maintenance and testing procedures for two- and three-wire and sequence controls, reversing, jogging and inching circuits, methods of deceleration, reduced-voltage and speed control
• Maintenance and testing principles for motor circuit protective devices including motor overloads
• Troubleshooting techniques on simulators in lab

He reminds students that they can work hard or work smart, and “smart will always bring you home safely. At the end of the day we all are striving for one very important thing, being with our loved ones and not pushing up daisies. Work safe and go home at the end of the day, it’s that simple,” Gauthier said.

Gauthier enjoys the interaction with the people that he is instructing. “I do not believe I am a teacher, rather an instructor. So much of what each and every one of us experience (all the instructors share their experiences) is shared in the classroom, and you cannot help but become close friends with the students you teach,” he said.

When he is not teaching, Gauthier also enjoys reading thrillers, mysteries and sci-fi. “I like to ride horses, as well as my ‘steel’ horse (Suzuki Intruder 1400), safely, of course,” he said.