November 3, 2026
Heavy Equipment Center.
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. —
Ferris State University Heavy Equipment students are learning to set up, diagnose and repair GPS grade control on a $280,000
Komatsu bulldozer this fall because of one conversation between a professor and an
alum.
Trevor Street, a 2016 graduate and Komatsu’s national product support manager for
attachments, met Austin Williams at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas in March.
Williams, an associate professor and program coordinator for Heavy Equipment Technology,
told Street about a machine control course Ferris State planned to launch.
“When Austin approached me about their grade control course, I immediately knew there
was an opportunity for us to help,” Street said.
Street took the idea to his team. Komatsu and its dealer, AIS Construction Equipment
Corp., placed a D39PXi bulldozer and a $245,000 WA270-8-wheel loader at Ferris State
on consignment for the academic year. Both arrived on Oct. 6. Ferris State is one
of just a few schools nationwide that receive Komatsu equipment this way.
“Ferris State saw the need in the marketplace and is working to address that, so it
made sense for us to support them,” Street said.
The bulldozer anchors the Heavy Equipment Machine Control class, which launched this
fall with 11 students. The course belongs to Heavy Equipment Service Engineering Technology,
Street’s alma mater program and the nation’s only bachelor’s degree of its kind.
Ferris State also offers an associate degree in Heavy Equipment Technology. Dan Meyers,
chair of the School of Industrial and Transportation Technology in the College of Engineering Technologyteaches the course.
“Before, we could only really hit on theory because we didn’t have the machines,”
Meyers said.
Now the bulldozer stays on campus.
“It allows us to build specific assignments and activities around the machine, and
the students can actually get out and operate it,” he said.
Street said the size will allow them to operate it on their training site and not
be limited to just the classroom.
The D39PXi uses Komatsu’s Intelligent Machine Control, a built-in system that holds
the blade within a quarter inch of grade. Students calibrate every link from the operator’s
controls to the corner of the blade.
They also work with the base stations and rovers that guide the machine, the same
equipment Ferris State’s surveying program uses.
“I’m teaching my students about the satellite constellations,” Meyers said.
A machine that stops grading levels may have nothing wrong with it, Meyers said. Someone
may have bumped the post holding the site’s base station.
“It might not be the machine at all. It could be something that’s controlling the
machine,” he said.
Ferris State graduates take those calls.
“It’s not engineers. It’s not salespeople. It’s our students,” Meyers said.
Steve Higgins, Lansing operations manager for AIS, said the company added several
specialized GPS control positions over the past eight years.
“We still need people to perform oil changes and rebuild engines,” Street said. “However,
with this technology we need people that also understand programming, GPS, wireless
interface and all things that go into making this system work.”
The wheel loader has no GPS, so instructors use it for hydraulics, electrical systems
and a baseline. Students grade with the loader, then with a John Deere 35 P-Tier excavator
that guides them through a screen, and finally with the D39PXi, which stops them from
cutting too high or too low.
Many diesel programs train students on one industry or one manufacturer, Meyers said.
“We’re not an on-highway truck program. We’re not a construction equipment program.
We’re not ag. We’re not marine. We’re all of those, and we cover all these manufacturers,”
he said. “This is our first time having Komatsu equipment here on a regular basis.”
“It’s another brand they’re not going to just see in Michigan,” Williams said.
AIS has partnered with Ferris State for more than 25 years. Along with the 35 P-Tier,
it keeps a John Deere 85 P-Tier excavator and a JCB Loadall telehandler at Ferris
State on consignment. For more than 20 years, Higgins has served on the program’s
advisory board, which reviews curriculum and facilities every year.
“We have a very involved advisory committee, and they were very supportive and even
a driving force behind trying to integrate this into a class by itself,” Meyers said.
“They do listen to the board,” Higgins said.
AIS supports 18 of the program’s 80 students through scholarships and jobs, and it
includes them in company functions. The company is now interviewing students for summer
internships.
“We also let them come to work anytime it fits in their schedule,” Higgins said.
Street said he can’t predict what technicians will need in five years, but he knows
what they need now.
“If you’re not already familiar with grade control, network communications and telematics,
you are falling behind,” he said.
Source: www.ferris.edu
