Students enrolled in the Clark State Community College Diesel Technology Program will now be able to get their hands dirty on a heavy-duty Mercedes engine. Stoops Freightliner, located in Dayton, Ohio, donated the 2007 Mercedes MBE 4000 engine to the program in January.

Jacob Whitt, program coordinator and instructor for the Diesel Technology program said this is the third engine Stoops Freightliner has donated to Clark State for the program. “This is the first Mercedes engine,” said Whitt. “It’s a 2007 model, but it’s brand new. It has never been in a truck or been started.”

Whitt said the Mercedes engine isn't a common engine in the truck market, but there are still many trucks on the road equipped with this engine. Last fall, Duncan Oil donated a truck to the Diesel Technology program that housed the same Mercedes engine as received from Stoops.

Whitt said having the new engine will coincide with training on the truck engine that has an actual malfunction. “We’re going to be using the truck engine heavily in our diesel engine performance class that begins in February,” said Whitt. “It’s a live project. It’s an engine with a problem that students will have to troubleshoot and fix.”

Stoops Freightliner, a Clark State program partner, also supports more than 90-hours of online training. “This new engine will help supplement the 90 hours of Freightliner, Mercedes-Benz and Detroit Diesel online training that Stoops provides to our students,” said Whitt.

Whitt said a one-year certificate is available, but most students opt for the two-year associate degree in Diesel Technology due to the growing need for employees who understand the changing technology in the field. “These trucks are very high tech,” said Whitt. “And the industry need is greatest for techs who understand how these electronic systems work.”