Students in the automotive technology program at Kalamazoo Valley are benefitting from the donation of two scan tools from Bosch Automotive Service Solutions. The company donated one OTC Encore scan-tool and one OTC Evolve scan-tool.

“Bosch recognizes the importance of, and the need for qualified automotive technicians in Michigan and throughout the country,” said Scott Krampitz, director of diagnostic sales for Bosch Automotive Service Solutions. “This donation helps fill a need for Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC) while ensuring students and faculty have some of the newest and up-to-date automotive repair tools available.”

Kalamazoo Valley’s Automotive Technology Laboratory Manager Charlie Fuller explained that automotive technology has become extremely complex and is growing more complex every year. “We are basically driving around vehicles controlled by a network of multiple computers, all talking to each other and constantly monitoring each other for state of health and proper operation. They are keeping our vehicles running efficiently and as environmentally friendly as possible,” he said. “Some are keeping us in our driving lanes, keeping us a safe distance from the car in front of us. They are parking themselves, and some are able to avoid collisions without any driver input. Soon they will be driving us around with no driver input except requested destination.”

Fuller said the scan-tools have been on his new equipment wish list for several years. “This donation from Bosch will help our students by exposing them to the newest networking diagnostic and bi-directional scan tools on the market,” said Fuller. “We have other scan tools and some factory scan tools, but these are the most current.”