FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

One donation benefited two shops recently at Diman, when Liberty Utilities donated equipment to both the Plumbing program and the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration program.      

The equipment was donated in March of 2018 and included two unused furnaces, a used furnace, an air condenser, and a pair of industrial-sized heaters.

“This is legacy equipment that we owned and never installed, or installed and then removed,” said Matt Zenni, Senior Manager of Regional Sales at Liberty Utilities.. ““Instead of seeing it go to the scrapyard, we thought that Diman students would get some use out of it.”

Both Diman shops are thrilled to have the equipment. Plumbing Department Head Steve Bradham was excited about the learning opportunities that the hanging industrial heaters provide. “Students will go to the manufacturer’s chart and figure out the footage to make sure they have a big enough gas line, so they have to learn to size that,” he explained. “Then they’re going to learn how to hang the unit, then they have to figure out the exhaust flue and make sure it’s sized appropriately, install the flue, have the Electricity program wire it, and then we’ll go through the process of how it works, understanding the sequence of events.”

“It’s a great donation from the gas company,” Bradham said enthusiastically.

In the HVACR program, the equipment will allow instructors to go in-depth for equipment diagnosis and repair. “We’re going to take it apart to demonstrate the inner workings of the equipment and learn how to replace internal parts,” said Department Head John Pimental. “With our regular equipment, we can’t really take them apart, but this donated equipment will allow us to take it apart and show them how to replace the fan, the heat exchanger, and other parts.”

Pimental also expressed gratitude, saying, “We’re very appreciative that companies are donating equipment to the shop, so it’ll really help.”

Thankfully, the exchange is mutually beneficial. “We’re excited,” said Zenni. “We look at Diman as a feeder program to our trade. We have hired Diman grads, and a lot of our trade allies in plumbing and HVAC are Diman graduates, so we are happy to support them.”

“Diman is an exceptional school and it was a pleasure to donate the equipment - particularly to the students and instructors in the Plumbing and Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration programs," echoed Liberty’s Senior Manager of Government Relations, Jim Carey.

Contact:
Maria Torres, Occupational Coordinator
mtorres@dimanregional.org