Mobile lab hitting road for summer sessions

With the opening of summer semester classes today, the OTC Mobile Hearing Lab will prepare to go on the road to offer hearing instrument science training to students at St. Charles Community College and at OTC.

The mobile lab was developed through a grant from the federal Department of Labor. A grant from Gov. Jay Nixon’s Training for Tomorrow paid for the design of the program’s curriculum. Both grants were designed to educate Missourians in high-tech fields and get them working in growing industries.

“The mobile hearing lab is truly a great instruction/learning tool for the students. It has provided greater ease of access to the latest technology offered in the field of hearing instrument science. All student participants have expressed great satisfaction with their experience,” said Larry Brethower, hearing instrument science program director

The vehicle will be in St. Charles Jun 14-15 and July 12-13 and at OTC June 21-22 and July 19-20.

The mobile lab offer instruction opportunities for all labs offered through the OTC Hearing Instrument Science coursework.

In addition, the mobile vehicle has:

• A full size sound room is in the back of the mobile unit with instructor access to an LED projector from both the front instructor station and the back instructor station.


• An audiometer, probe microphone equipment, and ANSI hearing instrument test box located next to the sound room. 


• All of the data generated can be displayed to the students via the LED projector and screen. 


• Each student station is equipped with its own overhead locker to store student personal items and supplies for each lab session. 


• The student stations are networked into a server within the mobile lab and also have wireless Internet access. This provides the students and instructors with an opportunity to review their current Blackboard instruction assignments; and interactively discuss both current and future topics.

Registration continues for summer classes and fall registration is continuing with those classes scheduled to begin Aug. 19.