When RJ Tinsley '25 returned to Onondaga Community College earlier this semester, he was struck by how much the campus - and his life - had changed. "Walking into Whitney and seeing the new CNC Machining Lab, the new stairs, and the glass railings, I was blown away. Up on the second floor, I was looking into the cleanroom and seeing those machines like in the fab in Boise. It was a lot to take in. It's really beautiful what they've done here!"
Tinsely is a member of the first graduating class of students in the Micron-related Electromechanical Technology degree program. He completed his degree in May 2025, and a month later began working at Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho as a Dry Etch Process Technician. Through most of his two years on campus, the Atrium in the Whitney Applied Technology Center was closed due to construction related to the Micron Cleanroom Simulation Lab and other workforce-related programs. A ceremonial wire cutting ceremony was held October 1, signaling its reopening.
His road to a new career began 3 years ago when he was working as a delivery driver for Francesca's Italian Restaurant. He heard the news about the President of the United States coming to OCC to celebrate Micron Technology's decision to build a chip fabrication plant in the Onondaga County Town of Clay, and decided he wanted to be a part of it. Tinsley had attended OCC previously, right after graduating from Liverpool High School. He earned his associate degree here, then a bachelor's degree from SUNY Cortland, but struggled to find work he was passionate about.
In the fall of 2023, he enrolled in the new Electromechanical Technology degree program. After a successful first year, he spent the summer of 2024 doing a paid internship at Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho. He was eventually offered a job, contingent upon completing his degree. After he graduated this past May, he drove out to Boise with classmate and fellow Micron employee, Ericka Ruffin. "Some of the experiences I had driving out there are really big core memories. We stopped at the Badlands (National Park in South Dakota), drove through Yellowstone (National Park in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho), Beartooth Highway (in Montana), and Mount Rushmore (in South Dakota). I got to see a lot of the places I've only seen in pictures or online!"
Besides Tinsley and Ruffin, there are many recent OCC Alumni working at Micron in Boise, including Allison Wilcox, Kah-lelle Akins, Timothy Szarek, and Hunter Garrett. He enjoys running into them occasionally, but looks forward to the day when he can live and work closer to home at the Micron Chip Fab in Clay. "I really miss my friends and my family. My friends that I have back here - we're super tight. I've known them for so long. We've always hung out through high school, during college, and after college. I have a lot of siblings, and I don't want to miss out on anyone growing up. As beautiful and scenic as Idaho is, it's not the same when you don't have family with you."
