BANGOR, Maine — Eastern Maine Community College automotive technology students got hands-on experience engraving catalytic converters to deter theft on Tuesday morning.
The college collaborated with the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicle’s Enforcement Division to host Maine’s first free “Etch and Catch” program.
Catalytic converters, devices that depollute exhaust emissions, are vulnerable to theft because they contain valuable metals and are easy to remove. Marking a converter with the vehicle’s identification number can help decrease theft and help to track them down, according to police.
Maine passed a law in 2022 requiring vehicles being sold to have their converters engraved to make them more traceable.
“So, you can't just take a catalytic converter to a recycler or sell it to anybody now without it being marked, so that alone probably cut a lot of theft," Derek Dinsmore, senior detective of the Maine BMV Enforcement Division, said.
Automotive students at EMCC worked together to drive the cars into place, lift them up, read off the VIN numbers, and engrave the catalytic converters.
“It's nice to put the skills we learn in school to the test,” student Collin Adair said.
Student Zack Hall enjoyed the opportunity to provide drivers with this free service.
“I’m proud to be an EMCC student and help out the local community get their catalytic converters etched, and they leave happy,” Hall said.
The automotive program also collaborated with the criminal justice department to organize the event.
“For a program like mine it really is about the experiential learning. It's light-years different from reading about it in a book versus seeing it with your own two eyes,” Cornel Plebani, Criminal Justice Department chair, said.
Criminal justice student Dylan Pung said it was awesome to have the opportunity to connect with people and help protect them from theft.
“We are extremely honored as a program. This is our first time here in the state having a catalytic converter event, so we are extremely blessed and thankful,” he said.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles is hoping to continue its work and create programs like this across Maine.