The Ritop Wire-February 2004

About the Ritop School

MINI Gets a Maximum Installation

The students of the Ritop School, with help from key mobile electronics manufacturers, have installed a truly stealth high-end system in a new MINI Cooper. Many show vehicles over the past few years have very visible equipment that has been installed. Wondering if owners of these cars have places to park securely where nothing will be stolen, the students of our January/February semester, in cooperation with shop instructor Malcolm Austin, designed an installation that sounds awesome and yet is invisible to a casual observer of the vehicle.

A 2003 MINI Cooper, owned by a graduate of the school, was used for the school’s latest project vehicle. Installed were Morel Acoustics, USA Inc. SR-6.2 components in the front doors, Renaissance R-6 coaxial speakers in the rear compartment, and two WR-8” sub woofers in the back end of the car. All of the drivers are powered by a massive 1600 watt, 5-channel amplifier the “Memphis Belle” from Memphis Car Audio. The class took their time to remove most of the vehicle’s interior to lay down a complete layer of Extreme Dynamat on all the MINI’s interior surfaces and ran cables for the audio system. While carefully putting the car back together, the students got a chance to brainstorm and plan the installation of the rest of the system. A great deal of teamwork went into the MINI Copper and everyone at the Ritop School is proud of our students and their creativity and craftsmanship.

The Ritop School would like to thank Paul Sodona, Vice President of Marketing, Dynamic Control of North America, Mikhael Shabani, President, Morel Acoustics, USA Inc and Jeff Triplet, Mobile Audio Product Manger, Memphis Car Audio for their generous contributions and support toward the incredible hands-on installation that our students recently completed in our latest project vehicle.

Advanced Workshops 2004

Each workshop lasts one week. Students may apply for either Advanced Fabrication, Advanced Security or both workshops. Students may take either the full-time (March 22-26, Monday-Friday, 8 AM - 5PM), part-time (March 20-27, Sat/Sun 8AM - 5PM, M-F 6PM - 9 PM) sessions or both.

Advanced Fabrication: Work with different materials, including fiberglass, (mat, weave, and resin) Plexiglas, carbon fiber, bondo, gel coat, vinyl, aluminum, fleece, grillwork, (plastic and metal) and various adhesives to learn their application process in the creation of alternative speaker pods, subwoofer enclosures, interior panels and more.

Advanced Security: Improve skills in the areas of Door Lock/Unlock Outputs, Flash Relays, Sensor Programming via Remote Control, Ignition/Impact Disable Input, Remote Car Starters, Sensor Programming, Impact Sensors, Passive or Active Arming, Starter Interrupt Relay, Unlock/Lock Output Dome Light, Armed Output Ignition Disable Input Operation, remote control of accessories, supplemental outputs and more. More information.

Information Session March 13

To learn more about the Ritop School, you are cordially invited to attend an Information Session held throughout the year at the Ritop School in Watertown, MA.

The information sessions give parents and prospective students time to visit the school, tour our facilities and speak with the Director and school staff regarding curriculum and any other relevant questions you may have. The next Information Session will be held on Saturday, March 13, 2003 at 1:00 PM. Additional Information Sessions will be held throughout 2004:

Please call us at 888-44-RITOP to reserve your spot. If you cannot attend any of the meetings and need more information, an individual appointment and school tour can be scheduled. We also conduct information sessions at high schools around the New England area. If you know of a school that would benefit from learning more about educational opportunities in the exciting field of mobile electronics, please contact us. More Information

Installer Challenge 2004

The Ritop School once again sponsored the trophies at this year’s Installer Challenge Competition hosted by Select Products in conjunction with MECP at the International Consumer Electronics Show held January 8-11, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Two teams of MECP certified installers, one from the United States and the other from Canada, competed in this grueling 48-hour event. This year the Canadians were victorious in this unique contest.

The Ritop School, will once again be presenting Installer Challenge trophies at the upcoming Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL, March 26-28, 2004. The Ritop School salutes the Installer Challenge teams and the level of expertise that they have achieved.

Ritop School Named MECP Vice Chair

(From 12Volt News, February 2004) The Ritop School, has been appointed as Vice Chair of the Education Committee at MECP. The Director has been a professional educator for more that 25 years, with a career encompassing classroom teaching in a a small private school to Associate Director of Enrollment Services for a prestigious local college. More Information

December 2003 Graduating Class

Congratulations to our December 2003 graduating class. The students worked hard in both the classroom and the shop. The skills they acquired will serve them well throughout their careers in the mobile electronics industry. Their average MECP test score was an impressive 85.87%! This class was among the first to take the MECP Installer Exam on-line. More Information

Graduates, remember the Ritop School maintains a database of job postings for our graduates. Need placement assistance, visit Job Central at ritop.com or call us at 888-44-RITOP. Refer a new student to the school and receive a reward.

Ritop Thanks Our Supporters

The Ritop School wishes to thank the following companies that help to support the school and its educational goals with donations of state-of-the-art mobile electronics for our students to learn to install: Memphis Audio, JL Audio, Boston Acoustics, Audio Control, Directed Electronics, Dynamat, Optima Batteries, Morel USA and Audiovox.