Carl Cavallo

Adjunct Professor of Automotive Technology

Growing up, Carl Cavallo loved anything mechanical. He worked on lawnmowers, tractors anything that had an engine. He built his first small car at age 12 and raced others in the neighborhood.

An automotive high school teacher inspired him to pursue teaching as a career. He taught automotive technology for 22 years at a California high school. He then taught for 13 years at a community college near Sacramento, of which eight years he taught for the Ford ASSET automotive program.

I tell my students that I'm old school, says Carl. Read the chapter as an introduction, attend my lecture to clear up the rough spots and then to the lab to apply the new knowledge. By working through these steps,the students have experienced all the learning styles: visual, auditory and application with cognitive thinking. We solve a lot of problems.

Carl especially enjoys interacting with the students and helping them understand and apply the theory, operation, diagnostic and repair of the modern automobile. To see and feel the light bulb of knowledge that's the best, he says.

Carl has been a member of the COCC faculty since 2002 and received the 2013 Teaching Award for part-time instructors.