February 4, 2014

3 Min Read
Endress+Hauser Donates Instrumentation to Polk State College Process Training Unit
PSC PTU.jpg

Polk State College celebrates the opening of a 47,000-sq-ft Clear Springs Advanced Technology Center just east of Bartow, FL. Through the generous donations of Endress+Hauser, Rockwell Automation, and TriNova, Polk State College will be the new home to a $1 million, state-of-the-art PTU (Process Training Unit).

The Polk State College PTU will serve as a go-to place for companies who are seeking workforce training for their employees and customers, and for students to utilize as they pursue their degree programs. The PTU combines theory and a hands-on approach to provide participants with real-world experience in a safe, working process environment.

At the January 8 ribbon cutting, corporate college director Rob Clancey provided a short tour and talked up all the ways the new set-up will benefit the community and state — not to mention the 7200 students it will serve annually. “Clear Springs is one of just three advanced technology centers in Florida,” said Clancey. “There are 147 of them in the nation now and more are expected to be established. It will serve beyond the county lines into the region, and be a go-to place for companies seeking to stay on top of the game.”

The PTU is outfitted to help students and customers gain hands-on experience with the types of operation, diagnostics and troubleshooting found in real-life process plants. It features the latest Endress+Hauser flow, level, temperature, pressure, and analytical instrumentation, in addition to the PlantPAx process control system donated by Rockwell Automation. The PlantPAx process automation system will be used in a functioning environment with field devices to train customers for operation and maintenance of process systems. In addition, it provides a venue for demonstrations of Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation technology and a regional resource for customers to obtain hands-on training in a controlled environment.  

The partnership between the school, manufacturers Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation, and the sales and service company TriNova Inc. will help benefit the industry in Central Florida by not only offering learning opportunities for college students, but also industrial training for workers from many large companies in the area wanting to modernize their processing plants, and take advantage of new technology to develop more efficient operations.  

TriNova will conduct workforce training courses at the facility in order to help companies in the region. Over the coming years, the workforce in the state of Florida will benefit from this investment and become the model for similar advanced technology centers around the country.

“The innovative approach we have taken at Polk State College is truly unique to the industry,” said Jerry Spindler, training manager, customer & field service training, Endress+Hauser USA. “By working alongside Polk State College and other universities to better develop workforce training opportunities for our customers, Endress+Hauser can help secure the talent pipeline and better prepare our next-generation workforce for successful careers in the field of automation – a core mission and dedicated initiative of Endress+Hauser.”

The PTU construction was part of a larger scale project to develop a $14.5 million Advanced Technology Center that will generate a greater trained workforce with higher skills – all with the hopes of driving employers to the area. The Center will now house not only the new PTU but also high-tech degree programs such as Engineering Technology and Supply Chain Management.

The Polk State College PTU is one of seven across the U.S. with as many as five more projects underway to build more training facilities in order to keep up with the heightened demand for workforce training. Recognizing this trend, Endress+Hauser has made investments to become the clear leader and number one instrumentation training provider in the industry.

For more information on Endress+Hauser’s training program, visit: www.us.endress.com/training.

For more information on Polk State College’s Advanced Technology Center, visit: www.polk.edu/news/polk-state-celebrates-opening-of-advanced-technology-center-philanthropy/

For related equipment reviews, articles, and news, visit our Instrumentation & Control Equipment Zone

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