The well-being of industry in Alberta and Canada will be in better hands due to a novel partnership between Endress+Hauser Canada and SAIT Polytechnic. Endress+Hauser Canada, a leader in measurement instrumentation, services and solutions for industrial process engineering, presented the keys to SAIT faculty in Calgary today for a $1.4 million-dollar high-tech learning facility.
 
The new 1,800 square foot Endress+Hauser Process Lab, located in the new Trades and Technology Complex, will educate approximately 600 students in its inaugural year and will feature over $1.275 million in top-of-the-line equipment. The first students from SAIT’s MacPhail School of Energy will experience the unique training facility in September. Most of the students will go on to embrace careers in instrumentation, chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering and, in particular, in the application of process automation.
 
“The demand for process automation and accurate measurement systems is growing at a rapid pace,” said Richard Lewandowski, President of Endress+Hauser Canada. “To meet these present and future needs, we and our industry must have access to quality personnel who have been well-trained and who can join the workforce with ready-to-use knowledge. I could not think of a better solution than the one we’ve developed over the course of the past two years with SAIT.”
 
The new lab in the Johnson-Cobbe Energy Centre is set up for 16 students per session who will have access to hands-on training with state-of-the-art equipment for process engineering. Endress+Hauser flow instruments are installed in a real life-like setting allowing students to gain experience with devices in their natural condition. With several flow stations and multiple sets of repeated equipment, the closed process lab is designed with interactivity in mind to eliminate the need to wait for access to a device, ensuring that all students are engaged during a lecture. Endress+Hauser also provided the necessary process pumps, tanks, piping, fittings and installation to ensure the materials and resources used in the lab are commissioned and maintained in optimal operating condition.  The curriculum will include Instrumentation Theory, Control Theory, Control Systems and Project Management.
 
“Anyone can build a classroom,” said Mary MacDonald, dean of the MacPhail School of Energy. “But building an effective learning environment, particularly in the fields of trades and technology, requires partnerships with companies that are innovative and very active in the field. Measurement and industrial automation is not something you can learn solely in text books, it requires exposure to multiple scenarios, complex procedures and changing conditions. It also requires modern tools that students will encounter in the field.”
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Endress+Hauser Canada is investing in the next generation of skilled workers by announcing a $1.4 million donation to the new SAIT Polytechnic Trades and Technology Complex in Calgary. The donation from Canada’s leading process measurement and automation supplier will fund the Endress+Hauser Process Lab, which will provide state-of-the-art training to students attending the prestigious SAIT’s MacPhail School of Energy.

The Endress+Hauser Process Lab is located in the Johnson-Cobbe Energy Centre, which is the West Wing of the new complex. It will be outfitted with the latest flow and interface measurement technologies, in addition to guided-wave radar instruments and nuclear density profiling systems. The company will also provide guest lecturers and various training materials that explain the different measurement technologies.

“Endress+Hauser has a long history of supporting the development and training of the industrial automation workforce,” said Richard Lewandowski, President of Endress+Hauser Canada. “Because of this culture, getting involved with SAIT was natural. By providing students with the best measurement equipment and training materials, we believe that we are in turn investing in our future employees.”

The labour shortage in this specialized trade coupled with the growing demand in the coming decade, make the donation and support of SAIT’s Trade and Technology Complex very timely.

“Without the support of partners like Endress+Hauser we would not be able to provide such a first-class facility to our students,” says Mary MacDonald, Dean, MacPhail School of Energy. “We continue to be committed to providing state of the art technology and a skills-oriented education. SAIT has always been known as a trailblazer in research and innovation and we feel that this new facility is very reflective of that.”

Endress+Hauser has begun installation, commissioning and start-up of all instrumentation and systems in the lab. The company expects the facility, which is over 1,800 square-feet, to be completed and operational by mid-August 2012.

To learn more about SAIT’s Trade and Technology Complex, visit www.saitpromisingfutures.ca.

Endress+Hauser Canada is headquartered in Burlington, Ontario with offices in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Saskatoon.
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Edmonton, AB - Alberta's top electrician apprentices converged at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Polytechnic (SAIT) for the 2009 Alberta Skills Competition in May. Focusing on industrial automation and motor control, contestants used WAGO TOPJOBS EX E terminal blocks to demonstrate electrical knowledge, construction skills and programming abilities.