Tri-County Technical College is establishing an automated process control and instrumentation laboratory as part of a integrated, multi-level curriculum reform. The state-of-the- art laboratory will consist of a Hampden Instrumentation and Process Control System to include the four major instrumentation and control functions: flow, level, temperature, and pressure; plus computer interface, calibration, pneumatic utilities, and troubleshooting support modules. This allows the College's Industrial & Engineering Technology (I&ET) Division to move from a series of islands of expertise to an integrated approach enabling students to gain the broadened perspective required in today's high tech manufacturing marketplace. Curriculum reforms for the project include: (1) to develop and implement comprehensive automatic process control and instrumentation curriculum courses within the General Engineering Technology, Electronics Engineering Technology, and Industrial Electronics Technology programs; (2) to reconfigure course content in current I&ET and Business division offerings to reflect a multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary CIM approach; and (3) to develop process control and instrumentation curriculum modules which other academic disciplines, at both the post-secondary and secondary levels, will be able to draw upon for illustrative and/or hands-on applications. A clear connectivity between theory and real-world application will be achieved through this project.
