Case study: Bellingham Technical College

Bellingham Technical College in Washington State, USA is a member of Center for Advancement of Process Technology (CAPT). Bellingham runs a Process Technology course which prepares students for employment as Plant Operators.

The skills taught include monitoring and controlling processing equipment such as pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, distillation columns, boilers, furnaces, troubleshooting and problem solving, safety awareness, and testing product quality.

Bellingham use a combination of theory and hands-on training to equip students with the requisite skills. They were looking for e-learning to supplement classroom teaching. PSR were pleased to offer a quarterly academic license at our special academic rate to meet their needs.

Tom Carleson, Process Technology Instructor at Bellingham said:

I have been an instructor at Bellingham Technical College for about five years and have prepared and taught almost all of the classes in our Process Technology program. 

We actively use computer simulations and computer based modules for our program to keep our students engaged in learning, not only the fundamentals but new developments as well.

We began using the PSR Interactive material [in April 2010]. I was impressed with the level of the material in the modules, the audio feature, and the interactive 3D units.  We are using PSR modules to supplement our equipment, systems and operations classes. 

The 3D modules are especially useful for the operations class.   Our students have really enjoyed the modules, finding them interesting, challenging, and very helpful in understanding course material.

Bellingham has since renewed their quarterly academic license twice and intends to continue using PSR Interactive.