A new process control project at The University of Sydney allows students to gain industry experience, writes Foundation executive officer, Skender Bregu.
The University of Sydney’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE) has appointed Schneider Electric as a Corporate Member, after upgrading the school’s laboratory equipment through donations of its electronic and process control products and programs.
This upgrade allows CBE students to conduct their studies on chemical process rigs similar to those they will be working on when they complete their degree, giving them a competitive advantage when applying for engineering positions.
On 1st April, the CBE and Schneider Electric jointly inaugurated the project, formally starting-up the equipment. Harry Chan (pictured right), a fourth year student, was a key contributor to the project. Chan was a summer intern with Schneider Electric and project managed the planning, implementation, installation, and calibration of the Schneider Electric process control equipment onto the lab rigs at the school. The project will be part of his graduating thesis.
According to Emeritus Professor Rolf Prince, who was a special guest on the day, the original equipment has been serving the school for twenty years, and the addition of Schneider Electric’s “21st century technology” will allow it to be used across a number of courses.
Schneider Electric national manager, systems and architecture, Lyle van der Veer, helped to coordinate and implement the project. “The significance of this partnership is that it goes a long way to addressing the training needs in automation and control currently in shortfall in Australia,” he said.
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Foundation