- By Melissa Landon
- October 07, 2022
- ISA
- Feature
Summary
The International Society of Automation (ISA) offers training for automation professionals around the world; at headquarters in Durham, N.C.; and remotely.
During one of Matt Rothkopf’s trips to the North Slope of Alaska, he decided he might as well walk to the training area in the morning. His hosts told him it wasn’t safe to walk, and he figured they feared he would freeze to death. “No,” his host said. “The polar bears will eat you first.”
Rothkopf is the manager of learning consultation with the International Society of Automation (ISA).
ISA provides hands on, vendor neutral training, certifications and publications to prepare the automation workforce to address technology changes and industry challenges. ISA offers training for automation professionals around the world; at headquarters in Durham, N.C.; and remotely. In fact, ISA has provided training on every continent except Antarctica.
“We’re a mission-driven organization striving to serve as a valuable resource to automation professionals,” Rothkopf said.
Hands-on training on any brand of equipment
“Our trainees don’t just sit in classrooms,” Rothkopf said. ISA has portable labs so trainees can learn in a hands-on environment from almost anywhere in the world. Vendors frequently donate equipment to ISA for use in trainings. ISA’s education opportunities are unique because trainees can usually learn on whatever brand of equipment they use at their plants.
“No one will teach you how to use a specific device better than the company it came from, but what people appreciate about ISA training is that we teach how different pieces go together as a comprehensive system,” Rothkopf said. He explained that ISA provides foundational training that’s necessary to grasp before understanding the specific “bells and whistles” of the equipment.
New instrumentation technicians and control engineers need to both grasp the fundamentals and understand the specifics of automation equipment, so extended training services that are intended for specific devices and manufacturers can be helpful. For example, in the fall of 2021, ISA announced a collaboration with instrumentation maker Endress+Hauser to offer extended training services. “We see Endress+Hauser training as being very specific to our devices, our models, features, options and classes directed at those who have purchased and installed our devices,” noted E+H customer training manager Jerry Spindler, “whereas ISA has a wider focus and covers topics we do not specialize in, which is naturally a very complementary offering to ours.”
High-quality training available almost anywhere
ISA offers training at ISA headquarters, at regional sites, at company facilities, and online. It all depends on what’s best for the client. A wide variety of learning opportunities are available, including classroom courses, instructor-guided online courses, self-paced modular courses, onsite courses, boot camp courses, hands-on portable laboratories, and virtual classroom training.
“Some clients really value the face-to-face interaction during training, but others appreciate the virtual courses because they don’t have to travel,” Rothkopf explained. ISA can ship portable labs across the US and to many other countries around the world to use for on-site trainings and has a global list of trainers to provide in-person instruction.
ISA is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). It complies with the ANSI/IACET Standard, an internationally recognized standard of excellence in instructional practices. All ISA instructors are required to have at least 10 years of active related industry experience in the course subject matter and experience teaching adults.
ISA instructor Scott Sommer, PE, CAP, possesses more than 40 years of experience in automation, instrumentation and process control design and applications. During his career, he worked for large and small manufacturing companies and multiple engineering firms, including a systems integration firm where he served as the principal owner for almost 10 years. He has been an ISA instructor since 2008.
“As automation engineers, we should never give up the desire to learn about or expand our knowledge of devices and systems,” Sommer said. “Technical training is the mechanism by which we cultivate our own pathway to life-long learning. For me, this has led to a passion to develop and train the next generation of automation engineers.”
ISA’s most popular training
ISA offers a vast selection of training opportunities across numerous industries such as chemical, energy, manufacturing, cybersecurity, and oil and gas. Here are some of ISA’s newest course offerings: Technician Training Bootcamp, Cybersecurity Design & Implementation, Management of Alarm Systems, and Batch Control Using the ANSI/ISA88 Standards.
Many of the ISA’s most popular trainings are related to cybersecurity. Courses that support Certified Control System Technicians (CCST) are also popular. The CCST courses provide crucial information an instrumentation and control technician needs to operate efficiently.
“My favorite training is the Technician Training Boot Camp (TTBC),” Rothkopf said. This hands-on, five-day course is recommended for technicians who possess a good level of experience. “Technicians in the TTBC already know how to do the work, but the course refreshes them in the right ways to do it.”
TTBC packs a multi-week curriculum into a convenient 5-day training. Rothkopf said the ISA created the TTBC course because over the years, workforces have shrunk, becoming leaner and more efficient, and companies can’t spare workers for 4-6 weeks for a training.
One trainee said his company now requires that everyone take the TTBC because annual plant maintenance shut-down was reduced from two weeks to 4.5 days as a result of strategies they learned from attending the training.
Learn more about ISA training offerings on the website or send an email to [email protected].
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