BSC students preview careers at Synfuels Plant
Bismarck State College’s (BSC) online education program has afforded many people the chance to earn an education and better themselves over the years.
Dakota Gasification Company - January 27, 2010
Bismarck State College’s (BSC) online education program has afforded many people the chance to earn an education and better themselves over the years. One of the programs offered – the online process and power plant degree program – works closely with industry partners,like Dakota Gasification Company, to best prepare students for careers once they graduate. This year, Dakota Gas expanded its involvement in BSC’s Competency Program and brought more students than ever to the Great Plains Synfuels Plant.
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Bruce Weightman |
The fall 2009 semester brought eight students to the Synfuels Plant, more than Weightman could handle himself. “With the increased numbers, I looked for help from the other shift superintendents,” Weightman says. He found that help in Troy Borud, Claude O’Berry and Wayne Dedekam.
BSC designed the Competency Program to provide students with job-related training and hands-on experience in preparation for a career as a process technician/operator. Students are required to spend 80 hours at the plant, which allows for about 12 hours per unit. “The time spent in the units allows interaction with our operators and supervisors, as well as time spent viewing actual equipment,” Weightman says. “We feel this is much better than the computer graphic version of the equipment they see during class.”
Weightman says he spends about three hours with each student and then turns them over to begin their areaby- area job shadowing. The process operation technicians and supervisors mentor the students on their specific area equipment. As they progress through the areas, the technicians and supervisors complete the competency workbook with the student.
As the program has evolved, Weightman has not only hosted job shadowing at the Synfuels Plant, but has also rewritten the competency workbook to better fit the students’ experience at the plant. Weightman designed the workbook to cover each specific unit in order at the Synfuels Plant and providing a road map and check-off sheet for each activity.
When the students complete the competency workbook, Weightman reviews it with each student, allowing them to ask questions. Weightman, the operations technicians and supervisors are also allowed to evaluate the student. “The process gives us a good sense of whether this student would make a good employee and fit at the Synfuels Plant,” Weightman says.
It is a win for both the student and the Synfuels Plant. “We can see if the student is attentive and interested in our facility, and the student can see first-hand what it is like to work at a full-scale process plant,” Weightman says. “Over the years, we’ve had such positive results that students are requesting to be assigned to the Synfuels Plant.”
Weightman enjoys working with the program and likes to see the reaction students express when first seeing the pipes, equipment, pumps, turbines and other equipment. “There is always a ‘Wow I didn’t know this was so big’ comment,” Weightman says. Even employees’ children who have participated in the program say they never realized the scope of work at the Synfuels Plant, he says.
“I like to share with these students the opportunity that awaits them in the energy industry. Whether it is here or someplace else, this experience gives the student a real-time look at what running a plant takes. They may not remember everything they see and learn while they are at the Synfuels Plant, but in the end, the knowledge they gain will benefit them in the working world.”
Headquarters
1600 E. Interstate Ave.
PO Box 5540
Bismarck, ND 58506-5540 USA
701.221.4400
Great Plains Synfuels Plant
420 County Road 26
Beulah, ND 58523-9400 USA
701.873.2100
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