SAIMC donates scada to Cape Technikon
January 2004
SAIMC
The Cape Town Branch of the SAIMC (South African Institute of Measurement and Control), together with the SAIMC council has jointly sponsored the purchase of an educational consignment Wonderware scada licence from Futuristix Advanced Control Systems, a member of the EOH group of companies.
The SAIMC have donated the InTouch scada package to Cape Technikon who will use it to provide short courses to students wishing to know more about scada systems. This Cape Town initiative has been implemented due to the success of the introductory PLC short courses that have been running at Cape Technikon for the last three years.
It is often difficult for technicians to take time away from normal working hours to attend these courses due to the increasing demands on their valuable time. Cape Technikon have addressed this problem by introducing short courses that are run over a six week period with lessons taking place on two evenings per week. The courses are fully certified and companies sponsoring technicians can make claim to their Skills Development Levy.
Ian Robertson has developed the PLC short course at Cape Technikon and says 'There has been great demand for us to provide an advanced PLC course as well as an introductory scada course. Most of this demand has come from those that have already attended the PLC introductory short course.' As a benefit to its membership, SAIMC members wishing to attend this course will receive special discounts. Ian Robertson will develop the advanced PLC and introductory scada course and Cape Technikon will introduce these courses in the first half of 2004.
At a recent meeting between Cape Technikon, SAIMC and Futuristix, the educational consignment license was handed over to the Dean of Electrical Engineering at Cape Technikon, Nico Bute. "This kind and generous offer will provide us and SAIMC members a great opportunity to develop the necessary technical skills required for today's industry," says Bute.
"Thanks to the support and generosity of our members and sponsors during our fund raising events, we were able to do this," says Derwyn Oxley of SAIMC. "This project will provide another channel for our members to benefit from their technical development. It is a further sign of the commitment and intentions of our institute."
Dawid Sadie of Futuristix said that the choice of Wonderware scada by the SAIMC would allow Cape Technikon to train students on the most popular scada solution in the Western Cape and in South Africa.
For more information contact Mike le Plastrier, Futuristix Advanced Control Systems, 011 723 9900, [email protected], www.futuristix.co.za
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