Fieldbus Foundation announces certified FOUNDATION(TM) trainers.
Press Release Summary:
Fieldbus Foundation has certified several new fieldbus technology trainers under its FOUNDATION Certified Training Program. This program establishes uniform standards for fieldbus educational curriculum and instructors around the world, and defines acceptable levels of learning for students of the technology. New instructors include Dr. Bindert Douma of STC Brielle, Ed Williamson and Mark Tarrant of SAIT Polytechnic, and Yoshiharu Amano and Yoshitsugu Morioka of Waseda University.
Original Press Release:
Fieldbus Foundation Announces FOUNDATION(TM) Trainers Certified Under FCTP Program
STC Brielle, SAIT Polytechnic and Waseda University instructors gain certified status
AUSTIN, Texas, - The Fieldbus Foundation today announced that it has certified several new fieldbus technology trainers under its FOUNDATION Certified Training Program (FCTP). This program establishes uniform standards for fieldbus educational curriculum and instructors around the globe, and defines acceptable levels of learning for students of the technology.
Recognition under the FCTP means that FOUNDATION fieldbus training courses are taught at a certified training site, by a certified instructor, using certified curriculum. The core instructional content, developed by a team of qualified instructors from various institutions worldwide, is consistent across all the training facilities. Through the program, educational institutions, curriculum and instructors are all audited to ensure they meet standardized educational requirements. A complete list of certified training centers around the world is available at www.fieldbus.org.
The FCTP currently offers three types of certification: FOUNDATION Certified Professional, FOUNDATION Certified Support Specialist, and FOUNDATION Certified Technical Specialist. Additional certifications may be added in the future. Any certified trainer can teach all of these certifications.
The five new FOUNDATION certified instructors include:
o Dr. Bindert Douma, STC Brielle, The Netherlands. Dr. Douma has an extensive background at Shell Global Solutions, a leading global energy company.
o Ed Williamson, SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Mr. Williamson is an instructor at SAIT with a lengthy background at Opti Canada, a developer of major petroleum projects in the Canadian oil sands region.
o Mark Tarrant, SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Mr. Tarrant has extensive process automation experience with companies such as Emerson Process Management and is the lead Distributed Control System (DCS) instructor at SAIT.
o Yoshiharu Amano, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Amano is a professor at Waseda University whose areas of research include analysis and optimization of energy systems and development of autonomous mobile systems.
o Yoshitsugu Morioka, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Morioka has many years of experience with Yokogawa and the Fieldbus Foundation, and is currently a visiting researcher at the Waseda University Research Institute for Science and Engineering.
Fieldbus Foundation President and CEO Rich Timoney congratulated the new certified trainers. "The dedicated technology instructors participating in the FCTP will make a significant contribution to the growth of FOUNDATION fieldbus and the future of a skilled automation workforce," said Timoney. "By attending training courses at an institution that is included in the FTCP, students will gain access to highly skilled trainers possessing a strong knowledge of the basic and advanced principles of FOUNDATION technology."
Timoney added, "The goal of the FTCP is to identify and work with qualified training sites and personnel to deliver theoretical and practical hands-on instruction in the design, engineering, operation and maintenance of systems, instruments and valves utilizing FOUNDATION fieldbus in a consistent, comprehensive and quality assured manner."
For educational institutions, there are rigorous procedures for gaining FCTP status, and for certifying course instructors and curriculum. Certified training centers are required to maintain multiple hosts and devices onsite in order to demonstrate competence with fieldbus technology. They are also audited to ensure their course material adheres to set instructional standards covering fieldbus segment limits; device replacements; commands, icons, menus and screen designs of different software packages; and communication, scheduling and function block assignments enabling configuration.
In addition, certified instructors are audited to see if they have achieved specified Fieldbus Foundation training goals. Instructors must demonstrate expertise in areas such as Human-Machine Interface (HMI) tools, fieldbus troubleshooting, simple device configuration, and device deployment and functionality across a fieldbus network.
For more information, please visit the Certified Training Page in the Education Section of the Fieldbus Foundation's website at www.fieldbus.org.
About the Fieldbus Foundation
The Fieldbus Foundation is a global not-for-profit corporation consisting of leading process end users and automation companies. Within the Fieldbus Foundation, end users, manufacturers, universities and research organizations work together to develop an automation infrastructure that provides process integrity, business intelligence and open scalable integration in a managed environment. For more information, visit their web site at www.fieldbus.org
