Seeing the need for greater industry commitment in the retention and development of top-notch technical talent to operate the complex power grids of North America, Siemens has stepped up its investment in a North America-based training platform for the T&D industry. Building upon its two-year-old acquisition of Power Technologies International (PTI), Siemens has launched a North American Training Center, based in Schenectady, New York, U.S., where PTI was originally founded.

“We are essentially combining the extensive course listing of PTI with the complete catalog of Siemens' T&D-related training to provide a single platform for comprehensive education services,” says Mike Edmonds, vice president and general manager of Siemens PTI. The training center will cover courses from network planning and related general electrical engineering concepts to very practical training in systems and specific device (transformers, breakers and relays) operations.

“As our industry continues to mature, and the new demand on both aging and new grid assets intensifies, we see a growing industry need for more training and knowledge sharing. Our North American Training Center should help to address this situation,” Edmonds noted.

While expanding the course catalog, Siemens is also looking for innovative ways to deliver training services. In addition to the Schenectady facility, Siemens regularly holds courses at various Siemens locations in the United States, including Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Houston, Texas. In 2005, Siemens announced a 12-year technology and marketing alliance with Walt Disney World that will offer Siemens and its customers and partners access to new training venues at both Disney World in Orlando, Florida, U.S., and Disneyland in Anaheim, California, U.S. In fact, the 2007 PSSE Transmission Planning User group meeting will be held in Orlando.

In an effort to reach even more potential students, Siemens has been exploring web-based learning options. This training method has been growing at Siemens over the past decade. In addition to instructor-led courses, and Web- and CD-ROM-based learning, Siemens offers hosted e-learning services where participants can take courses that are self-paced. At the moment, Siemens focuses e-learning options on its software products and NERC-approved operator training course.

Due to the success of e-learning, Siemens plans to do more in that medium in order to extend the reach of courses that may otherwise be held only once per year. “You find very often that with municipal utilities or small co-ops, for budget reasons or time pressures, it is impossible to send their personnel off-site for training,” explained Dave Pacyna, president and CEO of Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution Inc. “Our objective is to make it easy for anyone in our industry to access the kind of training they need to operate their business.”

“This more focused approach to training will give us a platform to offer comprehensive or tailored training solutions to individuals and entire company departments,” Pacyna said. “It also affords us the ability to more effectively partner with other organizations such as academia to start the education process earlier, with the goal of influencing young engineers still in school to develop core competencies that enable a successful and rewarding career in the power industry.” A comprehensive list of available courses can be found at www.usa.siemens.com/energy/pti-education.