Program Description

The Associate in Applied Science degree prepares students for employment installing, maintaining, repairing, and troubleshooting instrumentation and control systems in such Industries as petroleum refining, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals, aluminum, food processing, chemical manufacturing, power generation, water treatment, waste water treatment, and semiconductor manufacturing. A combination of theory and hands-on training offers a variety of state-of-the-art process measurement and control instrumentation with actual working processes and computer simulations. The program uses the application of math and physics to solve everyday problems that an instrument technician will encounter. Approximately half of the instructional time is spent in the lab to develop skills and experience with electronic circuits, test equipment, individual instruments, multiple instrument control systems, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Distributed Control Systems (DCS), and practical computer applications.

The Bellingham Technical College ISA Student Section takes an active roll in the NW Washington Section of the ISA, attending monthly meetings and tours and helping to run the annual Tabletop Show and Short Course at the Lakeway Inn. The student section tours several NW industrial sites and has many guest speakers that come to our classrooms each year. The ITRC (library) at BTC houses a very extensive collection of ISA videos and books as well as past issues of INTECH magazine. We encourage job shadows, paid or unpaid. Most students choose to job shadow during their spring break so as to not miss any time during the school year. These job shadows often lead to full time employment at graduation. Our students are in demand. We had 100% placement one month before graduation in June of 2000. We cannot produce enough graduates to keep up with the number of high paying jobs that are available.