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| It has been a wonderful experience! I find learning online more
advantageous than the traditional classroom method. The threaded
discussions are especially beneficial because they can be gone back through
and read as many times as necessary. There is much more participation from
the class members than I ever remember in the classroom. In the classroom
environment, you don't have time to write down all of the discussions you
hear so it's easy to forget a lot of what was said. The online setting also
allows students to ask questions that they may be reluctant to ask
otherwise. The learning material is specific to the industry and is a
"must" for those needing the education to advance their careers. |
— Tina Greene
Supervisor-Construction & Maintenance
New York State Electric & Gas
October 2007 |
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| I am very pleased with my overall experience at BSC. The ELPW program has
given me a well rounded, basic understanding of the utility industry, and
was instrumental in preparing me for my transition into the power business. |
— Dan Severson
Energy Scheduler
Turlock Irrigation District (TID Water & Power)
October 2007 |
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| In January of 2004 I made a career change from aviation maintenance to the
electrical industry. I started out with Xcel Energy as a coal and ash
handler. I worked my way up into operations at the power plant. Now I'm
about to start in a new position as a control area operator in Minneapolis.
This has all happened in less than 4 years and is a direct result of taking
classes at BSC. I completed the two year program in Electric Power
Technology in May 2007, my new position starts in August 2007. I plan to
continue taking more classes and eventually completing the new four year
energy management program. Who knows where that could lead? To the staff and
instructors at BSC, thank you for the difference that you have made. For
anyone that reads this and is thinking about energy education, don't wait
until someone tells you what you should have done. BSC has an excellent
group of instructors that sincerely care about your education. Not only are
the instructors great, but the interaction that you can have with other
students provides a world of information. |
— Paul Coffey
Plant Equipment Operator
High Bridge Generation Station
Xcel Energy
August 2007 |
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BSC has always been a great school, a great
college and a great contributor to this region. In many ways this
is a turning point -- and the turning point is this. We have an
increasingly complicated energy situation in our country to
produce and transmit energy, especially electric energy, all
around the country and there is no comprehensive training and
education program anywhere in our country to provide the training
and education, with the skills that are necessary -- and will
be necessary, especially for the future for generation and
transmission, in an increasingly complicated world. And I think
with the leadership of President Thigpen and Director Binek this
college is really on the move in that direction.
I toured an electric generating plant in California some while
ago and I met the person that was running the plant at
that particular shift and he shook my hand and said, "I'm from
North Dakota"...I said "Really..." and he said "Yes, I
was trained at Bismarck State College." And so... I know that
you've been doing this for a quarter of a century...but I also
know that this is just the start of what can be the preeminent
energy education and training center in the country. |
— Byron L. Dorgan
U.S. Senator
http://dorgan.senate.gov/
February 2003 |
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I have been involved with BSC personally for over
20 years in the power plant technology schools and most recently
in the system operator schools. It has benefited Montana Dakota
Utilities and its investors tremendously in the past years.
Because of the high quality of students that BSC has put out and
has obviously shortened the training that we need to do in on the
job training. It has turned out to be a real good partnership
with BSC. The August 14, (2003) power outage in the Northeast
is a prime example of why Montana Dakota Utilities works with BSC
in their systems operations training. The well trained people
that are coming out of BSC and BSC helping to certify our
operators are the real reason why Montana Dakota Utilities uses
BSC for its excellent program. Bruce Imsdahl, President
MDU
What's unique at Bismarck State College is the power process
technology training program. It's the only one of its kind, I
believe, in the region and one of only just a handful throughout
the country that offer this kind of training. And we have it
right here in our backyard, which is a tremendous asset. |
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— Mike Hummel
President
BNI Coal
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| '.....I want you to know the value of your
on-line products. I feel that the simulation tools that you are
developing are valuable and will provide BSC with cutting edge
training programs. Dave and I have been using these tools to help
evaluate them for ETST. We've demonstrated then to our
dispatchers and other operations personnel. We received many
positive comments and in general everyone who has seen them have
been extremely impressed. I feel that this is a selling point for
the ETST program. As far as I know nobody has these types of
tools that you have developed. Now the big thing is to keep them
going. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a movie is
worth a million and an interactive tool is worth billions. There
is no better way to teach than "hands-on training" and your tools
provide that. ... Your tools makes it possible for the students
to get hands on training and this will cut down the amount of
time they will need to take shift as a dispatcher. |
— Robert L Markel
Coordinator
WAPA Training |
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| Your Power Transformer Simulation is really
great! I can see a lot of application of this simulation in
training. You are really increasing the level of sophistication
with this. We are utilizing some of your other simulations
(synchlab, 3phase gen, losses) at our operator seminar and they
are getting rave reviews. We have been crediting Bismarck for the
development and referring folks to your website for more
information on the ETST program. |
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— Glen Boyle, PJM
April 2004
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"I'm just thankful this (the ETST degree program)
came along. I couldn't get where I wanted to go in my career
without it. It's been worth the sacrifice and time, and I learned
a lot." Jason Stone, Meter Reader OG&E, BSC Graduate
"I liked the flexibility of being able to do the classes on my
own time. This is really important if you have a family and are
working full time."
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— Dane Merkel
Supervisor, Overhead Lines - Field Services
Pepco, A PHI Company
BSC Graduate |
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| Boilermakers has been involved with training up
here with BSC for about 7 years and we started our relationship
with Ken Paulus because of the welding program up here. And
they've been real good at working around our schedules.
Boilermakers, if you don't know, work on power plants. So our
schedules vary all the time. Most of the time in the summer and
the real cold winters the plants don't shut down, so that's our
times of opportunity to train our apprentices. Well the school's
worked around with us that if we need the classroom time, they
give it to us and if we get tied up where we need our guys out on
the job site, they let us go. So it's been real nice having that
convenience. |
— Terry Curl
Boilermakers |
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| Just want to take a quick minute and thank you for all your
help over the past couple of years. It is the people that make
the college and you guys have some great people - I mean that!
Hope everything continues to work out for your programs as I have
learned a lot! |
— James Eiseman
Graduate 2004
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| We have been very satisfied with the training received from
BSC. |
— Gerry Phelps
Operations Leader |
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| Thanks a lot as I pass this last class everything should be
great. Being able to attend BSC has changed my life. It’s
given me something I thought I would have never done. Thanks
again. |
— Brian Whitlock
Graduate 2004 |
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It has been a while since meeting you in person at Power Gen
2003. Since I am relatively new to this industry, it was nice to
see a very familiar name on a booth. I was impressed with the way
your display was laid out and the professionalism of the people
who represented BSC.
I wanted to give you a brief summary of how Bismarck State
College was able to assist me in furthering my carrier. I was
employed in the oil and gas industry from 1984 until December
1998. During that time, I held the position of operator, head
operator, relief safety supervisor and relief shift supervisor.
The facility was sold to another company and all staff personnel
were released.
From 1998 through 2000, I worked for a cogen facility that
provided steam and refrigeration to a vegetable packing plant. I
handled the operations and maintenance needed to keep the unit
viable for both the electric grid and the packing plant.
In late 2000, I took a position with the State of California
Department of Consumer Affairs as an investigator with the Bureau
of Automotive Repairs. I conducted full investigations on illegal
activities being carried out by auto repair facilities.
Deciding that extensive driving to and from the job and living
away from my family during the week was not the best alternative,
a friend informed me about a job in the electric generation
industry. This specific job was coincidently, right down the
street from where I was living. I applied for an operator
position, took the entrance test and was hired in July of
2001.
Just after I started, I signed up for online courses through BSC.
This turned out to be an incredible learning opportunity for me.
I was an underdog in the electric industry with little prior
knowledge of the specifics while my peers had an average of
between 10 and 20 years in the industry. I was attempting to
learn the plant while taking a full load at BSC and trying to
balance family all at the same time. This proved to an incredible
load for me. I persevered through the next two years with this
schedule including summers, vacations and 12-hour shifts.
Though this summary may seem rather long, I mention the details
for a specific reason. Within two years, I kept my nose to the
grindstone and was able to accomplish being qualified as a Plant
Equipment Operator and an Assistant Control Operator. I received
an AAS in Power Plant Technology and an AAS in Process Technology
with a GPA of 3.98.
I never received the official position as Control Operator though
I was qualified for the job. Instead, I was offered and accepted
the position of Operations Supervisor. Within three months, I was
placed in the position of Operations Manager. I have 16 people
that I directly support on a daily basis and provide relief
coverage for the plant’s general manager. The
station’s resources include 30 full time employees. The
equipment consists of two cross-compound GE turbines with Babcock
& Wilcox 2400lb boilers producing 215mw each. One peaking
unit includes eight Pratt & Whitney GG4 axial-flow gas
generators feeding four double-flow Worthington ER-224 expander
turbines producing 130mw. And finally, one peaking unit
containing two Pratt & Whitney Turbo-Power TP4-2 Twin Pac
producing 60mw.
In conclusion, by applying myself 110% and pushing through the
often challenging courses of Bismarck State College, I was able
to open the door to a future and a carrier in the electric
industry. Thank you for fulfilling your part in providing me with
the necessary tools and curriculum. |
— Mark Fahey
Operations Manager
Reliant Energy
Mandalay Generating Station |
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