ISA Announces Support of the Analyzer Technician Opportunities Project (ATOP) and the Automation Technology Education

ATOP is a program founded by Lee College, Baytown, Texas, USA, and San Jacinto College, in Houston and Pasadena, Texas, USA, in 2008. It was funded through a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. ATOP is the first analyzer education program offered by a college in the US. The program engages students in the study of analytical instruments and emphasizes the instruments' use in safety, product analysis, product quality, and environmental monitoring and control.

The ATOP program participants developed the Analyzer Technician Competency Model, which won recognition by the Texas Skill Standards Board (TSSB) in 2009 as skill standards for an occupation. ATOP worked with national industry experts and representatives from ISA's Analysis Division, as well as several Texas-based subject-matter experts, in the development and validation of the model's content.

The Automation Technology Education Summit at ISA Automation Week featured presentations by national educators and industrial advisors from the automation industry who shared ideas and resources to unify and improve automation curricula nationwide. The summit addressed the following questions:

What do automation techs need to know and do?
How do educators know technicians have the appropriate skills and knowledge?
What is industry's view of automation technology education for technical professionals?
What challenges do college administrators face in deciding to create and sustain automation technology programs?
We all know that the recognition of the automation profession by academia, business, and government is vital to all our efforts, commented Leo Staples, 2010 ISA president-elect secretary and chairman of the Automation Federation (AF) Energy Committee at the summit. That is why the Automation Federation took on the challenge of gaining recognition for automation as a profession four years ago. Today, we have the Automation Competency Model—and automation is recognized as a profession by the US Department of Labor, the US Department of Education, the National Career Development Association, the US Chamber of Commerce, the American Association of Community Colleges, and the National Association of Manufacturers. ATOP's work at this summit is an important catalyst in the development of the automation curricula, he added.

ISA Automation Week is an annual technical conference that covered two and a half days of sessions, and included two keynote addresses, networking, social events and more than 100 exhibitors.