The Turbomachinery Laboratory’s commitment to education extends outside of the Texas A&M campus and laboratory.
The Turbo Lab, a center of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and the Texas A&M University System, will host two short courses — Rotordynamics and Centrifugal Compressor Operations for 21st Century Users (CCOPS) — from March 20-23 in Houston.
The two courses offer entry-level and seasoned professionals an opportunity to augment their knowledge and skills in an interactive setting for practical applications on the job.
“When you attend this course, you’re with other people from the same industry,” CCOPS instructor Jim Sorokes of Dresser-Rand, A Siemens Business said. “During breaks and even in the classroom, there’s great conversation among people in the industry who are doing the same thing you’re doing. It’s a chance to get together and gain knowledge from that exchange of ideas.”
Sorokes will teach the CCOPS course with J. Jeffrey Moore of Southwest Research Institute, Mark Sandberg of Sandberg Turbomachinery Consulting, LLC., and Jigger Jumonville of Jumonville Engineering. Between the four CCOPS instructors, they possess more than 100 years of professional experience. Sorokes has been an instructor for the course since it was first offered in 1998.
“The broad experience of the instructors, and the practical applications are the greatest assets of this course,” he said. “It brings it into the real-world for attendees. It helps them understand why decisions are made and how that influences their machines or their operations.”
The Rotordynamics course will be taught by Malcolm Leader, owner of Applied Machinery Dynamics in Dickinson, Texas. Leader spends his time conducting theoretical design audits and implementing changes and overseeing installations in the field. He’s written several papers on experimental rotordynamics, bearing design, design audits for rotating equipment and practical implementation of rotordynamics programs.
“The whole experience is interactive,” Leader said. “Students are encouraged to ask questions as we go along, and encouraged to understand what is really being said. It’s a very close environment where everyone gets to talk to everyone else. The interactions between student and instructor, and between student and student are very helpful in understanding the concepts.”
The Turbo Lab began hosting short courses in 1995, building upon Texas A&M’s tradition of continuing education and professional workforce development. Each course will earn attendees 2.6 Continuing Educations Units (CEU) or 26 PDH and will be hosted at the DoubleTree by Hilton near Houston Intercontinental Airport. Prospective attendees can visit turbolab.tamu.edu/short-courses/ to learn more and save 15 percent when they register before March 9.