Power Engineering Technology

Hospitals, paper mills and processing plants all depend on licensed operators to keep their boilers, turbines and refrigeration systems running safely. Power Engineering Technology is an Ontario College Advanced Diploma, delivered over seven semesters across three years at Cambrian College’s Barrydowne campus in Sudbury, and it is accredited by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA).

Year one covers Power Plant Operation I, Boilers & Auxiliaries I, Electricity & Control Systems I, Applied Science, Safety & Administration I, Pumps, Compressors and Boiler Safety Devices, Building Systems and Industrial Refrigeration, Prime Movers I and Applied Chemistry I. Year two moves to third class content in Thermodynamics and Engineering Materials, Nuclear and Alternate Energy, 3B1 - Boilers and Auxiliaries II and 3B2 - Prime Movers II. The final semesters tackle second class topics such as 2A1 - Applied Mechanics, 2A2 - Metallurgy and Testing, 2A3 - Industrial Water Treatment, 2B1 - Piping Systems & Mechanical Drawing and 2B3 - Electrotechnology.

Hands-on training takes place in Cambrian’s TSSA-registered power plant located right on campus, where each Power Plant Operations course builds real operating skills. Students can gather further qualifying time through industrial work placements, usually in the summers after years one and two, and optional co-op employers have included Bunge Canada and Crown Property Management Inc. Students are eligible to challenge all TSSA exams up to and including Second Class certification as an operating engineer, and graduates of Cambrian’s Power Engineering Technician programme may enter directly into year three.

Graduates work as second or third class power engineers, stationary engineers, boiler operators, plant operators, building systems operators and refrigeration plant operators. The programme suits steady, safety-minded people who like mechanical systems, can handle thermodynamics and chemistry, and are prepared for shift work in plants that run around the clock.