Process and Power Engineering

Picture yourself in a plant control room in the middle of the night, watching the boiler readings that keep a hospital or factory running safely. Lakeland’s Process and Power Engineering diploma is a two-year programme at the Lloydminster campus, and in that time you work toward both your 4th Class and 3rd Class Power Engineer certificates.

First year delivers 4th Class instruction, 100 hours of lab work and preparation for two provincial exams set by ABSA, the Alberta Boilers Safety Association. Second year moves into 3rd Class theory, which prepares you for four more ABSA provincial exams. Before your first lab you need WHMIS, and an H2S Alive ticket is required by registration, so the safety habits a power engineer relies on start on day one.

Much of your practical training happens in Lakeland’s Energy Centre, which the college calls the best equipped lab of any Canadian post-secondary institution, where you operate equipment other students only read about. Two practicums then put that training to work in real plants: a 1.5 month, 240 hour placement in first year, scheduled over the Christmas break, and a 3 month, 480 hour placement in second year. Both follow a 24/7 shift pattern that covers every day of the week, just like a working power engineer’s roster. If you leave after first year, you still qualify for a Power Engineering Technician certificate.

Lakeland names power generation, chemical plants and hospital and institutional power plants as the main destinations for Process and Power Engineering graduates. Typical roles include power engineer, boiler operator, process operator, control room operator, utilities operator and field operator. The programme suits mechanically minded people who are comfortable with rotating shifts and strict safety rules, and who want a career that climbs through the classes of power engineering certification.