George Brown College
- Thread starter mmarch10
- Start date
I have both PLC Certificates from George Brown College. The PLC II is basically intro to Control Logix. It will give you the basics. If you already have Control Logix's experience it's actually boring. I finished in less than 5 weeks.
But my company paid for it.
But my company paid for it.
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=35438
this will help you
this will help you
ryanmackellar
Member
George Brown's certificate program is meant to be an introduction and does not provide accreditation. Their graduate profiles have some good examples of the career paths of graduates
https://www.plctechnician.com/our-graduates
https://www.plctechnician.com/our-graduates
jessicarichards
Member
I took this course, I did not like it at all, I did not receive new knowledge.
Phil Buchanan
Lifetime Supporting Member
All of their courses like the PLC 1 and PLC 2 courses and robotics course are primarily comprised of documents and tools you can find on the internet free or low cost. Examples are Logix Pro and Factory I/O Simulations.
They also have mechanical maintenance, electronics tech, and a robotics tech program but I don't know anyone who has even taken those.
Most of the courses are around $1700 each. I have had 3 students who took both courses before they took mine and they learned very little from it that they could not have learned for free on their own in a much shorter time span with a much lower cost.
That's $3400.00 for both courses. Our instructor-led 5-day course with real equipment for each student and 95% hands we only charge $2590.00 for so
IMHO the price is too high for what students get and there is nothing hands-on only demo's and some simulations. If their pricing was about 1/4 what it is now it would be more on par with what they are delivering. Again IMHO.
For learning PLC's anytime you are going to invest that kind of money it should be primary hands-on in an environment where you are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them no matter which companies course you take.
They also have mechanical maintenance, electronics tech, and a robotics tech program but I don't know anyone who has even taken those.
Most of the courses are around $1700 each. I have had 3 students who took both courses before they took mine and they learned very little from it that they could not have learned for free on their own in a much shorter time span with a much lower cost.
That's $3400.00 for both courses. Our instructor-led 5-day course with real equipment for each student and 95% hands we only charge $2590.00 for so
IMHO the price is too high for what students get and there is nothing hands-on only demo's and some simulations. If their pricing was about 1/4 what it is now it would be more on par with what they are delivering. Again IMHO.
For learning PLC's anytime you are going to invest that kind of money it should be primary hands-on in an environment where you are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them no matter which companies course you take.
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Peter Nachtwey
Member
Going to school to learn how to program a PLC just seems wrong to me. There is another recent thread about what self taught programmers had learned. A couple mentioned understanding the process. I fully agree.
To me a PLC is just a tool. It may be more sophisticated than an hammer but it is still a tool. The tools are always changing. I think it is better to learn mechanic, electronics, math, and encompassing physics. Then you will have a better idea of what tool to use and how to use the tool.
To me a PLC is just a tool. It may be more sophisticated than an hammer but it is still a tool. The tools are always changing. I think it is better to learn mechanic, electronics, math, and encompassing physics. Then you will have a better idea of what tool to use and how to use the tool.
Phil Buchanan
Lifetime Supporting Member
Peter
I agree with most of what you have here. I too agree people should be going to school and concentrating on gaining the forever knowledge such as math and physics, science, broad mechanical skills, and broad electrical skills.
Taking a 16 week PLC course in school is a waste without having some or most of the forever knowledge skills or basis to build on.
IMHO for long "school" based courses PLC's should be a part of a more encompassing program like industrial systems which includes math, physics, mechanical, electrical, process control, etc.
PLC training, as well as any other specialized course such as robotics, HMI's, Drives, are very valuable because just like anyone can learn to play piano on their own, it takes a lot of effort, determination and time and a lot of making severe mistakes and learning from them.
It's much faster to take piano lessons from a knowledgeable instructor to get you up to speed and working with that "tool" faster and more efficiently, which in many cases translates to lower cost.
However, to your point learning the piano as a tool does not make you a complete musician without the forever knowledge of that industry like knowing how to read and write sheet music, song composition, etc.
Also going to "school" for these things helps people who do not learn well on their own as everyone learns best from different methods. Some learn best from an instructor and some best on their own. Some learn well from reading, and some learn best from a visual like seeing someone do something in person or as a video.
Just to call out the positives and the negatives the one advantage to someone going to a 16-week course on PLC's is that they get lots of hands-on time with the equipment they might not otherwise get to use and may not be in a position to afford their own.
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I dont know much about brown, but I did the tech school thing and got a 2 year degree, the plc course was 1 class a week for 6 weeks. The PLC course taught me nothing. My degree got me into maintenance, but my desire was to be a Controls Engineer. I spent time finding simulators, and Logix Pro taught me more than the 6 weeks of PLC classes. The bottle line assembly simulation opened up my mind and I still use the lessons learned in my projects today. I have since then purchased Factory I/O simulator, the Siemens version, to expand my knowledge even more. Unlike working with the books that I got from school, the simulators allow me to test out processes and instructions that I don't fully understand. We don't always get a crash lab to test things out and making changes in a live system can lead to face rolling the keyboard. I would recommend looking into simulators prior to taking any courses.
Just my two cents,
Gad
Just my two cents,
Gad
Phil Buchanan
Lifetime Supporting Member
I always recommend to students that take my classes that they have some hardware/software to work with in a test/lab environment either at work or at home to improve and add to the skills we have given them.
Real software and real equipment are best as the simulators don't always work in the same exact way that the hardware does. This is ok for simple programs and lessons but the more detailed lessons which can give different results based on scan time and I/O update time can only be truly practiced with real hardware and software.
The problem with Rockwell / Allen Bradley which is primarily what I teach is that they do not have a student version of the software or a student version simulator for their most popular series which is Logix ControlLogix and CompactLogix and buying the full version is out of the budget of the average student.
I really wish Rockwell would correct this as they have a student version of RsLogix 500 and the simulator and CCW for the newer micro 800 series is free and they have a free simulator for it also. So why they don't have something for Logix their most popular product is beyond me.
Peter Nachtwey
Member
Wow! It is good that some people remember my term "forever knowledge".
BTW, I use to play the guitar when I was young. I have a 1968 Gibson ES330TDC. The pickups need to be upgraded. I was taught by a studio musician. Playing open strings was not good. If the music was written in C and had to be played in E flat then I just had to move up the neck. That was all well and good but I realized I just didn't have 'The Knack" when it came to music. I could listen to replay but I was missing something so I became an engineer. I have "the knack" for that. Everything turned out well but my old 1968 cherry red TDC Gibson still sits in the closet, unloved.
My point is that you can be good at something, but that isn't enough. I was too mechanical. I couldn't jam or do anything like that. You need to have "the knack". I didn't when it came to music.
I was good but not good enough. In engineering it is a whole different story. I have "the knack"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8vHhgh6oM0
BTW, the artiphone 1 looks cool. I have been encouraged to get one but I know that no matter what I do, I do not have "the knack"
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai...wj6tIP418zjAhUBj54KHWAbDcQQ0Qx6BAgOEAE&adurl=
That is a cool instrument but....
Finding where you belong or where you strength lies is much more important that going to any school. I never thought I would be an expert at control theory or hydraulics. What I learn in college was only about 10% of what I know if that.
BTW, I use to play the guitar when I was young. I have a 1968 Gibson ES330TDC. The pickups need to be upgraded. I was taught by a studio musician. Playing open strings was not good. If the music was written in C and had to be played in E flat then I just had to move up the neck. That was all well and good but I realized I just didn't have 'The Knack" when it came to music. I could listen to replay but I was missing something so I became an engineer. I have "the knack" for that. Everything turned out well but my old 1968 cherry red TDC Gibson still sits in the closet, unloved.
My point is that you can be good at something, but that isn't enough. I was too mechanical. I couldn't jam or do anything like that. You need to have "the knack". I didn't when it came to music.
I was good but not good enough. In engineering it is a whole different story. I have "the knack"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8vHhgh6oM0
BTW, the artiphone 1 looks cool. I have been encouraged to get one but I know that no matter what I do, I do not have "the knack"
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai...wj6tIP418zjAhUBj54KHWAbDcQQ0Qx6BAgOEAE&adurl=
That is a cool instrument but....
Finding where you belong or where you strength lies is much more important that going to any school. I never thought I would be an expert at control theory or hydraulics. What I learn in college was only about 10% of what I know if that.
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