I went to a four year university. Majored in Electrical Engineering. I took all the regular courses, Calculus, Diff EQ, Digital Logic, Digital Signal Processing, etc.
But I also took two semesters of Programmable Logic Controllers. The way our courses went, we were forced to start on the old relay boards. We hand wired "programs", etc. Once we passed that, we were allowed to use the PLC. Allen Bradley and DirectLogic were the brands we used. We had to lay out truth tables for the states of of the instructions and rungs. I wouldn't say it was worthless, I learned a great deal of the basics that really helped me get started in the Industry (but I learned a lot more on the job than I ever did in the classroom).
Since I was forced to understand why the program worked the way it did, rather than just how to make the program work they way I want it to, I was able to grasp the more detailed stuff later while on the job a ton easier than some of my coworkers who just learned from reading a "how to program PLCs" book.
I think that's an added benefit of a proper course at a University rather than just a Tech School course. Since all the students in my courses had the same education and same majors, the professor could go into details that may confuse (not trying to offend anyone here) some people that may be taking a PLC course at a community college as part of a work study program or something.
But I also took two semesters of Programmable Logic Controllers. The way our courses went, we were forced to start on the old relay boards. We hand wired "programs", etc. Once we passed that, we were allowed to use the PLC. Allen Bradley and DirectLogic were the brands we used. We had to lay out truth tables for the states of of the instructions and rungs. I wouldn't say it was worthless, I learned a great deal of the basics that really helped me get started in the Industry (but I learned a lot more on the job than I ever did in the classroom).
Since I was forced to understand why the program worked the way it did, rather than just how to make the program work they way I want it to, I was able to grasp the more detailed stuff later while on the job a ton easier than some of my coworkers who just learned from reading a "how to program PLCs" book.
I think that's an added benefit of a proper course at a University rather than just a Tech School course. Since all the students in my courses had the same education and same majors, the professor could go into details that may confuse (not trying to offend anyone here) some people that may be taking a PLC course at a community college as part of a work study program or something.
