K-State at Salina technology enhancements

Changing Lives through: the donation of four programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for K-State at Salina’s Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET).

Made possible by: KASA Industrial Controls, Salina, Stanion Wholesale Electric Co. Salina, Bradbury Company, Moundridge, Kan., and Rockwell Automation, Olathe, Kan.

K-State connection: The idea for this gift was initiated by a member of the K-State at Salina dean’s advisory council. Doug Oliphant, vice president of engineering at KASA Industrial Controls, approached other companies as partners to leverage the best price from the manufacturer, Rockwell Automation.

Why they gave: “We’ve hired several, top-notch K-State graduates from Salina and Manhattan,” Oliphant said. “We spend two to three weeks training new hires, but realized that if students are taught control system theory on the right equipment, it would reduce training time. It’s win-win.”

Impact: With this collaborative gift, K-State at Salina will teach a new, advanced PLC class in fall 2006. “This equipment gives students a big leg up on other graduates getting out in the job market,” Instructor Aaron Westerman said. “This is the newest equipment going into manufacturing plants for automation to interface with conveyor systems or for data collection. PLCs help operations run as fast and as precise as possible.”