All 34 courses in the program are available online. However, many of these courses contain a “laboratory” component. Some portions of the labs are provided online through software simulations and by video. But many of the things you need to learn can only be experienced effectively with hands-on instruction.

For that reason, students are expected to perform some practical work at the college in the college’s process and plant equipment labs in the Center of Excellence for Process Manufacturing. Currently, the majority of this work is accomplished in one or two Saturday sessions per lab-based course, but there is a future plan to hold a lab “residency” week once or twice per year for students to attend to accomplish this goal. Many students will use a week of their annual vacation time to come to Sarnia for this period each spring. Reasonably priced accommodations exist on the campus. There also exists the possibility for international students to perform practical work at a similar institution in their country if approved by the college, with the expense to be absorbed by the student in that case.

Each course in the online program uses the identical learning outcomes to the day program. The only thing that changes is the learning method. For instance, something that might be dealt with in the classroom by breaking into groups is handled through an online discussion board in the online program.

The diplomas are the same for the day and online programs.

Tuition for taking the program full time is listed at Lambton’s CPET site. As well as tuition, you need to pay for the cost of books and lab fees, which will total several hundred dollars per course.

If you are taking the program on a part time basis, then you will pay fees that total about the same, but based on the courses you take. Courses' credit hours compose the fourth digit of the course code. A code ending in a 5, for instance, indicates this is a 5 credit hour course. Tuition rates vary according to the number of credit hours in a course.

You can find the full course list here. The college attempts to offer each course every semester to maintain maximum flexibility to the learner to progress. There are occasions, however, where instructor availability will be a factor in whether a course runs or not in a specific term. The courses start each September, January, and May, and each course runs for a 15 week duration.

The program takes three years as a full time student (along with an additional year of co-op work-study). Part time students will take longer, depending on how many courses they take at one time. Normally, one to three courses is a part time load. As the courses are offered three times per year, it is possible that a student could complete the program sooner.

The admission requirements detail the needed courses if you are just leaving high school. If you are a mature student and have been in the workforce for several years, you should talk to a counselor to determine if you are ready for the program.

From your home, for the most part. All theory portions of the courses, and some of the labs, are available online. You need a computer (Mac, PC or Linux), an Internet connection, and a browser. You determine which hours you want to work.

You can take a full time program online, with up to 25 credit hours. However this does not include reading time, projects, and other items that would be considered homework if you were a day student. You should estimate 1.5 times - 2 times the credit hours as the amount of time you should have available. Most students with a full time job will take the program part time.

Once you sign up for a course, you will receive your login information to the Lambton Instructional Online Network (LION). In the course you will find instructions on how to use LION, but it basically works as follows:

Many of the teachers in the online program are the same people who teach day classes at Lambton College. Most of the others, in the technical courses, are experienced petrochemical plant personnel from a variety of local industries.

Once co-op eligibility is met, students can apply for co-op positions using the college’s online application service, the same as the day students do. Every student that meets the eligibility criteria is treated equally in the co-op placement process. As the online students are at various places in their program progression, they MUST contact the co-op and placement office and indicate their desire for co-op when they are ready. To meet eligibility, they must have successfully completed courses as follows:

Students must possess a minimum 2.0 GPA to be considered for co-op, but please note that the majority of companies prefer students with a minimum 2.5 GPA or higher.

There are co-ops available in Sarnia, but students are encouraged to find their own co-op openings at their location. Students at a distance from Sarnia should start looking for a co-op opportunity as soon as they start the program if they hope to have co-op terms.

No, if you are working in a plant as a process operator, or have within the past five years, no co-op is required.

A co-op period is not a requirement for graduation. If you cannot take a co-op, you can still graduate. It may be possible to defer one (one only) co-op to be taken at the end of the co-op program. Contact the co-op office to investigate this possibility if you have no other options due to your employment situation.

Operating Engineering Certification

What is Operating Engineering and why is it important?

Operators that have control over boiler, fired heaters, and other equipment that produce or utilize steam are required to be certified Operating Engineers in the province of Ontario. This certification is granted by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) in the province of Ontario. Further information about the TSSA and the Operating Engineers Act can be found at www.tssa.org. Often you will find that the name Power Engineer is used for this title as well, due to the relationship of the careers to power generating facilities. There is a move in the province desiring to change the name to this, but it still is currently Operating Engineer.

There are 4 levels of Operating Engineers, with 4th Class being the lowest and 1st Class being the highest. Depending on the MW rating of the plant, the level of Operating Engineers is determined. For example, a large power plant facility that uses combustion to produce steam would typically require a First Class Operating Engineer as Chief Operating Engineer, and the shift operators would require Second Class certification. Even chemical plants and refineries often require certified operators if they run fired equipment. Most require their operators to have 4th Class certification upon hire and to achieve 3rd Class certification as a minimum for their career.

Lambton College’s Chemical Production and Power Engineering Technology program is a hybrid program. It combines the Operating Engineering required knowledge with the additional knowledge of how to operate chemical plants, refineries, and other processing types of plants, in addition to the power plants, due to the certification. This maximizes career opportunities.

To become an Operating Engineer 4th Class, during the time spent at Lambton College, students are expected to register to write the two exams for the 4th class; Part A and Part B. This is done by contacting the TSSA to register for the test facility in your area. The learning materials, which are also used for the Operating Engineering courses in the CPET program, are available via the college bookstore (a deposit is required) or the web site www.powerengineering.ca or also by a link from the TSSA web site. The materials are covered during the first 4 academic terms of the CPET program, but students must realize that they will need to study this material in advance of these exams due to the volume of material on each exam. These two exams form the first requirement for the certification, with practical time being the next component.

Students must also gain practical time. The current requirement for practical time is 12 months of full-time working time in a registered plant. The co-op work experience can count towards this if in a TSSA registered plant. For each job obtained that counts towards the practical time, the students must get a testimonial form completed and signed by the chief operator to attest to the time achieved and the type of plant where employment occurred.

The on-ground (regular day time) program is approved for a 9-month practical time reduction for the 4th class, but the online program does not receive this reduction.

Students who start out full-time online and then switch into the full-time day program will not be eligible for the practical time reduction as certain core courses must be taken on-ground to achieve the practical time reduction.

As a CPET graduate, you would be entering a career as a process operator/Operating Engineer. These positions are almost always shift work positions, with most plants now utilizing 12-hour shifts. In any given month, you will work certain day shifts and night shifts and be part of a shift “team.” The following is a brief description of the types of duties you would be expected to perform on the job:

Of primary importance in industry is the need to perform each action in a safe and rational manner. The college and the plants provide safety training and the proper use of personal protective equipment.

All operators are trained to control their units to minimize environmental impact. Graduates are familiar with the laws with respect to the environment, and plants strive to perform at levels that produce emissions levels far less than the government standards.

This involves lining out pipe lines from source to destination, opening and closing appropriate valves, checking equipment for proper lubrication levels and other system checks, and then starting the equipment or introducing flow through the equipment

Every shift there will be certain required routine readings and checks through the unit that must be performed, but operators are expected to make more frequent checks, particularly if an area of the plant requires some additional attention due to operating changes or problems. Due to the nature of process units, operators must occasionally climb ladders on towers and be capable of walking high platforms with open steel grate floors.

Operators will collect liquid and vapor samples to be analyzed by the plant lab and, most often, also run some routine tests in a small lab adjacent to the control room to ensure that the products they are making are on specification.

Operators on shift are responsible to isolate the fluids and electrical streams to plant equipment and clean and flush process fluids from it so that it is safe for maintenance personnel to work on it. The operators sign a permit that verifies that the equipment is safe for work. When the work is completed, they then restore the equipment to operations as required.

Everyone likely has a view of what a control room with control panels looks like. The operators control the operations of the plant from this control center by making the necessary control changes on a computer keyboard, while viewing graphics of the actual process on screens. Keep in mind that for operations in the control room, operators typically must go out into the unit to open and close valves etc. to facilitate the changes and to check that things are working properly.

At the end of each shift, the operators meet briefly with the shift leaving to explain how the plant is performing, and keep continuity of information. Operators must also document all changes made in a plant log book to have written communications.

As a CPET graduate, after a few years of operations experience, there may be possibilities to move to other careers that are not limited to the list below: