NORTH ISLAND, B.C. – Two years of work will be on display tomorrow at North Island College’s Campbell River campus – and everyone is invited to attend.
Members of the public are invited for the unveiling of NIC Industrial Automation students’ capstone project: an automated custom canned coffee machine.
According to an NIC release, the capstone project is the culmination of everything the students have learned through their two years of studies, for the Electronics Technician Core certificate and Industrial Automation diploma.
“The students get to choose what they’ll build for their final project,” NIC industrial automation instructor Brad Harsell said.
“They pick a group manager and develop the entire project from design to completion, which mirrors what they will do for clients once they graduate.”
The system brews coffee from grounds, then takes a blank aluminum can shell, washes it and fills the container with the coffee. The container is then sealed and labeled.
“It’s been a great experience to build this system from scratch,” said Ryan Sommen, an NIC Industrial Automation student who worked as project manager on the build.
“We started with researching other canning processes and then pulled together all the different components we needed. It’s been a great experience to build, test and troubleshoot.”
Along with the 2 p.m. unveiling in room D207, the public will get the chance to see NIC’s industrial automation shop and the equipment available for students to learn and practice on.
NIC offers two industrial electronics programs.
The Electronics Technician Core certificate gives students the foundational skills with electronic, electrical and instrumentation systems. The certificate ladders into NIC’s Industrial Automation diploma, which includes motor controls, programmable logic controllers and robotics.
“Industrial electronics and automation is an incredibly broad field,” said Harsell. “You can work on anything from small winches to large industrial projects and everything in between. Almost every industry involves some kind of industrial electronics, so the career opportunities can be whatever you are interested in.”
Learn more about NIC’s industrial electronics programs at www.nic.bc.ca/industrial-electronics.
