Intern with UsIndustrial Process Control Internship
A pre-graduation internship for college students, run by PiControl Solutions in partnership with AIAPC (American Institute of Automation and Process Control), that turns Laplace-domain and Z-domain classroom theory into hands-on industrial process control skills.
Bridging Theory and Industry
College professors do a very good job teaching the Laplace domain, the discrete (Z) domain, process control math, and academic theory, but a single semester rarely leaves enough time to progress into the practical aspects of modern process control needed in an industrial environment. PiControl Solutions built the Industrial Process Control Internship to close exactly that gap, in partnership with AIAPC (American Institute of Automation and Process Control).
The process control community is a large family of process control engineers, process control technicians, DCS technicians, PLC technicians, safety engineers, and reliability engineers, all helping each other and learning from each other. This internship is PiControl's way of giving back to that community and to students who are about to join it: a structured, pre-graduation path from classroom fundamentals to the applied tuning and identification skills plants actually use.
What You Gain From the Internship
After completing the internship, students receive a certificate of completion in industrial process control training and internship, and will have acquired the following skills:
Understanding of industrial process control fundamentals
PID tuning and primary process control
Advanced process control (APC)
PID tuning scientific methods
Designing APC inside a DCS or PLC
Analyzing Excel data to identify transfer function parameters from open-loop and closed-loop data
Multivariable closed-loop transfer function identification
Together, these skills are designed to raise a student's chances of getting a job in the chemical industry.
The 4 Steps to Complete Your Internship
Following is the step-by-step procedure that completes an internship at PiControl. Each step builds on the last, moving from structured coursework to independent work on real industrial data.
Complete the PID100 training course
- Take the PID100 Primary Process Control and PID Tuning course, online or in the classroom
- Learn process control fundamentals and the PID equation in the time and Laplace domains
- Practice hands-on PID tuning on the SIMCET and PITOPS software from the first session
- Finish with an automatic grading report card on your tuning skills
Complete Level 1 in the SIMCET training simulator
- Complete the Level 1 Test in the SIMCET PID tuning training simulator
- Attain a score of more than 70% on the timed, automatically graded test
- Tune loops that respond like real plant equipment, not idealized textbook examples
- Generate the grade report used later, in Step 4, to confirm completion
Calculate a transfer function from real industrial data
- Work with real industrial process data supplied for the exercise
- Calculate a transfer function from that data using the PITOPS process identification and controller tuning optimizer
- Mathematically calculate PID tuning parameters from the identified transfer function
- Apply the same open-loop and closed-loop identification skills used by working process control engineers
Submit your SIMCET grade reports for review
- Submit all SIMCET test grade reports to PiControl for review
- Include any supporting questions or requests along with the submission
- PiControl's advisory team reviews the submission against the completion procedure
- Receive your Industrial Process Control Internship Certificate of Completion
Once all four steps are complete, you'll receive your certificate and be welcomed as an internship graduate of the process control community.
Who the Internship Is For
The Industrial Process Control Internship is built for college students who are focusing on industrial process control as a major, minor, or strong interest, most often as part of a chemical engineering degree. Coursework in Laplace-domain, Z-domain, and process control math is helpful, since it gives the theoretical foundation the internship builds on, but no plant or DCS experience is required to begin.
Chemical engineering students
Students following a chemical-engineering fundamentals track gain pre-graduation, hands-on process control experience that complements classroom theory before they enter the job market.
Students seeking a chemical industry job
Completing all four steps and earning the certificate is designed to raise a student's chances of getting a job in the chemical industry by demonstrating real, applied process control skills.
Students who've completed CHE100C-CHE600C
Students who've worked through PiControl's chemical-engineering fundamentals track can use this internship as their pre-graduation, applied next step alongside that coursework.
Built with AIAPC
PiControl Solutions partners with AIAPC (American Institute of Automation and Process Control) to deliver this internship, drawing on the same PID100 course, SIMCET simulator, and PITOPS software that working process control engineers use in industry.
Certificate of Completion
After completing all four steps of the internship procedure, students receive a PiControl Industrial Process Control Internship Certificate of Completion, documenting the training and hands-on work finished during the program. It can be added to a resume or LinkedIn profile alongside academic coursework.
Students who want to continue building applied skills after the internship can move on to the full PID100 PID Tuning Course and PiControl's other training paths on the Training.
- Internship certificate of completion
- PID100 course completion, with grading report card
- SIMCET Level 1 grade report, above 70%
- Hands-on transfer function work in PITOPS
Internship Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers to the questions students ask most before starting the Industrial Process Control Internship.
Start Your Industrial Process Control Internship
Congratulations on deciding to focus on industrial process control. The PiControl Advisory Team, together with AIAPC, is ready to guide you through the four steps, from the PID100 course through your final submission for review.
Related software: SIMCET and PITOPS. Questions: info@PiControlSolutions.com, Tel: (832) 495 6436.