Workers unload
the locomotive cab recently donated to
Penn State Erie by GE Transportation Systems. The cab will be
used for student research projects and to develop a field service
technology program in remote monitoring diagnostics.
Photo: Courtesy of Penn State Erie
Penn State locations across the Commonwealth are answering the exploding demand for those who want to learn how to create and sustain Web pages with a new Webmaster Certificate Program.
Webmaster is designed for those who want a career creating, designing and maintaining Web pages. It also provides new opportunities for those who want to increase their job marketability or who want to expand their computer skills.
Courses in the Webmaster Certificate Program cover designing and creating high-quality Web pages, e-business, server administration, Internet security and Internet legal issues. Students in the program follow a course sequence consisting of 120 instructional hours. The certificate is endorsed by the Association of Internet Professionals (AIP) and the World Organization of Webmasters. Students completing the course will be fully prepared to take the AIP certification exam.
"The Internet job market is the fastest growing job market right now. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this field will expand 102 percent through the year 2005," said Davida
Cavallo, director of the Career Services Center at Penn State Fayette, one of the locations that has launched the program. The program is administered by the College of Engineering through its Office of Continuing Education.
A list of campuses currently offering the program can be found at http://www.cde.psu.edu/webmaster/. Just click on 'Campuses.'
The newest facility on the campus at Penn State Erie is a six-ton GE Transportation Systems (GETS) locomotive cab that has been placed on the western end of the campus near the college's Engineering Complex.
The locomotive cab is the operator's compartment and was built in 1995 as part of GE's development of the AC 6000 horsepower locomotive. Originally used for cab development and testing, it now boasts both GE and Penn State colors and logos and will serve as a test laboratory for students working on projects in electrical and mechanical engineering.
This semester GETS is sponsoring seven electrical engineering and electrical engineering technology students, and two senior projects that use advanced communication systems for remote monitoring and diagnostics of locomotives. These projects simulate and evaluate data transmission from the locomotive cab to remote sites in North America, part of GE's new technology to help railroads better understand the individual operating condition of their locomotives.
The new addition to the campus also provides the basis for a new and unique upper-division engineering technology program planned for next fall. The GETS/PSU Technology Service Program will allow engineering students who follow a specific applied systems course to complete internships at GETS full-time during the summer and part-time during the school year with the potential to be hired directly into a service technology position.