Three local students from South Central Louisiana Technical College (SCLTC) qualified to compete in the 2016 PTSE National Troubleshooting Competition.

Paul Hansen, Captain Eric Babin and Omar Farooq, along with SCLTC PTEC instructor and their coach Wayne Adams, will travel to Lone Star College in Kingwood, Texas (near Houston) on April 22 for the competition.

The PTEC program at the Reserve Campus has been involved with the competition since its inception two years ago.

Department Head Jerry Layne said, “This year, teams had to qualify at a regional level to be invited to the National finals of the Troubleshooting Competition at Lone Star College. Our team is determined to challenge the Alaskans’ dominance of this competition.  The PTEC troubleshooting team has spent appreciable hours and hard work in qualifying for this honor.”

The competition began with a Qualifying Round that was scheduled March 1-25. The Qualifying Round was held at each participating college, using a web-based Learning Management System to deliver troubleshooting scenario-based questions.

Eight top scoring teams from the Qualifying Round advance to the National Finals Competition.

The PTSE consortium works diligently to create educational materials for use by college Instructors and Industry Trainers, to help enhance troubleshooting skills.

The goal is to help develop a better equipped graduate student or Industry employee, with the greatest outcome being a more cognizant Process Technician who affects a safer workplace.

We are very proud of our students and the instructors who teach them every day.

The students enjoy the competition, and the process teaches even more valuable lessons when they take on their new Operator positions with local Industry.

SCLTC uses every opportunity to ensure a well-rounded education. It is important that students learn team building and other important soft skills to be successful in their careers in Industry.

Penelope Freeman is Campus Dean for South Central Louisiana Technical College. She is at the Reserve Campus. Email her at
penelopefreeman@scl.edu.