Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Electrical Engineering Technology diploma program got a huge booster on Tuesday at the Moose Jaw campus. 

Dynamo, Altelec and GE Grid Solutions donated a custom-built, state-of-the-art substation protection and control panel for the program. The estimated value of the equipment is $200,000.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic president and CEO Dr. Larry Rosia said the donation will go a long way to giving students hands-on experience while learning. 

“Partnerships like this, where the industry is able to put their equipment in the classrooms, our students can get hands-on experience with the equipment that they are going to see when they get out in the industry is really, really important,” Rosia said. “That allows them to contribute from day one on the job.” 

Kyle Solie of Dynamo is an alumnus of Saskatchewan Polytechnic. He said Dynamo has been a long-time partner with the post-secondary institute through the school’s co-op program. 

However, Solie said they noticed a gap in technology that students were learning with versus the ever-evolving technology in the industry. 

“There’s a big gap that exists when you look at some of the technology that exists that the students are learning on today,” Solie explained. 

“Through the commissioning process, our engineers and technologists that worked on this for commissioning took a lot of learnings away. I’ve been in the industry myself for almost 20 years now and there’s technology that exists there that I’ve never been exposed to.” 

Solie was joined by Curtis Isbister from Altelec, who is also a Saskatchewan Polytechnic alumnus. 

They explained that this piece of equipment is very similar to what a lot of their clients are already using, including companies like SaskPower. 

The substation is modular and programable with the latest in hardware, software and communication protocols. It can be programmed to set up real-life power system simulations. 

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