About the course
When a line stops at 2 a.m., the maintenance technician who can open the programmable logic controller software, watch the ladder logic live and see which input never came on gets the line running before the next shift. This course teaches maintenance staff to do that. It does not teach them to rewrite the plant’s program, and the plant’s engineers will be glad of that.
Each pair of participants shares a trainer station with a controller, digital and analog I/O, pushbuttons, a small conveyor, sensors, a motor starter and a variable-frequency drive. We teach on the two controller platforms most common in Valley plants and spend time on what transfers between them. Every Saturday ends with a troubleshooting challenge: the instructor plants a fault, and you find it.
Who should enroll
- Maintenance mechanics and electricians who work around PLC-controlled equipment
- Production leads and operators moving into maintenance roles
- Engineers outside controls who want to read ladder logic
Plants that want this course taught on their own equipment can book it as corporate training. It is also part of the incumbent-worker track at the Center for Manufacturing Workforce Development.
Prerequisites: basic electrical knowledge, meaning Ohm’s law and the safe use of a multimeter. This is not an electrical licensing course and does not count toward an electrician’s license. Lockout/tagout is reviewed on day one, and no one works on an energized trainer without the instructor present.
Dates, format and fee
| Section | Dates | Meets | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2027 | Jan. 23–Feb. 20, 2027 | Saturdays, 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. (lunch provided) | Founders Hall controls lab, Room 220 |
- Format
- In person, five Saturdays
- Contact hours
- 35
- CEUs
- 3.5
- Fee
- $1,150, including lunch and a printed reference manual
- Seats
- 16 (two per trainer)
What you will do
| Saturday | Topic |
|---|---|
| Jan. 23 | Electrical safety and lockout/tagout; controller hardware; wiring discrete inputs and outputs |
| Jan. 30 | Ladder logic: contacts, coils, latches, seal-in circuits; going online and monitoring |
| Feb. 6 | Timers, counters and sequences; running the trainer conveyor |
| Feb. 13 | Reading electrical prints and I/O lists; motor starters and drive basics; operator screens |
| Feb. 20 | Systematic troubleshooting: half-splitting, forcing (and why not to), documenting the fix; final fault-finding practical |
Instructor
Curtis Lindqvist is an instructor in engineering technology. He spent sixteen years as a plant electrician and maintenance supervisor at a Valley paper converter and teaches in the automation concentration and the robotics and automation minor. He keeps a binder of real faults from his plant years and uses it for the Saturday challenges, with the names removed.
Employer pricing and registration
The list fee is $1,150 per person. Professional Education invoices employers directly on net-30 terms and provides the completion letter and attendance record that tuition-assistance programs ask for.
| Enrollment | Price per person |
|---|---|
| 1–2 people from one employer | $1,150 |
| 3–5 people from one employer, same section | $1,035 (10% off) |
| 6 or more people from one employer | $978 (15% off) |
| Porter alumni (not combined with group pricing) | $1,035 |
| Private cohort of up to 16, at your site or ours | Quoted; usually 70–80% of 16 list-price seats |
Employers with fewer than 250 workers in Porter County and the five neighboring counties may qualify for a Valley Workforce Board incumbent-worker grant that covers up to half the fee. We will help with the paperwork. Register online or by phone. The full policy on cancellations, substitutions and weather is on the Professional Education page.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This course, its dates, fees, CEUs, instructors and the Valley Workforce Board grant are invented; there is nothing to register for and no certificate to earn. Curtis Lindqvist, the trainer stations and the binder of faults are invented. Please do not troubleshoot a real control panel based on a parody website.