Power Engineering

As a power engineer you’ll maintain and operate heating and power plants, refrigeration systems and auxiliary equipment like pumps, compressors, steam turbines, electrical generators, cooling towers and water treatment systems.

You’ll have the opportunity to work in commercial facilities like hospitals, schools and apartment buildings, or industrial facilities like pulp mills, mills, power generation stations and petrochemical plants.

Plants are certified and regulated by Technical Safety BC and plant size determines the certification required, ranging from 5th and 4th class for small plants to 2nd and 1st class certificates required for larger plants.

4th Class Certificate

Gain the knowledge and skills needed to earn the 4th Class Power Engineering Certification through Technical Safety BC, and work as a 4th Class Power Engineer.

What You'll Learn

• Boiler plant operation through eight weeks of hands-on experience on TRU’s training plant.
• Basic electrical skills (two weeks of instruction).
• Basic welding skills (one week of instruction).
• Basic pipefitting, millwrighting and instrumentation skills through hands-on training.

What Makes TRU's Program Unique

• Hands-on experience operating TRU’s comprehensive steam power training plant. Its two boilers are capable of producing over 10,000lbs of 150 psi steam per hour, turning a 50kw steam turbine and producing enough electricity to power 30 homes.
• Gain experience on two types of gas-fired steam boilers: Watertube and Firetube.

What You'll Graduate With

• 4th Class Power Engineering Certificate issued by Technical Safety BC.

Requirements

• High school graduation (or equivalent) or mature student status
• English 11 with a minimum grade of C (or equivalent)
• Math 11 with a minimum grade of C (or equivalent)

Schedule

The 4th Class program runs from the first week of September through to the second week of May.Class hours are Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.Practical experience includes individual operation of the TRU power Lab and small demonstration labs.

To give you a better understanding of work environments, you tour several plants in and around Kamloops. This helps you choose the right industry to work in.