OREANDA-NEWS. September 16, 2015. Power management company Eaton today announced that its Houston Experience Center is collaborating with Lone Star College – University Park and Project GRAD Houston for the JPMorgan Chase College and Career Institutes – an educational initiative led by Project GRAD that provides high school students with industry-oriented educational experiences to better prepare and motivate them attend college.

The collaboration provides local students with an interactive experiential learning program focused on electrical products and innovations in power technologies suited to the energy utility, oil and gas, and petrochemical markets. In an effort to further demonstrate its commitment to closing the workforce and knowledge gap, Eaton’s Houston Experience Center will also launch five new application demonstrations that expand the facility’s hands-on learning capabilities and live product training opportunities.

“Despite the growth of Houston’s economy, especially in the energy, manufacturing, construction, and maritime sectors, positions in mid-skill careers remain unfilled because of a shortage of qualified workers,” said Ann B. Stiles, Ed.D., president and chief executive officer, Project GRAD. “Project GRAD’s JPMorgan Chase College and Career Institutes developed in collaboration with Workforce Solutions, offer high school students a variety of college and career themes to explore, with a specific emphasis on these high-demand careers in the greater Houston region.”

Project GRAD serves communities with low levels of educational attainment and high rates of poverty, which create complexities that reduce the likelihood of success in school. Project GRAD’s College Institutes provide transformational experiences for high school students that have a profound effect on the likelihood of a student’s successful enrollment in college. The collaboration with Eaton’s Houston Experience Center further supports Project GRAD, Lone Star College, and Workforce Solution’s goal to connect young people to the credentials and opportunities of Houston’s current economic reality.

“Project GRAD shares Eaton’s vision of closing the knowledge and workforce gaps in the industry and throughout the Houston metropolitan area to better foster and develop the necessary skills and advanced technical knowledge that will drive our next generation of young innovators,” said Allan Clark, manager, Houston Experience Center, Eaton. “Our expansion of the Houston Experience Center facility likewise seeks to increase the availability of hands-on training and real-world experiences of power management products while energizing and inspiring both the industry and the immediate community with exciting new educational outreach opportunities.”

Project GRAD’s College Institute high school students participating at Lone Star College – University Park were invited to visit the Experience Center for an educational seminar which covered:

  • Eaton Overview, Market Trends, and Outlook by Eaton’s Jeff Korkowski, director, Customer Loyalty;
  • Innovations in Commercial, Industrial, and Utility Power Distribution by Allan Clark, manager, Houston Experience Center;
  • Petrochemical Fundamentals by James Wilkinson, technical services manager;
  • Medium and Low Voltage Electrical Protection and Distribution by Amber Wright, application engineer; and,
  • Upstream Drilling and Drive Technology by Nelson Monterrosa-Diaz, Experience Center Engineer.

The Houston Experience Center is one of Eaton’s live training facilities located throughout the globe. The Experience Centers provide a global education solution with the unique ability to give visitors hands-on training in a true application environment. The Houston Experience Center offers world-class industrial training in an innovative 55,000-square-foot facility representing a manifestation of global trends within the industrial space. The facility features multiple training rooms all designed to help facilitate industry-specific education and hands-on demonstrations of Eaton's entire line of electrical products and solutions from a proven industry leader.

For more information about Eaton’s Houston Experience Center, please contact EECHouston@eaton.com.

Eaton’s electrical business is a global leader with expertise in power distribution and circuit protection; backup power protection; control and automation; lighting and security; structural solutions and wiring devices; solutions for harsh and hazardous environments; and engineering services. Eaton is positioned through its global solutions to answer today’s most critical electrical power management challenges.

Eaton is a power management company with 2014 sales of \\$22.6 billion. Eaton provides energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably. Eaton has approximately 102,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com.