The awards continue to come in for a program that is relatively new in our area. We are talking about the Energy Systems Technology and Education Center (ESTEC) and it was just announced that they are leading the way when it comes to nuclear technology in the northwest.
“When we created the Energy Systems Technology and Education Center about 6 years ago, we knew at that point it would be a Christmas tree that we would be hanging a number of ornaments on as time goes by,” said Scott Rasmussen, Dean of the College of Technology. “The Nuclear Operations Technology is our latest program. One that we are very excited about and we just hope to continue to train great technicians to go to work in the nuclear and energy fields.”
The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has designated ESTEC as the Northwest Regional Center of Excellence for Nuclear Education and Training. It’s a region that stretches from Washington to Nebraska and includes the state of Utah.
The top ranking means ESTEC is one of just five regional NEI-designated centers in the country.
“By matching what we are teaching with what the knowledge standard is, we are able to make sure that across the country, any graduate going into a power plant has the requisite knowledge to safely go into those positions,” said Lawrence Beaty, Executive Director of ESTEC.
That’s part of the reason Camie Weeks made the switch from nursing to training for a career in the energy field.
“It’s a very good program,” said Camie Weeks, an ESTEC student. “A lot of the employers look to this program to hire people and a lot of the people from this program have been employed and are now higher up in the facility where they can employ other students coming out of this program.”
You can find more information about the College of Technology at this link.
