This professional development course is designed for engineers and technicians who need to understand how to identify, prevent, and troubleshoot industrial data communications problems.
Course Benefits
Modern industrial control and information systems employ a proliferation of technologies, including various hardware standards and protocols. For many of the personnel working with these systems, the technologies are ‘plug and play’ and are just there to be used. The problems arise when decisions have to be made regarding the most suitable technologies for a given application, or when things go wrong, and troubleshooting has to be performed. Without a thorough grasp of the working of the technologies involved, and without the availability of (and the ability to use) suitable diagnostic tools, this becomes a formidable challenge.
The world of industrial communications abounds with three-letter acronyms, protocols, layered communication systems, fieldbuses, and device networks. There are numerous networking and industrial bus standards, synchronous and asynchronous protocols, baseband and broadband systems, bus and star topologies, connection-oriented, and connectionless protocols. In addition, there is a pronounced migration towards the use of Ethernet and TCP/IP.
This program demystifies the jargon and places the most popular systems, technologies, hardware standards, and protocols in an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) perspective. It explains how these technologies operate, and equips participants with the tools and skills to do basic hardware and protocol-related troubleshooting on both serial (RS-485) and Ethernet type networks.
The course is composed of 12 modules, covering how to fix over sixty of the most common problems that occur in industrial communications systems.
To obtain a certificate of completion for EIT’s Professional Certificate of Competency, students must achieve a 65% attendance rate at the live, online fortnightly webinars. Detailed summaries/notes can be submitted in lieu of attendance. In addition, students must obtain a mark of 60% in the set assignments which could take the form of written assignments and practical assignments. Students must also obtain a mark of 100% in quizzes. If a student does not achieve the required score, they will be given an opportunity to resubmit the assignment to obtain the required score.
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Deon Reynders is an electronics engineer with over 40 years postgraduate experience encompassing middle management, engineering consulting, management consulting, hardware and software development, systems engineering, project management, marketing, and industrial relations.
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You are expected to spend approximately 5-8 hours per week learning the course content. This includes attending fortnightly webinars that run for about 90 minutes to facilitate class discussion and allow you to ask questions. This program has a 65% attendance requirement in the live webinars in order to graduate from the program. If you are unable to attend the live webinars, you have the option of watching the recording of completed webinars and sending a summary of what you have learnt from the webinar to the Learning Support officer. The summaries go towards your attendance requirement for the program.
This program is run online on an intensive part-time basis and has been designed to fit around full-time work. It will take three months to complete.
We understand that sometimes work commitments and personal circumstances can get in the way of your studies, so if at any point you feel that you are struggling with the pace of the course or finding a particular module challenging, you are encouraged to contact your designated Learning Support Officer for assistance.
Registrations are open for our upcoming intakes. Please ensure you book your place at least one week before the start date of the program.
