Houston, the world’s energy capital, accounts for more than 30 percent of oil and gas jobs in the United States. According to Lone Star College Chancellor Richard Carpenter, companies in the energy and manufacturing sectors face a shrinking pool of trained employees as they forecast employment projections. Professionals working in the industry also require extensive retraining in order to maintain technology and safety standards.
“To meet training demands for a skilled workforce,” said Carpenter, “Lone Star College partnered with the sectors across the region to develop the Energy and Manufacturing Institute.”
According to Dr. John Galiotos, Dean of the Energy and Manufacturing Institute, training developed by Lone Star College in collaboration with industry partners will prepare EMI students to enter the workforce as well as to advance careers.
“EMI will set a new standard in the education and training of a highly-skilled workforce,” said Dr. Galiotos. “The institute will concentrate on a strong foundation in scientific and engineering concepts emphasizing exposure to real-world lab and industrial processes and equipment.”
Costa Thanos, a student in EMI’s field service technician certification program, recently obtained a mechanical assembly position at National Oilwell Varco. “I highly recommend the program,” he said. “The one-on-one teaching and the hands-on training through EMI prepared me for the high-tech demands of the job.”
Construction began in March of 2013 on the two-story building and decorative concrete and zinc panels with large expanses of glass now gracing the exterior. EMI will provide five state-of-the-art classrooms, 28 labs and two simulation rooms equipped with industry-standard equipment and software. Students will learn cutting-edge techniques, work with simulations and receive personal attention and supervision in classes with low student-teacher ratios.
“This is a very significant and visible show of Lone Star College’s vision, commitment and investment in training the skilled workforce our community and industry partners need to be competitive at a global level,” said LSC-University Park President Shah Ardalan. “The new EMI building is another promise-made, promise-kept that realizes our Invitation-to-Innovate (i2i) initiative resulting in the innovative college of the 21st century.”
LSC-University Park is the sixth LSCS campus located in the former Compaq Computer’s world headquarters complex. The 71-acre campus houses four university partners, a charter high school, several business partners, Lone Star Corporate College and the LSC Energy and Manufacturing Institute. Under the first President, Shah Ardalan, LSC-University Park’s vision is to be nationally recognized as the model for the innovative college of the 21st century. In just two years, LSC-University Park’s Invitation-2-Innovate (i2i) has resulted in many local, national and global recognitions, including one patent. The campus is located at the corner of State Highway 249 and Louetta Road across from Vintage Park. For more information about LSC-University Park, call 281.290.2600 or visit LoneStar.edu/UP.
Lone Star College System has been opening doors to a better community for 40 years. Founded in 1973, LSCS remains steadfast in its commitment to student success and credential completion. Today, with 78,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and one of the fastest-growing community college systems in the nation. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, seven centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.