- Hello, this is Charles Ceolin.
I'm the program coordinator
for the Electrical Engineering Technician
and Technologist program,
and I welcome you to
this virtual open house.
Just a little bit about me.
If you need to contact me,
it's cceolin@conestogac.on.ca.
I'm here to support you.
I've been part of the
program for 15 years,
and I've got at least 15
years' industry experience.
and like most of our faculty,
we do have industry experience,
so if you ever have any questions
about possible career paths,
please feel free to talk to us.
Our program highlights,
there's two main themes to our program.
We have the power systems.
That would be working with utilities
or engineering design firms.
We also have the automation theme,
which is working with companies
that do automation, conveyors, and so on.
Like I said before, we
have experienced faculty,
so by all means, we're a
resource that you can use
if you wanna talk about
about future career paths.
Our program has roughly 50%
of our time in the labs,
and our lab equipment is up to date.
This year, we're starting
out with the BYOD,
so, bring your own device.
The website's being updated,
but basically, if you go to the website,
you'll see there's a number
of different computer options.
What we're looking for in our program
is the better or best option.
But it's gonna be updated,
so keep your eye on that.
But that's the website here, is,
take a look at that.
We have a virtual tour based
on the Cambridge campus.
That's where our program's held.
The website for that Cambridge campus,
well, it's for all the tours,
but you wanna look for
the Cambridge campus.
Just below here, that's
our aC/DC motor lab.
This one here is one of our
first year electronic labs
that we use over here,
so there's oscilloscope and so on.
and then, we also have
our instrumentation labs
for second year.
This one here is typically
our third year lab for PLCs,
but you can find those
pictures on the virtual tour
when you go to that website.
Some of the career opportunities
our graduating students will see is that,
I'll talk about the employment first.
Basically, about 74% of
our Technician graduates
get jobs within six months.
Electrical is somewhere
around 73% non-co-op,
but 90% of co-op.
Just to give you an idea,
by the end of, for the Technologist,
by the end of third year,
so, before we've even had exams,
probably 30% have
already found employment.
By the time graduation occurs in June,
about six weeks after their last exam,
probably about 60% have
secured employment.
and then, you know, and
then the numbers go up
as you get more time.
You know, certainly, the
opportunities are fantastic
in the electrical area.
So, what are the careers available?
We have two themes.
The power systems, you have
a career in local utilities,
so you could be doing the design work.
You could be working in the control room.
Same with electrical firms.
There's field service,
so that would be maintaining
electrical rooms,
could be commissioning
new electrical equipment.
Engineering firms, they
do electrical design,
maybe a new office building,
apartment building.
We have electrical distributors.
Technical sales is kind
of a, it's a funny term.
What we're doing here is
we're becoming experts
in particular products
so that you can support the customers
so when they come in
and they have a problem,
you have a solution for them.
and then in the automation area,
there's a lot of local
automation firms here,
so you can be involved in the design of
conveyors, for instance,
programming, the panel wiring.
There's engineering firms.
These ones would be concentrating
more on the programming
or the system integration.
and then we have electrical distributors
for this type of equipment.
So, the technical sales,
they become proficient with the PLCs,
programmable logic controllers,
and various components
that go along with that.
In first year, we typically
have 120 students.
We have a cluster of three programs,
the Electrical Engineering Technician,
Engineering Technologist,
and we have the Energy Systems
Engineering Technologist.
Between those three programs,
we get about 120 students.
You can see the numbers drop off.
The biggest reason that
they drop off is that,
you know, in reality,
they weren't sure about the program.
They find the program
is not really for them.
It's more of a desire
of what they wanna to do
rather than the complexity of the program.
So, should I have an
electrical background?
Of course, if you have
an electrical background,
it's probably more certain
that this is gonna be
a program that you would enjoy.
But if we just go back
to engineering programs,
math is a major component
of engineering programs,
and so, it's important to
have a good math background.
We get a wide range of students.
We'll get students from
high schools, 17-year-old.
We get mature students
maybe from 25 to 35 to 40,
so we understand that there is that,
we need that refresher.
and so, we do have that in our program.
So, electrical or physics
background is very helpful,
but it's not really necessary.
What's the difference between
Electrical Engineering
Technician and a Technologist?
The Technician is a two-year program.
The degree is an Ontario college degree,
while the Technician
is a three-year program
which is Ontario College advanced,
sorry, not degree, advanced diploma.
So, a Technician is a
Ontario College diploma,
Technologist is an Ontario
College advanced diploma.
The first two years are exactly the same,
so that means Technician and Technologist,
it's easy to transfer
from one to the other.
If you're a Technician
and you really enjoy it,
and you wanna go to the third year,
to transfer is seamless,
and same if you were a Technologist
and you wanna go to a two-year.
Typically, Technician is
more of a hands-on career
and Technologist tends to be more design,
analytical, programming.
The salary for a Technologist
is higher, typically.
I mean, they do the extra year of school.
But you know, the end position and salary,
I mean, has a lot to do with the character
and ambition of the student.
If the student has a lot of
drive, they can go much further.
I mean, we've had students
that are Technician
that are managers of major companies,
and they're the Canadian manager,
not just a regional manager.
So, there is a lot of
opportunity in the field.
What does the optional co-op mean?
Basically, a co-op is
available to certain students.
It's based on your Level 1 performance.
at the end of Level 2,
if you get invited to co-op,
you can either choose
to apply or not apply.
Now, we do invite the Technicians,
so they would have to
transfer to Technology
if they decide to apply.
Level 3, the co-op take a course
that teaches them how to use the system
that the co-op has developed,
the co-op department,
and they will also look
at writing resumes,
interview skills, and so on.
Level 4, which is the winter
semester of second year,
they'll be applying for the co-op jobs.
and then Level 5 to 8,
they go out to work.
They have options.
They can take
one company for 16 months.
They could go to four different companies,
each for four months.
Typically, a company
would like a commitment
of eight months,
but not always.
In level 9, then, the students come back.
So, after their 16-month work term,
they come back and join
the third-year students
who were in first year when
they were in second year.
And then that adds that extra year
so that they end up being
in school for 3 2/3 years.
Next question, can I
become an electrician?
Some of the field service jobs,
or most of them, actually,
the company will send that person
to become an electrician.
That's basically the
only electrician outcome
from our program.
Our program's geared
more towards engineering
and not towards an electrician.
If you wanna become an electrician,
you're better off taking
the apprenticeship program
or taking the Electrical
Technician-Industrial program.
Can I get a degree out of this program?
We do have a Power Systems
Engineering Degree program.
Our program only gives you a diploma.
If you would like, there is the option
of bridging over to the
Power Systems Engineering.
Once you complete the
three-year Technology,
then you would have to do a
few courses during the summer,
and that would include some calculus and
chemistry and physics and so on
that we don't cover in
the diploma program.
And so then you would enter into
the third year of the PSE program,
which is a four-year program.
If you need further information there,
you should contact the PSE program
or the Power Systems
Engineering for further details.
Okay, so, for our program, then,
there's the webpages if you wanna visit
this site here for Technician
or this site here for the Technology.
There's more information
on the type of courses
you would be taking,
the information on graduate
opportunities is in there.
The handbook that gives you some idea
of what the rules are for the program,
and there is some further
information there.
So, please take a look
at the program webpage.
And if you have any information
that you would still like to ask about,
I mean, please feel free to call me,
or sorry, email me at
cceolin@conestogac.on.ca,
and that's Charles Ceolin.
We look forward to seeing you
at Conestoga College come the fall.
I hope this helps.
And like I say, please
feel free to contact us,
contact me if you require
any further information.
Thanks very much, and best
of luck with your decision.
