He is grateful for the mentors who supported his journey. So when Craig had the opportunity to teach at his alma mater, the decision was clear. It was his turn. Craig was thrilled to step up to the challenge, share his building automation experience, and help others excel in this rewarding field.
We control buildings. Whether it is a data center, office building, college campus, or museum, a building automation system (BAS) is used to control and interact with lighting systems, HVAC systems, access control systems, and life safety systems. Aside from controlling the building, a BAS is also utilized to manage energy usage, so we can keep occupants safe, comfortable, and healthy in an efficient manner. A BAS is invisible. Many people don’t even know they exist, yet they benefit from them every day.
I am fortunate to have had great mentors both in industry and while I was a student. As I progressed, I wanted to do my part as a mentor. While in industry, I trained customers and fellow employees, and would work with interns. I enjoyed every second. I was lucky to have gained experience with a variety of systems, buildings, and customers that I can share with others. When the opportunity to teach at Penn College became available, it was exciting because it provided me with the opportunity to use my experience to prepare students to be successful in their careers.
Our industry supports this program and its labs. They keep us up to date with equipment, devices, and software. What we have in our labs is an exact representation of what students are going to see and work with in the field. Our juniors go into internships with the ability to be productive for the employer, and our graduating seniors hit the ground running as they start their career paths.
There are opportunities all over the world in this field. Building automation companies range from large corporations down to those with just a few employees and everything in between.
Graduates also have opportunities with hospitals, university campuses, and government agencies such as the NSA. Those who decide to be more field-focused are often provided roles as field engineers, where they work on construction projects overseeing installation work, performing system checkout and startup, and training the customer. There are opportunities working in existing facilities where they would maintain, modify, and optimize existing systems. There are opportunities for them to do programming and integration work, as well as engineering control systems where they would have a mixture of field work and office work. Some go into sales, project management, commissioning, or energy management.
While this field is a niche, it provides many career paths for graduates.
"I am proud to be teaching building automation at Penn College. It is rewarding to see students progress at Penn College and also as professionals. This program has alumni all over the country. Every year, we have more companies interested in our students, many through word of mouth. This program has a good reputation, and I’m just happy to be a part of it and help where I can."
Craig Zimmerman
Thanks to solid industry partnerships, you can rest assured knowing that the skills you'll learn at Penn College will give you a competitive edge after graduation. Two recently launched automation programs were designed to prepare graduates with the skills to take on a variety of in-demand positions. Plus, they’re supported by a new lab that’s home to four Kuka robots with vision systems complete with both Allen Bradley and Siemens PLCs.
Harness modern technology to power all types of building systems from AC to elevators.
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