INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA will receive naming rights to one of the instrumentation and analyzer technology labs in the Center for Petrochemical, Energy, and Technology at San Jacinto College, set to open in 2019. INEOS recently pledged $250,000 in support of the center.
The company's commitment to the college and the workforce doesn't end there, however, as it has hired 24 San Jacinto College petrochemical graduates in recent years. INEOS is a leading manufacturer of olefin and polyolefin products and manufactures over 7.5 billion pounds of product by transforming hydrocarbon raw materials into high-quality olefins, high-density polyethylene and polypropylene, while creating value for its customers, employees and stakeholders.
"The primary goals of INEOS, as well as the other petrochemical manufacturers in the region, are to operate safely and serve as good stewards of the environment," said Bob Bradshaw, site manager of INEOS' Battleground Manufacturing facility in La Porte, Texas. "These goals can only be achieved through a knowledgeable, welltrained and qualified workforce. This is why INEOS is so pleased to partner with San Jacinto College for the construction of a world-class education facility. Once operational, the center will provide the petrochemical industry with the next generation of qualified workers to safely and expertly operate the significant capital investments currently being made by our industry in the region."
The 145,000-square-foot Center for Petrochemical, Energy, and Technology, slated to be the largest petrochemical training facility in the Texas Gulf Coast region, will be for industry, by industry, with San Jacinto College inviting industry partners like INEOS to collaborate as part of the Petrochemical Advisory Council formed by San Jacinto College Chancellor Dr. Brenda Hellyer. INEOS is a member of the council, advising the college's development of a more robust petrochemical training curriculum and on workforce training elements needed in the Center for Petrochemical, Energy, and Technology. INEOS is also active throughout the community with local workforce and education outreach initiatives that include apprenticeship and internship programs and various science and career fairs.
"We're building the Center for Petrochemical, Energy, and Technology together with our industry partners like INEOS, and we cannot thank them enough for sitting at the table with us from the very beginning, providing us with feedback on both the facility and our petrochemical training curriculum," said San Jacinto College Associate Vice Chancellor/Senior Vice President for the Petrochemical Training Division Jim Griffin. "We are very excited to have INEOS become a permanent part of the facility with a laboratory in their name."
In addition to the instrumentation and analyzer technology labs, the Center for Petrochemical, Energy, and Technology will house skills labs in process technology, electrical and nondestructive testing. The center will also include a craft training center, a control room, a process simulator lab, a glass pilot plant lab, an exterior glycol distillation unit and corporate training space.
San Jacinto College offers certificates, associate degrees and incumbent worker training in the areas of process technology, instrumentation, nondestructive testing and electrical. The college is also pursuing the approval and development of a bachelor's degree of applied technology.
For more information about the San Jacinto College Center for Petrochemical, Energy, and Technology, visit www.sanjac.edu/CPET.
