Instrumentation and Control Certificate

The Philip M. Drayer Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (LUEE) offers undergraduate certificate in Instrumentation & Control (I&C). The I&C certificate allows a greater depth to be achieved in this critical area of engineering as a complement to the general electrical engineering preparation afforded by the LUEE BSEE degree. It is also available to the Computer Engineering students.

I&C engineers are responsible for the research, design, development and control of devices/systems that are found in manufacturing facilities and plants as well as in high-technology industries such as aerospace and automotive.

Instrumentation and Control Engineer 

Manufacturing

In manufacturing facilities, I&C engineers are in charge of the design and maintenance of mechanisms that allow goods to be produced.

Aerospace

In aerospace, I&C engineers are involved not only with the manufacture of aircraft and spaceships, but in the development of complex life support systems.

Automotive

In the automotive area, I&C engineers are involved in the design of complex sensor and control systems.

 

Preparation

The department offers the certificate in I&C as a set of elective courses within the B.S. EE curriculum to prepare electrical engineers to be hired as I&C engineers in a diverse range of automation companies. Certificate holders will have preparation in process control, PLC programming, and instrumentation.


Elective Courses

The certificate will be awarded to students who successfully pass the I&C elective courses described below. It is possible to earn the certificate without taking courses in excess of the B.S. EE program of study by using the current allowance of electives.  I&C certificate courses may be taken at any time in the program of study providing pre-requisites are met.


Employment

Employment opportunities such as oil and gas, chemical processing, pulp and paper, power generation, food processing, and manufacturing industries are some of the areas that you will be able to seek employment.


Interested?

Interested students should contact the department regarding schedules and course offerings.
Please note: The pre-requisite for 
ELEN 2320 Fundamentals of Instrumentation and Control   is  ELEN 1100 Introduction to Electrical Engineering .

Students can start certificate work as early as the freshman year.

Contact

Dr. Hassan Zargarzadeh
Director, I&C Program
hzargarzadeh@lamar.edu

Certificate Requirements (9 credits)

One Course from:

  • ELEN 4304: Advanced Instrumentation and Control
  • ELEN 4336: Instrumentation Systems and Automation

Note: If both are taken, one counts as an elective 


Two Electives from the following group:

  • ELEN 2320:Fund Instrumentation & Control
  • ELEN 3320: Computer Networks
  • ELEN 4314: Fundamentals of Digital Signal Processing
  • ELEN 4315 :Introduction to Robotics
  • ELEN 4317: Programmable Logic Controllers

 

(others as approved by the Certificate Director or Department Chair)

Program Outcomes

    • Ability to explain, discuss and describe the principles and theories related to basic process control instrumentation. Read and analyze instrumentation diagrams and documents. Design instrumentation and automation systems.
    • Ability to devise control algorithms for automation systems. To that end, the students will learn to design relay logic and ladder logic diagrams. Ladder logic diagrams are the foundation for modern programmable logic controllers (PLCs).
    • Develop an understanding of advanced industrial measurement and control systems including detailed measurement and control strategies, advanced control systems and elementary process modeling.
    • Ability to design control schemes and analyze their closed loop stability of the control processes using the theory of control and software tools such as MATLAB.