I&C Academy prepares students for working world

Two years into Mississippi Power and Southern Company’s partnership with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC); the Instrumentation and Controls (I&C) Academy at the school’s Jackson County campus, more than 150 graduates have already landed jobs in the energy industry.

About 25 students graduate the program each semester. Those graduates have a 100 percent job placement rate in the energy industry.

“We’ve hired eight employees from the I&C Academy here at Mississippi Power and another five are working at other Southern Company operating companies,” Keith Hunter, I&C instructor, said. “One graduate is working at a nuclear facility in South Carolina and others were hired by companies in Michigan and Texas.”

The I&C Academy opened in the summer of 2012. Southern Company and some vendors provided equipment for the academy, while Mississippi Power, Alabama Power and Gulf Power are providing training aides and the instructor. MGCCC provided funding for capital improvements to the building that houses the academy and a training lab.

“This has been a great partnership for Mississippi Power, Southern Company and MGCCC,” Ann Holland, community development representative, said. “Students are getting real-life experience and Mississippi Power is training the next generation of I&C workers.”

The students start each day in the lab and every opportunity to handle equipment with a safety briefing. They get hands-on instruction on the topics of pressure, level, temperature and flow and are now learning the Ovation operating system, which can be found in most Southern Company generating facility control rooms.

“To complete the students’ skill set, situational labs are performed where Process Operations and Instrumentation Students interact,” Hunter said. “The students focus on communicating via radio to perform their tasks. Attention to detail and accuracy are imperative to the safe and efficient operation of plant equipment.”