What is THE UNIT?
THE UNIT is a training and development solution that provides application-specific hands-on experience. The Functional Verification Unit is a training facility site for companies to conduct process-specific, interactive training without interrupting in-house production. At THE UNIT, TechStar offers customizable technical training resources to mimic your specific process conditions, testing, and troubleshooting. The controlled environment is ideal for small group sessions to onboard new personnel, train team members for specific products, and conduct mandatory recertification to maintain compliance. Check out this video to see the fully functional live unit, innovative level solutions, reliable flow measurement, process automation, custom cabinets and enclosures, technical courses, custom sessions, hands-on training, engaging classroom instruction, a full range of instruments and devices, and more.
Who can use THE UNIT?
Because THE UNIT is designed to fit a multitude of technical needs, any company or professional who works with instrumentation and analytical devices can use the hands-on technical training facility. THE UNIT is for the science and engineering aspects of oil and gas, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, water/wastewater, and energy.
Within the oil and gas industry, THE UNIT is available for upstream, midstream, and downstream professionals. Teams from the upstream sector can test and troubleshoot gas detection safety systems, pressure, flow, radar levels, advanced analyzers, and numerous other functionalities. For midstream professionals, THE UNIT is an excellent facility for learning to use a full line of level, pressure, temperature, and analysis solutions. This includes flow measurements that range from custody transfer mass flow to redundant check volumetric meters, asset management with remote monitoring and networking equipment, and safety checks for pipeline leaks. Downstream specialists can explore almost all process control needs for refining, petrochemical, power and water facilities and more. THE UNIT can be customized to investigate liquid and gas analysis, pressure and temperature, networking solutions, flow, radar and nuclear level measurements, density and more.
In industries where industrial automation and process control are present, like food and beverage or pharmaceuticals, THE UNIT is an ideal laboratory for testing quality instruments and techniques. Companies that need to practice with process control needs such as water treatment, reaction vessel operations, wastewater maintenance, mixing and batching, filling and packaging, cleaning in place, and boiler management can use THE UNIT.
Both municipal and industrial companies in the water and wastewater fields can use THE UNIT to test and troubleshoot instrumentation solutions for level, pressure, flow, gas detection, automation, and control. Solutions such as lift stations and wet wells, chemical tanks, digesters, flow instruments, and vibration monitoring systems can be investigated in THE UNIT.
Within the energy sector, companies can use THE UNIT to improve security and reliability solutions. Professionals who work with coal, wind, solar, or hydropower can utilize THE UNIT. Additionally, companies who deal with wood, biogas, cogeneration, renewable energy, or nuclear energy can also use THE UNIT. THE UNIT can be equipped to explore solutions such as vibration monitoring, accelerometers, proximity sensors, and more.
Advantages of Using THE UNIT
The many advantages of using THE UNIT include the ability to test and troubleshoot in a realistic environment without interrupting in-house production, working with a highly skilled technician and experienced instructor, gaining valuable experience that can improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs.
There are many instances in which companies need to conduct interactive training, but interrupting the flow of production is not a viable option. THE UNIT offers a significant advantage in that it provides a customizable, realistic environment for instruction, testing, and troubleshooting. Visiting THE UNIT for a hands-on training session means that employees get the experience they need without disrupting company operations.
Joey Blair is the lead UNIT technician with 22 years of experience with instrumentation and control systems. He has extensive experience with liquid, bulk solid, and flow measurements, working in all sectors of the process industry, including upstream and downstream oil and gas. In the last 6 years at TechStar, Joey has honed his skills by supporting customer applications as a TechStar Field Service Technician. He brings this experience, along with a prior technical teaching career at San Jacinto College, to his role of Lead Unit Technician.
Companies that learn, test, and troubleshoot processes at THE UNIT see measurable results that improve business operations and performance while reducing costs because no factory downtime is required. Conducting hands-on technical training at THE UNIT is advantageous because it helps companies maintain safety standards and meet compliance requirements. With effective and up to date training, unnecessary and costly hassles can be avoided and companies can focus on driving growth.
Schedule a Visit to THE UNIT
If you are looking to fulfill specific training and development needs or objectives for personnel, seeking to design custom training courses tailored to your company’s specific equipment needs, or curious about training options at TechStar, you may benefit from a visit to THE UNIT. To schedule a visit to THE UNIT, contact TechStar’s Customer Experience Coordinator, Emily Jones. Emily Jones can be reached at ejones@techstar.com, 281-542-0205, or through a calendar on THE UNIT website.