Two New Additions

We are pleased to announce two more NEW 8 PDH courses for 2011.

First, Effective Engineering Project Management Skills will guide the student through a step-by-step process of analyzing how best to manage a project.  Learning how to best implement project management practices will enable you to improve your project outcomes and allow you to manage your projects and other responsibilities at the same time.

Effective Engineering Project Management Skills is taught by Ms. P. Anne Gaspar is offered on the following dates:

• Buffalo, NY on January 4 and June 9, 2011 (also available as a live webinar)
• Binghamton, NY on January 27, 2011
• Pittsburgh, PA on March 10, 2011
• Philadelphia, PA on March 31, 2011
• Syracuse, NY on April 14, 2011
• Albany, NY on June 2, 2011

Second, Implementing an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System is intended to provide a general introduction and an understanding of the requirements and the approach to developing an ISO 14001 environmental EMS for an organization.

Implementing an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System is taught by Ms. P Anne Gaspar is offered on the following dates:

• Buffalo, NY on January 10 and June 14, 2011 (also available as a live webinar)
• Binghamton, NY on January 28, 2011
• Pittsburgh, PA on March 11, 2011
• Philadelphia, PA on April 1, 2011
• Syracuse, NY on April 15, 2011
• Albany, NY on June 3, 2011

 We hope to see you soon.

Our Green Initiative

Our green initiative is twofold – to save us some green and to potentially put some green in your pocket.

Let me explain.  Printing and mailing is a very expensive proposition; e-mail is much more cost effective.  So to help save us on some printing and mailing costs, I am starting a little contest.  The Grand Prize is $280 worth of PDH – that’s a full 8-hour course or four 2-PDH webinars (your choice).  There will be up to SIX prizes of  $70 worth of PDH – either a FREE 2-PDH webinar or a $70 credit towards the purchase of an 8 PDH course (again, your choice).  I say up to six because if only 4 people enter, I can only award the grand prize and 3 of the other prizes.

So how does one enter?  Simple.

1) Between now and 31 March 2011, when you join our e-mail list (free), you will be entered for the drawing.

2) If you purchase a course from us, that counts also.

3) Refer a friend – have then drop us a note at info AT aurora-analytics DOT com and mention your name (and e-mail) then both of you are entered.

Please no-emails in the comments below, because you just know that you’ll get spammed by the spambots.  And you can be sure that we won’t sell your e-mail. 

I know times are tough, so please only one entry per person.

I’ll even enter people who bought a course since 1 Nov 2010.

Because that’s the kind of guy I am.

New Course Offerings for 2011

We are happy to announce 2 new 8 PDH seminars for 2011.

First, Basics of Filtration covers the important aspects filtration theory including important characteristics and properties of fluids and solids in filtration and testing procedures and scale up.  In addition, there is an introduction to filtration equipment, covering design, uses, and selection of equipment based on continuous and batch filtration applications.  Different types of filter media are reviewed, along with ancillary equipment and a discussion of filtration process control.

Basics of Filtration, taught by Mr. Green, is offered on the following dates

• Buffalo, NY on January 3 and June 16 (also available as a live webinar)
• Binghamton, NY on January 27
• Cleveland, OH on February 18
• Philadelphia, PA on March 31
• Albany NY on June 2

Next, we are pleased to announce Solvent Removal from Solids.  This course is taught by Mr. Joe Bonem and covers the mass transfer and equilibrium considerations when stripping volatile solvents from solids, including polymer-solvent systems.  The removal of solvent from solids (polymers, films, construction materials, mine tailings, etc.) is a vital step of many manufacturing processes. However, it is often not well understood. This lack of understanding has caused some to conclude that all that is required to remove the solvent is to increase the solid’s temperature to the boiling point of the solvent. This is erroneous when either or both equilibrium and kinetics are considered.

Solvent Removal from Solids is offered on the following dates (all dates 2011):

• Cleveland, OH on February 18
• Phailadelphia, PA on March 31
• Buffalo, NY on June 23 (also available as a live webinar)

In addition, we are bringing back our courses on Optimization Strategies and Gasification of Coal and Biomass.  The schedules for these courses are:

Optimization Strategies:

• Buffalo, NY on  January20 and June 3 (also available as a live webinar)
• Cleveland, OH on February 17
• Pittsburgh, PA on March 11
• Philadelphia, PA on April 1

Gasification of Coal and Biomass:

• Cleveland, OH on February 17
• Philadelphia, PA on April 1
• Buffalo, NY on June 21 (also available as a live webinar)

Keep watching this space for additional courses!

They like us! They really, really like us!

Ok, let’s be real.  Many people go to training sessions and fill out a “how we did” survey.  Most times, people just fill them out as a duty, giving the course or instructor ratings of 4 or 5, typically out of politeness.  Or, if the course was truly bad or not a good value all 1s.

We have to keep them on file to prove that we gave them out.  Of course we look at these to see if we truly missed the mark and we get stuff from comments – we always ask for ideas for courses people would like to see.  Sometimes we get a good laugh – like the person who rated the facilities a “4” because the room was too dark (it would have been a simple fix to turn on a light).

But what we look for the hand written comments that tell us if we really did a good job or not.  Anyone can circle a 5 and go on their way.  But for someone to take the time to write a note on a survey means they wanted it to be read.  Ditto for those who send e-mails.

And if they wanted us to read the comments, we figure we should let everyone read them.  Of course, we give only first name, last initial, and location.

So here are samples of what people who attended one of our sessions had to say.  I’m hoping that one day soon we can add your comments here as well.