Electric Utility Substation and Relay Technology Team Places Third in National Contest

For the first time, Richmond Community College entered a team in the Fluke Connect Student Contest, which test the skills, innovation and business application of student teams enrolled in two- and four-year colleges and universities, trade and technical school and apprenticeship programs throughout the United States.

RichmondCC’s team, comprised of four Electric Utility Substation and Relay Technology (EUSRT) students plus a faculty advisor, came in third in the national contest.

“I am proud of the hard work these students put in over the past four months preparing their project,” said Dr. Dale McInnis, RichmondCC president. “They represented our community college well with this third-place finish competing on a national scale against much larger schools.”

Members of the team included Ian Clark, captain, of Indiana; Alan Henderson of Norman; Alyssa Norris of Ellerbe; Carlos Sedano of Rockingham; and Jeffrey Wimmer, faculty sponsor, of Virginia.

EUSRT students are trained to maintain high voltage equipment and protection and control systems. For their project, they had to demonstrate how using Fluke Connect technology could improve work results, team collaboration, and communication through real-time observation and engagement.

“We proposed minimizing the use of traditional texts and integrating Fluke Digital Multimeters (DMM) and the Fluke Connect app into training events and labs exercises, preparing the next generation of substation and relay technicians for the high voltage and distribution work environment,” Wimmer said. “The students did an excellent job preparing this project, and we are happy finishing in the top three of this national contest.”

The EUSRT program is a competitive two-year associate degree program unique to RichmondCC. It is now accepting new students for fall semester. To register for fall classes or talk to a counselor, call Student Services at (910) 410-1730.