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Training series helps facilitate engineers
Kenneth W. Davidson, associate director of the Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute, was one of the instructors for the 1999 Physical Plant Operation and Maintenance Series held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. photo by Dave Shelly University Photo/Graphics	During 1999, the Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute offered a series of five training courses for physical plant engineers, supervisors and electrical tradespeople who operate and maintain electrical systems and equipment in modern institutional-type facilities.   The 1999 Physical Plant Operation and Maintenance Series covered Central Boiler Plant Operation, Steam Boiler Water Treatment, Electrical Systems and Maintenance, Air Conditioning Maintenance and Operation, and HVAC Systems Water Treatment. Participants came from many Pennsylvania government agencies, including the departments of Corrections and Public Welfare, as well as from private industry, utility companies, the federal government and the military.   Each course included classroom instruction and hands-on applications with relay testing and calibration and other specialized equipment used in electrical maintenance. Courses also covered the latest advances in electrical systems and changes in regulations governing electrical design.   Kenneth W. Davidson, associate director of the Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute, was one of the instructors for the series of courses, which were held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. Other instructors were Carl D. Peretti, electrical engineer; Benjamin F. Bidelspach Jr., electrical field engineer; and Ronald W. Foflygen, electrical engineer, all with the Facilities Engineering Institute.   Davidson joined the institute in 1998 after 19 years in the electrical utility industry. He heads the institute’s utility deregulation group and provides guidance to state government agencies on utility deregulation matters and energy strategies. His utility deregulation group also helps customers with energy data collection, analysis and dissemination. An outreach program of the College of Engineering Department of Architectural Engineering and Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute