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School embraces experiential learning training HVAC students on state-of-the-art mechanical equipment

What began in 1945 in Manchester, NH, as a trade school for returning World War II veterans has become Manchester Community College (MCC) and the path to a degree for about 3,500 students per semester. While about half of MCC's graduates transfer to four-year colleges, another half are prepared to enter directly into high-demand careers, such as HVAC. To that end, DriSteem and MCC are working together to prepare the next generation of HVAC professionals.

THE JOB

As their new Advanced Technologies building took shape in 2017, MCC reached out for support from several manufacturers' reps in the New England states and outfitted the building with mechanical equipment on which to train HVAC, Electrical Technology, and Mechatronics students. The benefit to graduating students is direct, hands-on experience with state-of-theart mechanical equipment. Gilbert Biron, MCC's Program Coordinator for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, explains. "We are excited to use the HVAC equipment in the Advanced Technologies Building to demonstrate concepts presented to the students enrolled in our HVAC degree and certificate programs. The equipment will also be the foundation for the practical portion of the courses offered in the Advanced HVAC Certificate."

 
Gilbert Biron

“We are excited to use the HVAC equipment in the Advanced Technologies Building to demonstrate concepts presented to the students enrolled in our HVAC degree and certificate programs. The equipment will also be the foundation for the practical portion of the courses offered in the Advanced HVAC Certificate.”

Gilbert Biron | Program Coordinator
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

Newest campus building with 14 labs and 21,000 square feet of built environment for training

Newest campus building with 14 labs and 21,000 square feet of built environment for training

A perpetual state of

A perpetual state of "under construction" in the building's commercial and residential areas

DriSteem Vapormist humidifier

DriSteem Vapormist humidifier, among the dozens of systems operated and maintained by students

 

The following DriSteem equipment is commissioned and connected to MCC's Advanced Technologies building automation system for student training:

  • Vapormist ® humidifier and an Ultra-sorb® MP steam dispersion panel for duct dispersion
  • XT Series electrode steam humidifier and a single dispersion tube for air handler dispersion
  • Drane-kooler™ water tempering device for cooling drain water
 

RESOURCES

To find your local DriSteem representative, go to Find a rep

For more about DriSteem’s steam generating humidifiers, go to Steam generation

For more about Manchester Community College, go to www.mccnh.edu

A UNIQUE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Installing equipment to represent a half dozen trades in both commercial and residential construction in a 21,000-square-foot building might bring to mind crowded rooms and a claustrophobic training experience. Yet, every mechanical room, lab, and lecture hall is roomy and bright and neat enough to convince visitors that the building fills a city block.

Key to the big-building illusion is lines of sight. While the two DriSteem humidification systems are installed in the same mechanical room, they are out of each others' line of sight. Walking from one humidifier to the other requires only a few steps, but the short walk encompasses completely separate technology types, separate airstreams, and vastly different volumes of treated air. The control system independently senses and displays each airstream's temperature, relative humidity, dew point, outside air percentage, duct pressure, and supply and return volumetric flow rate..

Another decision, this one for the purpose of immersion, was to keep the commercial and residential areas separated physically as well as visually. Students moving from one area to the other get a true sense of the difference between commercial and residential environments..

DriSteem is proud to partner with an institution that provides thousands of students with positive, hands-on experiences that will prepare them for success as HVAC professionals..

XT Series

DriSteem XT Series electrode steam humidifier (far right)