The Norris High School Industrial Technology (IT) Department placed emphasis on Engineering as a career Thursday April 7. Darin Sperling, a structural engineer for Davis Design, came to the Engineering Drafting and Design class to speak about education, work opportunities, and a variety of engineering fields.An automation trainer built by the the Engineering Drafting and Design II class was unveiled. The trainer was built by John Stajner, Brandon Tebo, and Carter Monson. the trainer incorporates pneumatic cylinders, and directional control valves to move material from one location to another. Jake Greenwood used computer software to develop a “ladder program” which was downloaded on to a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) which controlled the movement of the system.The IT department for the past several years has been using electromechanical components in a variety of exercises. This was the first year that an opportunity presented itself to build a trainer based off of knowledge gathered over the past years. Garner Industries, Lincoln Machine, and Toro Industries provided financial support and a variety of equipment to make the project successful.Plans are to incorporate sensors to automate the trainer to higher levels of operation.A you tube video of the trainer in action be seen at http://youtu.be/U6dC86wAevM