GEAPS and Purdue University are now offering unique, top-quality “distance-learning” courses designed specifically for professionals and others interested in grain operations.

Available now:
Safety Management for Grain & Processing Facilities (GEAPS 540) and
Fuel Ethanol Production (GEAPS 590)

The deadline to register is May 16.

Register online for GEAPS 540 or GEAPS 590. Download a registration form to fax/mail in.

(from the April 2008 issue of the In-Grain newsletter)
On The Distance-Ed Horizon: Courses Covering Safety Management, Ethanol, Electrical Safety

GEAPS members and others in the grain industry will have multiple, unique opportunities to develop their skills during the next year through our distance-education program.

Several convenient, high-quality courses are planned or on the drawing boards for 2008 and beyond. Up this month is GEAPS 511, or “Grain Facilities Planning and Design II.”

The five-week course, held once previously, runs for five weeks beginning April 14. It focuses on the basic principles of planning, layout, and design of commercial grain-handling facilities.

All of the courses—designed specifically for GEAPS members—are planned and developed jointly by GEAPS and Purdue and Kansas State universities, in conjunction with other partners on a course-by-course basis.

The next courses on the horizon are below.

June 2-July 5
“Safety Management for Grain & Processing Facilities”
The Safety Management course, GEAPS 540, is designed for companies and facilities that may not have fully developed safety programs, or which don’t have a full-time safety professional on site. The course is also likely to benefit newcomers to the realm of grain-industry safety, or those who would just like to learn more. Presentations are being prepared by some of the industry’s top safety professionals on the following topics:

The goal of the five-week course is to teach basic principles of managing some of the primary safety risks, associated with grain handling and processing facilities.

The course offers an overview of the common risks as well as some of the risk mitigation options available to control those risks. It will target operations management, safety committee members, maintenance staff, etc, who have responsibilities for risk control.

June 2-July 5
“Fundamentals Of Fuel Ethanol Production”
This five-week course, GEAPS 590, is being reoffered as a service to those who couldn’t participate in the course in January—the first time it was offered.

The course focuses on the fuel ethanol production, plant operations and management, and includes lectures on fuel ethanol production basics and emerging new technologies; plant operations and management; fuel ethanol storage and transport logistics; feedstock and co-product handling and logistics; mass and energy balance and environmental compliance; and economics.

The goal of GEAPS 590 is to teach students the basic principles of fuel ethanol production, ethanol and co-product handling and logistics.

Being Developed for 2009

January-February
“Electrical Safety for Grain & Processing Facilities”
“Grain Quality Management”

March-April
“Grain Entrapment Rescue”
“Aeration System Design & Fan Operation Management”
“Facilities Planning & Design I”

June –July
“Advanced Ethanol Production”

Being Developed for 2010

January-February
“Stored Grain Pest Management Practices and Fumigation”
“Fundamentals of Fuel Ethanol Production”
“Safety Management for Grain and Processing Facilities”

March-April
“Quality Management Systems and Biosecurity”
“Grain Entrapment Rescue “
“Advanced Ethanol Production”
“Grain Facilities Planning & Design I”
“Electrical Safety”

For more information about the GEAPS-Purdue distance-education program or Facilities Planning and Design II, contact GEAPS at (952)928-4640; chouse@geaps.com.

GEAPS-Purdue courses, consisting of about 10 lectures, typically last five weeks. Lecture material is mailed to students on CDs, and the course syllabi, quizzes and related material are provided on a dedicated Purdue University website. GEAPS members receive a discount on registration fees, which are kept as low as possible. Students who complete a GEAPS-Purdue course receive one continuing education unit from Purdue, and a certificate of completion.

More information about the new courses will be posted when available.

For more information about the the GEAPS-Purdue Distance Learning Program, contact Chuck House at GEAPS .

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