San Jacinto College welcomes new director of CPET

Mar 29, 2019Melissa Trevizo
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San Jacinto College recently welcomed Tom Stang as the director of its new Center for Petrochemical, Energy, & Technology.

Stang takes on the responsibility to get the new facility operational and ready for students by the fall 2019 semester, a massive project management challenge. The CPET facility on San Jacinto College's Central Campus will be a showpiece for industrial education related to the petrochemical industry.

"After 42 years in industry working for several Fortune 500 companies, I decided to retire from the Dow Chemical Company in December," Stang said. "I'd spent the past 10 years in project management, so I asked Jim Griffin if he could use me, and this position was created. It is going to be the largest project management undertaking I've ever had."

Jim Griffin, the associate vice chancellor and senior vice president for the petrochemical training division, met Stang during his time at Dow Chemical as he served on the advisory committee for CPET planning.

Stang is excited to accept the challenge presented to him through the maintenance of the one-of-a-kind facility.

"My job is to make sure CPET is a jewel for San Jacinto College, a unique resource we have to offer to students and the community," Stang said. "We have a target date to complete construction in June. Then we have to outfit 39 labs in addition to the glycol unit, which is a full-scale pilot plant with actual pumps, pipes, and distillation columns. I'm sure there will be some challenges, which is typical for building projects."

The center will house programs in process technology, instrumentation, electrical, nondestructive testing, and craft trades. The 8,000-square-foot exterior glycol process unit will be used with every program that trains in the building. Students will be immersed in an environmental health and safety culture that is built into the curriculum, developed with OSHA-regulated coursework and an emphasis on process safety management. The center will include abundant space to teach credit students and incumbent workers.