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Training site A small telecommunications training classroom in Waipahu is poised to become a critical link in attracting highly skilled telecom students to Hawaii and developing local business, according to backers of a new nonprofit school, TekED.
looks to build
isle telecom
TekED hopes to provide training
not available in the islesBy Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.comTekED hopes to build the number of Registered Communications Distribution Designers who are certified here from 40 to more than 100 within the next year, President Paul G. Lucas said.
TekED is the first permanent school in Hawaii for RCDD-designated engineers, with regular class officially starting in a week. Previously, local companies typically sent their engineers and designers to the mainland for training and examination. Having the classes and testing here means a substantial savings, said Bob Alamillo, who oversees a staff of four RCDD-certified engineers at Verizon Hawaii.
If TekED is successful in expanding the number of engineers who are certified here, Hawaii could become the regular site of a major international conference of the highly skilled designers, Lucas said.
Lucas used to run his own local data cable installation business, Paul's Cabling Inc., and said he's longed to get into training.
"What I'm hearing is Hawaii would be a great place to have a training center," he said.
The RCDD is a key designation for engineers who design the way a business can wire its data, voice and video communication. A company that builds its network without an RCDD could end up with wiring defects, said Alamillo, who is Verizon's sales engineering manager for the business market.
Professionals who use the RCDD designation include electrical engineers, architects, interior designers, telecom consultants and data network designers.
The RCDD designation was created in 1984 by the nonprofit Building Industry Consultant Services International association to provide universal standards for telecom design in the face of industry deregulation and the breakup of AT&T. BICSI, based in Tampa, Fla., has 22,000 members and holds several conferences around the world each year. Attendance at one of the conferences is required every three years for RCDD designers to maintain certification.
Typically, Verizon has attempted to tie in conferences at the same time employees take their training, which takes about a week. "When you put the whole thing together, a session like that runs between $4,000 and $5,000," Alamillo said, a substantial cost to a business.
If Hawaii bulks the numbers of local RCDD-designated people to 100, and builds overall BICSI membership to 500, Hawaii would receive a regional designation and a conference would be held here on a regular basis, said Lucas.
"We think we can get it done within 12 months," said Lucas. The first conference could be held here in 2004, he said.
The main focus is to target high school graduates who are not planning to attend college, Lucas said. The students could begin training at an entry level, then move on to more advanced education.
The overall plan is feasible, said Rory J.H. Rankin, a sales representative for local telecom supplier Graybar. Rankin, who specializes in telecom and data networking, said he has pushed for several years for more RCDD exams to be held in Hawaii. In July 1999, he helped kick off a round of RCDD examinations that were held here on a temporary basis. At the time, there were only 10 RCDDs here, Rankin said. Now there are 40.
Lucas' business acumen should help turn vision to reality, Rankin said.
Indeed, Lucas has bigger plans, such as positioning the Hawaii center as a place where Asian students could come here and train. Gus Hannemann, who helped bring Samoan kids to Hawaii for training in the federal Job Corps program, is looking at ways to bring Samoan students to train for RCDD designation in Hawaii, Lucas said. Lucas is also hoping to work with the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau for ways to cross-promote Hawaii as a place to study and relax.
The payoff for Hawaii isn't just more students, Rankin noted. Small locally based firms that take advantage of RCDD designation can qualify for work from the federal government that requires certification, he said.
Local companies with RCDDs on staff include PC Enterprises Inc., ECM Inc., Moss Engineering Inc. Tech Services Inc., Pihana Pacific Inc. and JK Electric Inc.
"We're able to train everyone locally and keep all the homegrown talent here in the islands," Rankin said.
Pricing for certification at TekED ranges from $250 to $2,200, depending on how many days the classes take, Lucas said. BICSI provides the instructors, though it may let TekED proctor its own exams. Typically, renewing the RCDD designation takes 32 to 36 hours in the classroom. Lucas said he hopes to have the classrooms running daily.
TekED got some start-up help from telecommunications manufacturers, who provided equipment at cost for the classroom, which is located on Leoleo Street in Waipahu.
Leviton Voice & Data of Washington state provided $52,000 in equipment. Superior Essex of Atlanta provided about $40,000 in fiber-optic and copper cable.
The next step is to apply for about $1.8 million in grants so tekED can expand its facilities, ideally to as many as 10 classrooms plus three training rooms, Lucas said. The school is already eyeing the site of the former Safeway in Waipahu, as well as a place in Kapolei. The manufacturers have pledged the equipment, Lucas said.