Teachers turn to the HVACR & Mechanical Conference to learn.

“It’s designed for the educational community,” said Warren Lupson, director of education for the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). He added that registering for the conference is free, thanks to sponsorships from numerous industry associations.
“The industry associations are paying for people to attend,” Lupson said. “The people coming need to just find the resources to pay for their room, food, and travel. That shows you the dedication of the industry associations.”

Keeping Educators Current

Lupson stressed the importance of continuing education within the HVACR industry, particularly when it comes to technology, which he said is a focus of the upcoming conference. “We’re getting speakers that are tops in their field and have the ability to get that information out,” he said.

The conference’s many sessions are also tailored specifically to meet the current training needs of educators. “We’re taking the results of thousands and thousands of people who are taking the North American Technician Excellence (NATE) test, and we’re saying, this is where the instructors are having problems teaching, and those are the speakers we get,” Lupson said.

He added that the conference is “not for having fun,” but is rather an intensive experience meant to help teachers receive the best training available. “We need to get the educators in here,” Lupson said. “We need to help train them, and we need them to know how important they are.”
Educators looking to earn accreditation will also be able to take NATE, industry competency, and RSES exams at the end of the conference.

SIDEBAR: Conference Sponsors

The 2013 sponsors of the HVACR & Mechanical Conference for Education Professionals are:

• AHRI;

• ASHRAE;

• NATE;

• RSES;

• Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA);

• Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE);

• Air Movement and Control Association (AMCA);

• Council of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Educators (CARE);

• Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI);

• Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada (HRAI);

• HVACR Workforce Development Foundation;

• Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA);

• Institute of Heating and Air Conditioning Industries (IHACI);

• National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA);

• National Air Filtration Association (NAFA);

• National Association of Oil and Energy Service Professionals (OESP);

• Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC); and

• SkillsUSA.

For more information, or to register for the conference, visit www.instructorworkshop.org.

Publication date: 2/25/2013