Careers
Senior automation and instrumentation technician
Programmable controllers, sensors, control loops, supervision: the automation technician makes machines and operators talk to each other. A job of logic and measurement, the one the best electricians move towards.
Between the process and the program
Work alternates between the screen and the machine. At the screen: reading an existing program, modifying a sequence, tuning a controller, building a supervision view that is genuinely useful to the operator. At the machine: calibrating a sensor, checking a measurement chain, watching the real behaviour of the process, which regularly contradicts theory. Planned shutdowns concentrate the heavy work, prepared long in advance because every hour of downtime is paid in output.
- Read, modify and document a controller program
- Calibrate a sensor and verify a full measurement chain
- Tune a control loop and stabilise a process
- Build a supervision view and train the operator who uses it
Processes that employ automation technicians
Ore processing
Crushing, grinding, conveying, drying: continuous plants where control decides throughput.
Water and energy
Pumping stations, treatment, power generation: instrumented processes supervised remotely.
Food and beverage
Dosing, pasteurisation, filling: fast lines where the traceability of a setting matters as much as the setting.
What the qualification commits to, figure by figure
These values come from the official catalogue filed with the ministry, and they can be recomputed. One credit stands for twenty-five hours of work, ten of them taught by an instructor. Multiply the credits by ten and you land on the hours shown below. That is the very calculation an equivalence office runs when it opens a file, and you can run it before you even apply.
- qualification level
- 5
- months of programme
- 12
- taught hours
- 800 h
- credits
- 80
- competency blocks
- 5
Senior technician and supervisor
Led by an instructor.
1 credit = 25 h of work, 10 of them taught.
Framework of the « Senior Automation and Instrumentation Technician » qualification, code TP14.
The framework, block by block
The qualification is built from competency blocks. Each is assessed separately, on real output, and each carries its own hours. From day one you know what you are working on, in what order, and what each part weighs. The blocks add up exactly to the total shown above: both figures come from the same document.
- 01
Programmable logic controllers
Architecture, programming, inputs and outputs, industrial networks — 220 taught hours.
- 02
Instrumentation and control
Sensors, measurement, control loops, calibration — 200 taught hours.
- 03
Supervision and interfaces
Human-machine interfaces, SCADA, historians, alarms — 170 taught hours.
- 04
Diagnosis and improvement
Fault finding, programme modification, optimisation — 150 taught hours.
- 05
Professional conduct
Documentation, lockout, functional safety — 60 taught hours.
The route into automation
The programmes below build the skills this role mobilises. Each row shows what the institute commits to: duration, credits, taught hours and fees in Guinean francs, read straight from the catalogue. You compare on the same basis as the admissions office, with exactly the same figures.
| Programme | Duration | Credits | Taught hours | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Maintenance and Energy · Bachelor's degree | 2 years | 120 | 1200 h | 5 400 000 GNF per year |
| Computer Science programme — Bac+3 level · Bachelor's degree | 3 years | 180 | 1800 h | 5 400 000 GNF per year |
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