Technical Trainers College
Technical Trainers College (TTC) is a college for the training of vocational teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. GIZ operates the college while TVTC and Colleges of Excellence sets the objectives and goals.
The main goal of the college is to prepare young Saudi men as vocational trainers and contribute to Saudi Arabia’s program of “Saudization”. As of November 2013, TTC is the only teachers training institution for vocational trainers in Saudi Arabia.
History
The Technical Trainers College was established in 2008 by a cooperation agreement between the governments of Saudi Arabia (Through the Technical & Vocational Training Corporation, TVTC) and Germany (Through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Zusammenarbeit, GIZ). The objective was to reduce dependency on foreign experts and institutions to prepare future Saudi vocational trainers.
After the initial planning and approval stages, classes started in September 2009 in their Riyadh campus with an initial batch of 150 students. As of November 2013, the number of students has increased to 884.
In 2012, the Central Agency for Evaluations and Accreditation of Germany (Zentrale Evaluations und Akkreditierungsagentur, ZEvA) accredited the Bachelor of Engineering Technology to European standards (Bologna Process), thus allowing TTC to explore potential alliances and cooperation agreements with Universities in Germany and across Europe.
Prof. Dr. Michael Klees was Dean of TTC until Spring 2014. Prof. Dr. Werner Jakob Stueber occupied the position as Dean in May 2014.
Admissions
TTC has two intakes of students every year, for the fall and spring semesters. Admission process usually starts in December for the spring semester and in May for the fall semester. The admission process is largely based in a math and English test. Some students that do not approve the test are invited to join TTC for a preparatory semester course where they will receive basic English, science and math instruction.
Academic Programs
Currently TTC grants only one degree, Bachelor in Engineering Technology, with 3 concentration areas: Electrical & Electronic Technologies (EET), Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and Mechanical Technologies. And 9 specializations:
Electrical & Electronic Department:
- Electrical Machines
- Electrical Power
- Electronics
Information & Communication Technology Department
- Application Development
- Network & System Administration
- Telecommunications
Mechanical Technology Department
- Automotive Engineering (to start in spring 2014)
- Production Technology
- Refrigeration & Air Conditioning
The Bachelor of Engineering Technology consists of 8 semesters in addition to the preparatory semester course. Around 60% of the classes deal with technical theory and the remaining 40% deal with vocational pedagogy theory.
As part of their technical education, students at TTC receive practical training in the different laboratories of TTC where they learn how to use and operate state of the art and real life industry machinery.
The working language of TTC is English and students receive English training throughout their education. Students complement their academic education with classes in Islamic Studies.
Besides their classroom education, students at TTC must complete two summer company field practices. Although the majority of students perform their company field practices with companies based in Saudi Arabia, in the past there have been students who traveled abroad to perform this requirement. Some pf the companies students have used to perform their Company Field Practices in the past include: ABB, Schneider Electric, ThyssenKrupp, Saudi Bin Ladin Group, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Airlines, Texas Instruments, STC and LG.
Additionally, as of June 2013, TTC has begun to offer continuous education courses to companies around Saudi Arabia.
Faculty & Administration
TTC has faculty and staff from 27 different countries from 5 different continents, all of them experts in their respective fields, though a majority of the staff and faculty comes from Germany.
The Academic section is divided in 5 departments: Electrical & Electronic, Information & Communication Technology and Mechanical Technology, English and Vocational Pedagogy. Islamic Studies and counseling are included in the Student Affairs section.