Shale Training & Education Center (ShaleTEC)

View PCN Natural Gas Tour featuring the College's Avco-Lycoming Metal Trades Center, Schneebeli Earth Sciences Center and Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center, as well as an Anadarko Petroleum drilling site in Lycoming County.

Shale Training & Education Center (ShaleTEC) is a collaboration between Pennsylvania College of Technology and Penn State Extension established to serve as the central resource for workforce development and education needs of the community and the oil and natural gas industry.

Central operations are located in the Center for Business & Workforce Development on the main campus of Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport. Training is also offered at Penn State Extension offices, Penn College's North Campus in Wellsboro, Penn College's Energy Technology Resource Center in Montgomery, and various Penn State campus locations across Pennsylvania. Please see a list of ShaleTEC Affiliates for more details.

Sample Programs and Capabilities

Workforce needs assessment
New technology development
Access to student interns and graduates
Research
Advisory boards
Customized training
On-site training
Industry-specific training
Facility for meetings/events including videoconferencing capabilities

Background

With recent global pressures on energy, as well as key advances in new technology, the domestic natural gas market has re-emerged in locations that have not historically played a part in the recovery of this natural resource. Techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (hydro-fracing) have allowed gas to be unlocked from the pores of organic shale; some of which was buried approximately 400 million years ago and, until recently, not thought of as a viable, sustainable source of energy. The Marcellus and Utica Shale plays are of particular interest to the industry because of the potential size of the formations, as well as their close proximity to the major population centers of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. As this new resource develops, there will be many challenges that need to be addressed by both the communities and the oil and natural gas industry partners. ShaleTEC will act as a central resource to help overcome many of these challenges and allow this natural resource and the regional communities to be developed in conjunction with each other.