An integrated digital and nonlinear process control lab

To cope with the fast and increasing development of the industrial sector in Jordan; the Industrial Engineering Department (IED) at the University of Jordan updates its curricula regularly. One outcome of this process is that development in the areas of digital control and nonlinear control have to take place. However, exposing engineering students to theoretical concepts without supporting that with the necessary practical know-how is not a totally fruitful exercise. There is a widely recognized need among engineering educators for laboratory experience in the curricula. However, the lack of funding and cost considerations, which are more severe in Jordan, make importing ready made educational equipment a very expensive issue apart from the fact that such a procedure does not totally serve its purpose. This paper describes the efforts made at the IED to address the need for control engineering educational equipment in the areas of digital and nonlinear processes control systems.