In this series, we’re introducing you to our real-world-experienced instructor team and what drives them to teach electrical workers of all experience levels.
Master Electrician Gregg Sutton always knew he wanted to teach. Early in his career, he was given an opportunity to teach adult education courses at a vocational technology school, but after struggling to find the right full-time teaching role, he spent over 20 years using his practical skills instead.
His hands-on experience spans many industries and roles, but the bulk of it was in construction. In commercial and industrial construction, Sutton worked as both an electrician and foreman, eventually landing at a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, where he loved the work and environment but found he missed out on the challenges associated with other industries.
Sutton’s final stop working as an electrician was with an integrator, where he commissioned automation systems as a Project Engineer. This role allowed him to spend time both designing electrical and PLC systems, working on the panels, and then implementing them. He was able to do plenty of troubleshooting, which he found fascinating, and which gave him the challenge he’d been looking for in his previous role.
Seeing projects start from a blank sheet of paper and following through until he trained operators on the installed systems rekindled that fire for teaching that Sutton felt earlier in his career. Since most adult education teaching gigs for licensed Electricians are in evenings or on weekends and are generally part time, and since Sutton traveled all the time for work, he knew he would need to change career paths if he wanted to get back into teaching. His offer with TPC was almost immediate after he started putting out feelers for a new full-time teaching role.
Gregg Sutton Teaching Electrical Troubleshooting course
For the love of teaching
Sutton’s greatest teaching joy comes in making others’ jobs easier. He is fueled by knowing that the knowledge he is providing can go to immediate use after a course is complete. “Once I find out what their role is, and what industry they work in, I have a very good idea of what they need to know. TPC allows me to tailor the class to the students in the room and help them become more successful,” Sutton said.
Since TPC added Simulations to Instructor-led Training (ILT) courses, Sutton has been able to offer even more troubleshooting in every course. This technology is especially helpful in Virtual ILT courses.
“I don’t know how we would do an online troubleshooting class without our Simulation technology. It allows all the attendees to get hands-on experience, participate, and see different techniques for troubleshooting with a variety of scenarios. The simulations are so realistic that we have started incorporating them into our in-person classes,” Sutton said.
Learn from the Master (Electrician)
Sutton joined the TPC Training team in 2014 after a quick job search and couldn’t be happier to be in the teaching role of his dreams! You can catch Gregg teaching the following courses:
Basic Electricity
Electrical Troubleshooting
Advanced Electrical Troubleshooting
PLCs for Non-Programmers
PLC Programming and Applications
National Electrical Code
Arc Flash Electrical Safety NFPA 70E
Digital Multimeters
Electric Motors and Motor Control Circuits
Electrical Ladder Drawings, Schematics and Diagrams
Instrumentation Process Measurement & Control
Variable Frequency Drives
Learn more about our Instructor-led Training (available in-person and virtual).
Learn how you can get Gregg Sutton or one of TPC’s other expert instructors to teach a course right at your facility for a group of your employees.
— Jess Schmidt
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