Coronavirus Support Initiative Facilitates the Transition to Virtual Learning with Free Licenses
Manchester, CT – April 9, 2020 – Control Station announced availability of an unlimited number of licenses for academic use in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative equips university students with complimentary licenses to the company’s LOOP-PRO™ process simulation solution. The initiative targets the company’s global base of academic customers in an effort to facilitate their transition to virtual learning.
Complimentary student licenses were first made available on March 14th as both domestic and international news outlets highlighted widespread university closures resulting from COVID-19. LOOP-PRO licenses were immediately extended to existing Control Station customers for installation on individual student laptops. These licenses enable students to complete coursework that was initiated during the Spring Semester. Abrupt closures forced university faculty globally to scramble for a means to complete coursework. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, closures have already affected nearly 90% of the world’s student population.
“The pandemic created an unprecedented challenge with the complete disruption of traditional classroom education. Within hours, faculty everywhere needed plans for disconnecting from their physical campus and for reconnecting by virtual means,” shared Ali Abbas, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. “Control Station allowed me to complete that transition almost overnight and with no impact to my students.”
A primary target of the company’s Coronavirus Support initiative has been universities that licensed LOOP-PRO software for installation in one or more computer labs located on their university campus. IT security at most academic institutions prohibits remote access to these labs from outside the school’s secure network, preventing students from accessing course-required software tools. Control Station’s initiative circumvents this challenge by provisioning an unlimited quantity of licenses at no cost that students can install on their personal computers. Although licensing directly to students has been a longstanding option, a sizeable majority of the company’s academic customers choose traditional lab licensing.
“We understand the technology and financial challenges facing our academic customers. We’ve never lost sight of the fact that Control Station formed on a university campus over 30 years ago,” commented Dennis Nash, President of Control Station. “This initiative allows us to provide meaningful assistance during a unique time of need and to ease the anxiety of educators everywhere.”
Control Station is a product of the State of Connecticut’s university system. The company was founded on the campus of the University of Connecticut in 1988. At the time it sought to capitalize on breakthroughs in computer technology and software programming languages. Shortly after its formation the company introduced one of the first interactive software products that targeted the needs of university faculty. That product would eventually be licensed to hundreds of colleges and universities worldwide. In 2004 the company moved off campus and expanded its offerings to satisfy the process diagnostic and optimization needs of process manufacturers. Today, in addition to supporting leading universities, Control Station licenses its software-based solutions to nearly one-half of the manufacturers listed in the Fortune 500.
The Coronavirus Support initiative is not limited to Control Station’s existing customers. All colleges and universities that are in need of process simulation tools can take advantage of the initiative during the Spring Semester by contacting Control Station directly.
About Control Station
Control Station empowers process manufacturers to increase production efficiency and throughput. The company’s software-based solutions actively monitor and optimize plant-wide control loop performance.
The company’s products are both highly innovative and award-winning. PlantESP™ is the leading CLPM solution for identifying and isolating issues that negatively affect control loop performance. Control Station’s portfolio of LOOP-PRO™ products is recognized as the process industry’s leading solution for PID controller tuning. It is the only controller tuning software that accurately models oscillatory and noisy process data.
Control Station’s solutions are licensed to leading process manufacturers worldwide and they are available direct from Control Station and through its network of distribution partners. The company is headquartered in the United States.
