Classes > Designer/Manager

Designer/Manager School of Irrigation

 

The Designer/Manager School is a comprehensive educational program offering a variety of classes designed for both agricultural and landscape irrigation professionals, taught by the very people who developed them - Charles M. Burt (Ph.D., P.E., CID); Stuart Styles (D.Engr., P.E., CID); and Dan Howes (Ph.D., P.E.). The classes are held at the ITRC facilities at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. Our objective is to offer you an excellent opportunity to receive practical information on key irrigation design and management concepts, increase your competitive edge by learning what is essential versus interesting, work with state-of-the-art management software, gain "hands-on" technical experience with exceptional indoor and outdoor facilities, and experience a comprehensive, intensive course structure that substantially improves technical expertise.

 

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Classes Offered

All fees include class materials and software.

Basic Soil, Plant, & Water and Irrigation Scheduling     July 26-28
$600

Soil texture and structure, water holding capacity, retention, intake rates, evaporation, transpiration, soil classification, measurement of soil moisture and tension, ETo and crop coefficients, practical irrigation scheduling, how efficiency and uniformity influence scheduling, drainage concepts and layouts, salinity, leaching reqeuirements, reclamation.

Basic Hydraulics     July 31-Aug 1
$400

Pipe material & sizes, energy equation, friction, elevation changes, and basic spreadsheet operations. Mainline computations, tapered pipe, branches, hydraulic grade lines, problems using spreadsheets, minor losses.

Pumps (Summer)    Aug 2-4
$600

Types of rotating pumps, pump terms, pump curves, pumps in series and parallel, system curves, TDH computations for vertical and booster pumps, efficiency, WHP, BHP, input HP, pump selection from catalogs, trimming impellers, answers to common pump questions.Net positive suction head, submersible pumps, well screens, shaft losses, shaft sizing, maintenance and troubleshooting, variable frequency drive (VFD) basics, retrofitting VFDs on existing motors, affinity laws for variable speed operation, how to estimate savings from VFDs, hands-on VFD application, power factor correction, inlet and sump design.  

Row Crop Drip Irrigation     August 8
$200

Design layouts, flushing, fittings, how design relates to management, hose installation, retrieval

Drip/Micro Irrigation Design     August 9-11
$600

(Suggested prerequisites: Basic Soil, Plant, & Water Relationships, Basic Hydraulics I & II, Pumps I)
Topics will include: filtration, step-by-step design procedure of hardware selection and hyraulics, drip/micro system design, SDI for trees and vines, plugging prevention. Features ITRC book Drip and Micro Irrigation for Trees, Vines, and Field Crops (4th Ed.) and software, Drip Hydraulics.

 

 

Registration

How to Register

There are several ways to register: You can register online here or you can download and print this registration form, which contains instructions for mailing, faxing, or phoning in your registration.

 

Two ways to register!

 

Online

Click the link below to be redirected to an online registration site.

 

Through Our Office

Print out and mail or fax the registration form.

ITRC does not accept credit card payments via fax; to pay using a credit card, please register online or call (805) 756-2434

 

Cancellation Policy

When cancelling one or more classes, a refund will be given only if the cancellation is made 10 business days prior to the date of the first class registered for. Call ITRC at (805) 756-2434.

 

Class Details

All classes are a full day (8:00 AM - 4:30 PM) unless otherwise noted. Please bring your laptop. Many of the classes have a software component. It will be an advantage for you to bring in your laptop computer to the classes so you can try the software during the training.

 

IA Certification Exams

You must complete the application and registration form before selecting an exam date. Contact the Irrigation Association by phone (703-536-7080) or by email (certification@irrigation.org). Paper copies of the IA exams are availabe during Designer/Manager courses. For more information about the IA's certification programs, please visit the IA website.

 

Online Landscape Irrigation Classes

ITRC has partnered with the Irrigation Association to offer nine online "modules" for CEU credit that cover the basics of Landscape Sprinkler System Design and Landscape System Auditing. Registration is available through the Irrigation Association. For descriptions of the available modules and registration links, please visit our Online Landscape Irrigation page.

 

Directions & Housing Info

ITRC is located on the campus of Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California. You can find campus maps here, and download printable driving directions and parking information for ITRC. Short course participants are responsible for their own meals and accommodations. For more information about lodging, dining, or activities in and around San Luis Obispo, click here.