2007 Learning In Practice Award Winners

The school has evolved a comprehensive academic program for meeting the training needs of the engineers Tenaris employs. The Industrial School is also in the process of defining training plans for each of the job tracks within the company, which will guide employees to the courses required as the individual gains expertise and responsibility on the job.

All new hires are hired into a two-year Global Trainee program for their first job assignments. For engineers, this assignment is in one of the mills and also includes an Induction Camp, which brings together 60 young Tenaris professionals from around the world for a monthlong intensive company induction.

Once an engineer completes the Global Trainee program, the Industrial School becomes responsible for his or her specialized training. He or she will begin at Level I with the Alignment Program, designed to align the basic knowledge of all engineers across the company, whether they work in Canada, Argentina, Romania, Japan, Italy or Mexico.
The alignment program consists of an e-learning program that must be completed during work time, and one full week of tutorial classes containing case study discussions. The classroom portion is held at the TenarisUniversity Campus in Campana, Argentina.

The Level II curriculum, taught between the third and sixth year after completing the Global Trainee program, is geared toward individuals with greater supervisory responsibility. Level III includes courses, seminars, lab assignments and external master’s or doctoral programs.
Much of the training offered through the school is proprietary and taught by internal experts.

“The modern-day steel industry is complex, specialized and requires knowledge that cannot be easily found,” Tonolini said. “We have had to develop our own programs from scratch and teach our own engineers to be instructors. This has been an extremely exhilarating and worthwhile process which has helped Tenaris to value its own knowledge assets and focus clearly on best practices.”

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