On 10 July 2025, the Department of Electrical Engineering at BUITEMS hosted a three-hour demonstrative workshop entitled “PLC Essentials - From Ladder Logic to Real World Applications,” welcoming undergraduates from 6th semester and 8th semester). The session began with an overview of PLC importance in modern automation, followed by a side-by-side comparison of relay ladder logic and PLC ladder logic. Students then worked in pairs to wire and configure Siemens S7-200 hardware in Micro/WIN program, develop and download start/stop ladder logic routines, and test digital I/O. An advanced demonstration showed how to scale a 4–20 mA analog input and implement a basic PID loop, and a case study on the Stuxnet attack at Natanz highlighted critical cyber security lessons.
In hands-on debugging exercises, participants used online monitoring, forcing, and watch tables to diagnose faults and fine-tune their control strategies in real time. The Dean of FICT, Dr. Surat Khan who joined the session, elaborated the transformative role of PLCs in modern engineering—highlighting how mastery of these systems empowers students to design resilient, efficient automation solutions while the Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Dr. Attique ur Rehman praised the workshop’s practical focus and its alignment with industry needs. Building on this momentum, the Department plans to follow up later this year with deeper sessions on HMI integration, OPC UA communication, and structured-text programming to equip attendees with the full spectrum of skills needed for Industry 4.0 applications.