About Got High Tech

Leading, teaching and enabling technical excellence for more than 30 years.

Got High Tech is the training and knowledge platform of Charlie Black: industrial automation, networking and SCADA consultant, builder of five technology centers, and an instructor who believes the best way to learn automation is to do it.

30+
years hands-on
100s
of classes taught
5
technology centers built
2
college teaching programs
Meet your instructor

Charlie Black

Results-driven industrial technology professional, and a teacher at heart.

Charlie's career spans technical consulting, solution development, sales, customer support, professional training, and the design and implementation of industrial hardware and software. He has worked with small businesses, OEMs, end users, systems integrators, educational institutions and Fortune 500 enterprises.

His core expertise is automation systems, industrial networks, SCADA, secure machine-data acquisition and web-based monitoring. Today he is extending that foundation into industrial cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

At a glance

Charlie Black

  • 30+ years in industrial automation, networking and SCADA
  • Hundreds of training classes delivered
  • Instructor at Orange Coast College and CSU Long Beach
  • Builder of five technology and training centers
  • Consultant at RK Controls since 2017

Based in Mission Viejo, CA.

Leadership through knowledge

How Charlie works

Technical leadership is more than managing projects or selling products. It's understanding how systems work, solving problems when things go wrong, and helping people grow.

๐Ÿงญ

Lead

Understand the technology deeply, then help others apply it with confidence.

๐ŸŽ“

Teach

Share practical experience with students, engineers, maintenance staff and customers, and make complicated technology easy to use.

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ

Enable

Connect concepts to real equipment and real business needs, and leave behind people who can maintain and improve what was built.

Career

Three decades at the intersection of automation and education

  • 2017 โ€“ Present

    RK Controls ยท Automation Systems, Industrial Networks & SCADA Consultant

    Technical consulting, solution development and training for automation, operator control and monitoring, industrial networking, secure VPN connectivity and SCADA, for plants, OEMs and integrators.

  • 2016 โ€“ 2017

    Orange Coast College ยท Automation 1 Program Instructor

    Taught PLC components, calibration, diagnostics, documentation and open- and closed-loop control.

  • 2012 โ€“ 2017

    EandM ยท Senior Account Manager

    Automation, HMI and industrial networking solutions for manufacturers, OEMs and integrators.

  • 2009 โ€“ 2011

    California State University, Long Beach ยท CCPE Instructor

    Professional and continuing-education instruction in industrial technology.

  • 2008 โ€“ 2012

    Walters Wholesale Electric ยท Automation Technology Manager

    Led sales, training and marketing for high-technology industrial products.

  • 2001 โ€“ 2008

    RK Controls ยท Automation Technology Manager

    Ran an Automation Technology Center for demonstrations, training and customer support.

  • 1999 โ€“ 2001

    County Wholesale Electric ยท Automation Technology Manager

    Sales, training and support for automation products.

๐ŸŽ“ Education

Orange Coast College: Controls and Automation, Master's Degree Equivalency (2015), determined by department faculty.

DeVry University: Digital Electronics Technician Diploma (1984).

๐Ÿง  Core expertise

  • PLCs, HMIs and SCADA
  • Industrial Ethernet, network design and monitoring
  • Secure remote connectivity and VPNs
  • Network security and segmentation
  • Machine-data acquisition and visualization
  • Industrial cybersecurity and AI

๐Ÿ’ง Got Monitoring

Charlie also co-created Got Monitoring, a 24/7 water-quality monitoring service for commercial water systems.

Visit gotmonitoring.com โ†—
Five technology centers

Built for learning on real equipment

Over his career Charlie has designed and built five industrial automation technology and training centers, each combining live equipment with hands-on training.

Orange, CA

County Wholesale Electric

San Diego, CA

County Wholesale Electric

Irvine, CA

RK Controls

Vernon, CA

Walters Wholesale Electric

The Commerce, CA technology center

The fifth and most advanced center, at RK Controls in Commerce, is where our workshops run. It brings office IT, industrial OT, network management, segmented communications, remote connectivity and dedicated training stations together in one working environment.

  • Siemens S7 controllers across generations, including the new S7-1200 G2
  • HMI panels from KTP700 to Unified Comfort Panels
  • TIA Portal multiuser engineering and WinCC Unified
  • Managed SCALANCE switching, routing and a segmented multi-VLAN network
  • SINEC NMS network monitoring with SCADA visualization over OPC UA
  • Industrial wireless and VPN-based remote access

๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿ’ป 4 student stations

Each with an engineering PC, an S7-1200 PLC, a KTP700 operator panel and a SCALANCE XB216 switch.

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿซ Instructor station

S7-1200 and KTP700 for live demonstrations.

๐Ÿ“ก 2 remote stations

S7-1200, KTP700 and SIRIUS PROFINET pushbutton stations connected over cellular routers, for real remote-access exercises.

Train with Charlie

Join an open workshop, or bring Charlie in to train your team on your own equipment.