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On a regular basis, you will often be confronted with requests for a quick summary of some lengthy meeting or series of documents. You will have to provide the key ideas in simple easy-to-read English with no jargon. Seemingly an intractable task...
Dear Colleagues
On a regular basis, you will often be confronted with requests for a quick summary of some lengthy meeting or series of documents. You will have to provide the key ideas in simple easy-to-read English with no jargon. Seemingly an intractable task. Often the executive summary is all that is read these days. The detailed documents are left for the odd dedicated person who plods through it hopefully looking for a more detailed understanding.
Here with a few tips on achieving this task:
- Identify what you want to achieve with the summary
- Consider who your audience is, what they already know and what they want from your summary?
- Initially do a brain dump on everything you can think of relating to the topic. Don’t worry about the clutter of detail. Just write everything down in a roughly logical sequence.
- Choose the key facts – eliminate all irrelevant detail by considering what your audience want from it (For every detail ask the question: Does my audience absolutely need to know this?)
- Avoid technical jargon. Stick to simple understandable English. Avoid any diversions. Use active case with verbs rather than roundabout language.
- Order the sequence of information so that it is logical and easy to understand.
- Ensure that your write-up is objective and unbiased (by your experiences for example).
- Come back after a few hours (or even a day) and re-read what you have written and ensure that it is easy to understand.
- If you are presenting this; practise and practise until you are perfect and able to handle any awkward questions.
I really love this comment by Edwin Schlossberg: The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 6th Sept’16 #616
780, 293 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
Chris De Lange is our 2014 EIT Graduate of the Year and an inspiring citizen of the world.
As a young man, Chris graduated in 1979 as an electro-mechanical technician. He then worked in the steel industry, underground in black coal mines, as a foreman in an 8000 loaves an hour bakery and later as maintenance manager for four large bakeries. Then, after honing his skills in a number of other industries, he did the entrepreneurial thing and opened his own business; Extreme Welding International. It was at this point that his South African roots began to loosen; his company took him to every continent in the world. Broad in scope and hard-wrought, his experiences were astounding enough to be included in Discovery Channel’s 2005 Extreme Engineering program. Then in 2009 he and his family immigrated to Australia.
In his new country, by necessity, he resorted to his original trade and started from scratch as a fitter. Education seemed the only means to fast-track his career. With distance learning an imperative he was attracted to EIT’s interactive, online training because he had; “classes to attend, a real, living, interested lecturer to ask questions and other students to interact with”. He enrolled in the Advanced Diploma of Mechanical Engineering (DME) and after only ten months (of an 18 month program) he was promoted to reliability engineer for a four million tonnes per annum mine.
Unexpectedly, this remarkably swift impact of his studies on his career was inspiring for his teenage children. They had to acknowledge that Chris’ commitment (probably irritating at times) to both his education and work had paid off.
An aspect of the online course that Chris found enormously valuable was the tandem nature of his learning and work. His efforts on site helped validate course theories and references and by employing these new-found concepts at work he was able to reinforce this knowledge and improve his on-the-job expertise.
More than the skills inherent in the content, however, Chris believes that the value in the program was the confidence it gave him. During his studies he received an astounding work audit rating of A+, and this presented him with a range of opportunities for further study and career advancements.
Chris has expressed an appreciation for the quality of the materials and for the lecturers. Interestingly he admitted that this fuelled his motivation, “… it was challenging to maintain the high standard that I felt I needed to be achieving to do justice to the effort of the lecturers and the high standard of the lecture materials.”
He also became aware of the esteem that HR managers and managers in general are developing for the practical nature of the advanced diploma.
Chris has some invaluable advice for future EIT students: “… tell your family and friends what you want to achieve (lose the friends that laugh at you), enrol immediately, get to know your course co-ordinator, set up a student and lecturer network (a forum to help each other; to discuss problems and bounce ideas off) and most importantly, remember that the taste of success is SWEET”.
I would like to close with a truism from Chris: “I started studying at 50, I passed – even got awarded the EIT Graduate of the Year. If I can do that at 50, with 3 dependents and as an immigrant to a new country, imagine what you could do?”
Finally, to our delight, Chris has agreed to become a part time EIT lecturer – he says it is in order, “… to give back (to future students) some of the knowledge that was given to me with abandon”.
Thanks very much for your help in compiling your story, Chris. We look forward to having you on board.
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Some special visitors just outside Steve’s study area
One of our engineering students, Steve Szekely (pictured), is based at the Australian Antarctic Division station on very remote Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean. The base is a sub-Antarctic settlement of between 15 and 40 people located at the northern tip of the 34km by 5km island. The island is world heritage listed. We were curious about Steve’s life and work at the station and about how he managed his engineering study obligations, including joining the live interactive webcasts with students from other parts of the world. Steve is studying the Advanced Diploma in Industrial Automation via distance learning using the latest techniques.
Steve’s Career to date
What is your age, and do you have a partner/ family on the “mainland”? I am 44 years old. My wife Julie and our three children are living in New Zealand. What is your career background in brief? My background is as a radio/communications technician mostly in the mining industry but also contracting as a technician in a variety of communications fields. When did you decide that you wanted to do some Antarctic service? I have always wanted to go to Antarctica since I was a boy. I grew up in Tasmania and was fascinated by the stories of adventurers and the extreme conditions they had to deal with. What is your official job title, and what tasks do you have to do? I am a Communications Technical Officer. I am one of two comms personnel, and between us we look after all the comms equipment on the island.
Steve enjoys one of many wilderness treks on Macquarie Island What are some of the unique engineering and technical challenges you have? The things that can cause the most difficulties here are the ever present winds with salt spray, and the wild life. Wind chill can make it very difficult to do delicate wiring work outside. Zero degrees C may not seem very cold until you add 30 knots of wind. Once you take your gloves off you only have minutes before you lose feeling in your fingers and have to stop. As far as the wildlife goes, Elephant seals can cause quite a bit of havoc when they decide to rub up or lean against your equipment enclosures. A large seal is quite capable of knocking down a 1.5m solid wooden fence. Managing Study Obligations
Icebergs and wildlife tempt distraction from studies
Why did you choose this particular course (or what factors were part of the decision?)? I have done quite a bit of work in the mining industry and I have always been interested in the automation and process control side of the operation. I thought that I would like to increase my knowledge in this area and diversify my skill set. The problem was that I could not attend classes in person. Everything had to be done remotely. How long have you been doing it now? I have been working on this course for about a year. How many hours commitment each week is required for you? On average I do about an hour and a half of study a night. Mostly reading text books and working on assignments. Given your location, how do you manage with the online webcasts? As the delegates are spread out all over the world, the question of setting a time for a webcast is difficult. I am given a choice of two or three different times during the day for each webcast and so I just find the one that is most convenient. Others at the site must be studying too in down time, but what special challenges does the location bring to your study time? I try to arrange field trips between study modules so that I can get away for up to a week at a time. If there are urgent repairs needed then that takes priority over studying and webcasts but due to the webcasts being recorded, I can catch up when I return to the station. What’s been good, what’s been not so good with the course? I have really enjoyed the work on PLC programming and control loop tuning as well as the chemical engineering module. It really helped me understand some of the processes that I had seen in the mining industry. I love the flexibility of the study and the access to the lecturers. They have all been excellent at responding to email queries. I guess that there has not been any thing that I would call “not so good”. Some of the modules have been harder than others, but that just adds to the overall sense of achievement. After your term is finished, how will the new qualification help? When I return home I would like to pursue more opportunities in the process control field, in particular the oil and gas industry. I already have considerable experience in industrial data and communications and this qualification helps to bridge these skills into other fields. And finally, what advice would you give someone who has a work commitment and is contemplating one of these courses? To take on a commitment like this is a big task but if it wasn’t hard work then the qualification would not be worth anything. To help with this, the course has been designed with flexibility in mind. The varied webcast times and studying at your own pace can usually be juggled around work commitments without much, or any, interference on your work time. In my own case there was a period when I just could not attend webcasts or study but EIT worked with me to find a solution. I have found the course to be very interesting and rewarding and I am very glad that I started.
Efficiency and cost considerations mean that more and more people are turning to web-based course work, and this now includes 70 year old engineer Edwin Wakefield from South Africa.
Edwin has just successfully completed a three month part-time course in PLC’s and SCADA Systems, one of a range of courses offered by EIT via distance learning. Edwin enrolled in the class under his own steam and paid his own way, aiming to expand the knowledge he has developed during his career in industry.
Edwin noted that he was extremely supportive and optimistic about online learning today. He said that “the main advantages of online learning are convenience and accessibility and the guaranteed availability of top-class instructors.”
“I’m sure that attending live evening classes can have certain advantages, provided the quality of the instruction is up to standard. This may not always be the case. Unless one’s place of work is close to where the course is presented, attending live classes can suffer from lack of convenience and accessibility.”
The online course was a new experience for Edwin, and included a blend of live interactive webinars led by the instructor, plus reading material and coursework via email, and some one-on-one contact. The live sessions made an enormous difference and provided strong motivation to stay with the course. He reported that the course was “extremely engaging and interactive”. He concluded that he achieved his goal of “gaining a working knowledge that I had been lacking for too long.”
Online training via the internet really is coming of age when two generations from one a South African company both enrol in the same distance learning course provided by a Perth-based company.
Elite Electrical Services is managed by the Liebenbergs, father and son in a family owned business based in Johannesburg. Both enrolled earlier this year in the Engineering Institute of Technology 18 month Advanced Diploma of Electrical Engineering. And both remain excited about the course several months down the road.
This course is one of many offered online by EIT that attract students from all over the world.
We asked son Chris Liebenberg for some comments about the course, his progress, and what it was like sharing the study with his father.
“Let me say I’m a big advocate for this Online Learning approach,” states Chris. “If it had been this good when I was younger I probably would have studied at least as much as I should have done back then! It is more flexible than classroom based learning. For example, we can always review the recordings of the live sessions if we miss one. But the live sessions presented each week have been fantastic and with an excellent instructor such as we have it is hugely motivational to ‘attend’. I’ve been completely thrilled.”
Mr Leibenberg explained that his background was mainly in IT. He has several of the trade certifications required for electrical work, but both he and his highly experienced father wanted to ensure they remained at the cutting edge of industry by adding to their knowledge of electrical engineering. Elite Electrical Services is a third generation family business and Chris says that right back to his grandfather the emphasis has been upon developing knowledge and expertise to add value for clients. Personal advancement has worked hand-in-hand with the development of the company. It’s in the blood too, it seems, because Chris’s 12 year old son already has his sights set on joining the family business. “He was born with a multimeter in his hand,” says Chris.
Chris comments: “After only a few months I’ve already been able to apply what I have learned in the course to my daily work. It has given me more confidence to tackle complex issues, and in fact I have been surprised by the number of times that what we cover in a week’s work has cropped up in the workplace.”
“We are fortunate our business is still going very strong despite the global recession. We are working our teams 5 days a week minimum when some others seem to be cutting back. I think part of the reason we are travelling well lies in our ability to tackle more advanced work. I think it is important that none of us rest on our laurels or use these tough times as an excuse to delay broadening the spectrum of skills we can offer.”
EIT's Advanced Diploma is an 18-month part-time course, which is quite a commitment for students with full time professional careers to manage. But Chris says he and his father have experienced the benefits first hand and are prepared to put in the hours to be successful. At the moment he is putting in well beyond the 6 hours per week average that the course requires, but this is because he likes to research thoroughly in new subject areas to ensure his depth of knowledge. “Not everyone wants or needs to put so much time into the course,” he notes, “it is just that I like to be fully confident with the fundamentals. We are both definitely highly motivated and the Online Learning delivery provides tremendous flexibility.”
Both father and son seem to be benefitting by doing the course together. They have developed some “healthy competition” over their assignment work but also compare notes and discuss some of the exercises and problems presented by the instructors. “My father occasionally needs some help with his computer connection, and in return it is good to have someone close by to discuss the material with,” reports Chris
Does Chris have any advice for someone contemplating enrolling in this course? He says “Yes, go for it.”
A student on our recent Hazardous Areas course was kind enough to share some photos with us of a recent potentially hazardous encounter at a mine in Phalaborwa.
The mine is almost entirely occupied by wild life. Game farms and Nature reserves overlap, so the animals migrate over vast areas freely. There are lots of animals that frequently visit the mines in the area on a regular basis. These larger animals as well as the predatory animals very rarely come into contact with humans because of their natural instinct to avoid man, but some that are as large as this Elephant and not particularly afraid of Man, do sometimes venture to graze on the shrubs that are on site.”
It’s a nice reminder about the challenging and interesting experiences our colleagues around the world have, and the different working conditions out there!
In a recent phone discussion with the EIT’s Ric Harrison, a Senior Course Advisor, the student made some very valid comments for people who are contemplating the value of adding a recognised qualification to their CV’s.
This student completed his Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation in 2010, and is just two Modules from finishing his Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering.
EIT: You must value these courses, now that you have almost completed your second?
Student: Well, it has not been easy, juggling work, family and study, but the courses material has been very, very useful in my daily work. On more than one occasion I’ve been faced with some issue at work and realised that we’ve covered it in the lectures. Back at home I’ve reviewed my notes or replayed the recording of the webcast then gone back to work the next day and actually been able to apply the knowledge to fix the issue. To me it just proves how practical and “real life” most of the material we study has been.
EIT: Yes, and part of the mix iS the background of the lecturers. They can generally draw from their own experiences to give those real life examples.
Tell us about your career path since you started studies. Has the qualification made a difference?
Student: There’s no doubt. I’ve been made responsible for commissioning some major projects and now work at a level well above where I was before starting these courses. And prospects are very good indeed. If I compare my work now to colleagues who have basically not taken on any extra study, it is even more obvious. Most of them are still “on the tools”, and I am moving on from that. I still like some hands-on work, but now I spend a lot more time in supervision and more challenging project management.
EIT: And you’ve referred a couple of your colleagues to us, too.
Student: Yes, they have started the advanced diploma of industrial automation. Actually a couple of years ago I was on a major project with a big name corporation. The market changed and the entire billion-dollar plus project was shut down. The whole workforce was retrenched, including the trade-qualified staff. I’ve kept in touch with a few and from what I’ve learned, most of them are still working directly in their trade, but they have not progressed. I am sure that if they wanted to move up in their careers they will need more than experience to get considered for the better jobs. Put the CV of someone with a relevant advanced diploma plus experience alongside a CV from someone who is going to rely upon their experience alone, and it is pretty clear what 99% of employers will choose.
EIT: Thanks. That’s a good way to think about it.
Engineers and technicians are often expected to have a breadth of technical knowledge, sometimes spanning a range of disciplines. (This is despite increasing specialization in the workplace.)
To acquire broad skill sets is onerous and an ongoing endeavour, but does prevent tedium and boredom in the workplace. It also equates to improved employability because versatility is extraordinarily attractive to employers. (And for those considering a future in a business of their own, this versatility is critical.)
One of EIT’s recent graduates, Jean Jacques Missango (JJ), is just such an employee. He is from Cameroon, but now based in Canada. As a gas turbine specialist, with electronic and electrical skills and some mechanical aptitude, he straddles the different engineering fields. He explains that he is working in his ‘dream career’; performing general overhauls, routine and non-routine mechanical, electrical and instrumentation maintenance, repairs and trouble shooting of turbines.
JJ had always wanted to further his knowledge in the field and realised that EIT’s online Professional Certificate of Competency in Gas Turbine Engineering meant that he could continue to work and, alongside side this, complete his studies.
When it comes to online learning with EIT, JJ states that ‘The efficiency of this (learning) method is just incredible’.
As a part of his studies, JJ was required to attend live, online webinars and exclaims that attendance was well worth it. He refers to his lecturer as a ‘master’ on the topic and feels that this real time component (of an otherwise online program) was responsible for keeping his passion for the course alive. He also explains that scheduled webinar times allowed him to keep work a priorty.
JJ makes special mention of the student support provided by the EIT team. His dedicated Learning Support Officer gave both the administrative assistance and ongoing encouragement needed to help him through the course.
In conclusion, JJ makes a heartening comment. He believes the course contributed to his improved confidence and ‘considerable status change’, both of which have ‘fueled’ his desire to continue learning.
Thanks very much to JJ for his help in compiling this Student Story.
From all of us here at EIT, our congratulations go to JJ for graduating from the Professional Certificate of Competency in Gas Turbine Engineering.
Here is what some of our graduating students from the Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation had to say about the course:
It was a great course, excellent revision for the topics that I am familiar with. Gained greater in depth understanding for the topics that I am not so familiar with, and with regard to new topics demystified some concepts I had no real grasp on, and in the process learned some practical methods that can be applied straight away."
Deon du Plooy - Tasmania, Australia
“The course has really given me a better understanding of process control and automation. I understand my job and industry better. I can explain the intent behind some engineering designs in the chemical process environment. Because of the depth of understanding and exposure that I displayed, some of my colleagues have registered on some courses with EIT”
Adelodun Adeolu Ayodeji - Chevron Nigeria Ltd
“I am extremely happy I attended this course it has been the best course I have done to date. The information provided has been more than sufficient and the presentations were great, I have applied many of the principles that were taught during this course almost immediately into my practice and it has opened my eyes to pitfalls otherwise hidden from an engineer. I will definitely be attending another course is the near future.”
Henk Barnard - Iritron, South Africa
Frank, based on site in Malaysia, talks to <Senior Course Advisor Ric Harrison in Australia. He is a current student of Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation and the Advanced Diploma of E & I Engineering for Oil and Gas Facilities.
Here is an interview with . He is an instrumentation and electrical technician who is currently working on an offshore platform. Listen to him talk to
Please note that audio is slightly distorted at the beginning of the interview, but improves after a short interval: Podcast (mp3, 8’ 06”)
Positive feedback from students is humbling and amazing, but it is particularly extraordinary when it comes with gratitude for what is a fairly gruelling process. Those of you who have undertaken the EIT’s online courses (3 month certificate courses through to eighteen month advanced diplomas) will agree that the going can be tough. It is a feat to just successfully complete a qualification, but when it is achieved whilst juggling full time work and the responsibilities of family it is quite remarkable. Before relating this short tale, therefore, congratulations is in order – to all graduates – but especially, and obviously, to those of you who have graduated through the EIT.
One of our South African students, Rephinus Omoro, has recently graduated from the Advanced Diploma of Mechanical Engineering – one of Paul Celenza’s DME02 cohorts. When Rephinus started investigating further study he was (and still is) working for Kusile Fabrication Pty Ltd, as their CNC Foreman; responsible for programming the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines and overseeing the machining production process. Quite fulfilling, but he was looking to upgrade his skills and anticipating opportunities for promotion. Because he wasn’t able to put work on hold while studying, the EIT became an attractive option; online, flexible and specialising in a range of engineering fields.
It was interesting to learn from Rephinus about his ability to cope with this extra commitment in his life. He admitted that it was his family who took the brunt! He did have to sacrifice some family time, but as each assignment was completed and submitted he was able to compensate as that was when the pressure eased a little. He believed that despite the extra stress the key was to maintain a peaceful atmosphere at home – necessary for the family when the dynamic has changed and to facilitate his daily study program.
He was also asked about the challenges of his particular study ‘trench’ – how had he coped with the hungry trench rats (submission deadlines) and the deep mud (general and on-going rigour of the course)? His answer was not surprising - self discipline, including a daily study agenda. His kind words to Paul, however, illustrate the value of the Online Learning coordinators’ support to the study process: “You’ve been so patient and have inspired me to complete my assignments even when I was almost giving up.”
Other aspects of the EIT online learning process assisted Rephinus too. His ability to listen to the lecturers’ live webcasts as often as necessary helped to reinforce the course content for him (the recordings are sent to students as soon as they have been delivered). And the flexibility of the course – if something prevents you, part way through the course, from continuing your study, you can take it up again with a subsequent cohort of students later on.
In the main, however, Rephinus’ gratitude was for the course itself – in his words: “The course was designed in a way that allows the learner to directly apply what has been taught to real-time problems in the work-place” (an argument for studying and working supposedly – despite the time burden). He goes on to say: “I have gained the skill to anticipate the consequences of new designs and to initiate solutions to problems. I have new programming skills and can complete tasks or projects to specification at my first attempt.”
Thanks very much to Rephinus for his assistance with this article and we, at the EIT, all wish him everything of the best.
Wisdom is elusive, but education goes a long way to tracking and pinning it down.
If it weren’t such a demeaning term Murray Langley could be the EIT’s ‘Poster Boy’. Since completing the Advanced Diploma of Electrical and Instrumentation (E & I) Engineering for Mining (DMN), he has successfully passed the Vocational Graduate Diploma of Project Management in Industrial Automation (GPI) and has commenced the Graduate Diploma of Project Management in Electrical Engineering (GPE). Quite remarkable!
Like most other EIT students Murray has achieved these qualifications whilst pursuing a demanding career. He is with Cristal Mining Australia as Project Coordinator Electrical & Instrumentation for their East Australian mining sites. (A promotion, he believes, was aided by his study with EIT.)
Inevitably, despite being busy, it is his career which was and continues to be his primary motivator for education. To be more specific, he aims to enhance his knowledge-base, improve his opportunities within the company and his professional standing in Australia.
Let us get back to that somewhat incongruous title! It was actually inspired by Murray, who, describes the positive effect his study with the EIT has had on him. We know that ‘wisdom’ is associated with aging, but merely entering one’s dotage is most often not enough. It is invariably a combination of lessons; both academic and those dealt by life, which may qualify a person to own such a label. Education, on the other hand, when it is relevant, practical and properly targeted will most often achieve its ends, including; expertise, confidence and insight.
Murray wrote that he saw himself as “more professional” and that he can now “approach my project work much more strategically; having developed a much better understanding of financial, planning and implementation processes that make projects successful.” And, assuredly, to Cristal Mining’s delight, “I have become much more astute regarding valuing projects and understanding how to reduce costs and ensure sustainability.”
Pursuing part time study, however, is challenging. For Murray it is the pressure of completing the requisite assignments. He explains what is necessary, “…a great deal of persistence and time management, to ensure I am able to complete work within time-frames.” On the other hand, he feels a highlight of this particular teaching methodology is the ability to discuss content issues and challenges with lecturers during the interactive webinar sessions. He goes on to kindly praise EIT for its professionalism and is very pleased that his qualifications will allow him to feed in to the EIT’s new master degree. Finally, Murray has a piece of advice for would be students:
“Download Moodle onto your phone!” (This is the Learning Management System that we use)
And he adds something heartening:
“Persevere! The work is not that hard for someone who has been in the industry for a while.”
A great big thank you to Murray for his assistance in writing this.
Hazel Woodhall, an enormously capable and determined student, graduated from the Advanced Diploma of Industrial Data Communications, Networking and IT, in the latter part of 2013. She praises the course for filling her knowledge gaps. 
In 2008 she joined Alstom UK (a French multinational company which holds interests in the electricity generation and rail transport markets), having garnered significant experience in IT support in a corporate environment. In her new role as IT Project Engineer she was tasked with delivering generator condition monitoring solutions for power stations worldwide. Hazel felt she had been thrown into a new world – one where the line between information technology (IT) and operation technology (OT) systems was blurring. The IT domain has always been disturbingly fluid and certainly now, in business critical environments, IT/OT managers require the knowledge to remotely monitor and manage physical devices, control systems and IT resources. Despite her strong IT background she felt the need to find a course which filled her engineering knowledge gaps. She admits that the program did indeed accomplish this. For the EIT this is excellent news. She mentions that the course content “has enabled me to troubleshoot and implement technology that was previously foreign to me”.
Hazel’s remarkable fortitude is well worth mentioning. Apart from her long work hours, which include the rigour of regular travel, she embarked on this course despite already working through a BSc in Information and Communication Technologies. (She completes this qualification in a couple of months). Yet she remains undeterred; she has a Master of Science or an Advanced Diploma in Instrumentation in her sights!
As a college we are indebted to our students for a variety of reasons, but one stands out: We are able to continuously improve all that we do because of their feedback.
The flexibility of our live, online approach to education facilitated Hazel’s studies, as it does to all students who are working full-time and often remotely. Inevitably, however, there are trade-offs.
Hazel mentions a couple which need to be raised here because they can act as a heads-up or early warning for future students:
- Work out, early on in your course, how much time you need to dedicate to your studies, preferably on a weekly basis, to avoid falling behind.
- Do not take on too much! As Hazel says, “I would not put myself in the situation of doing two courses simultaneously again!”
- You may feel disconnected from the other students in your cohort. Hazel did, and mentions that this was, “a pity as we are all in similar industries”. To ensure you bond with your class and exploit the national and international networking opportunities consider the following advice from our Online Learning Manager, Paul Celenza: “In my day to day role at EIT I am fortunate to communicate with a range of students who are professionals at many different levels and doing some amazing jobs. The opportunity for our students to network with each other, study together and to share ideas about the latest technologies and work practices are immense. We have students from all over the world who have a great deal to share and this can be easily achieved through the use of the technologies EIT uses in all programs. Each course has its own webinar room. This room is used for the live, interactive webinar sessions that the students regularly attend and during which they get to know each other. The webinar room is also available for use at any time, day or night, to meet up and chat. Access to our Learning Management System (Moodle) also provides students with a meeting place for sharing ideas; in the chat rooms and through the forums.
I would encourage all students, from all regions of the world, to be inclusive and interact with each other. You all have much to offer and fantastic experiences to share. We all have common goals, but different ways of achieving them. Through your interaction with your classmates you will learn from their experiences and ultimately achieve your own goals”
- Feedback from another graduate shows that it is indeed possible, despite studying online, to feel included: “It may be hard to believe of a distance learning course, but I felt a real sense of camaraderie with the other students on the course – I think that the ability to chat in real time with them during the webinars fostered this bond.”
We would like to extend a big thanks to Hazel. Her input was integral to the telling of this tale from one of EIT’s study trenches.
Another student tale; from another part of the world and another field of engineering - and one that will clarify the alliteration used above – words that have been selected very carefully, as you will discover.
Paula Palmer graduated from the EIT’s Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (DEE) in May of last year, 2012. Paula’s cohort of students, DEE04, was shepherded through their eighteen months very ably by Online Learning Coordinator, Holly Adams.
Paula works in Barbados (a sovereign island country east of the Caribbean Sea) for the Barbados Light & Power Co. Ltd. She is an electrical engineer in the Distribution Department. At the time of her course enrollment, she was working in the Substations Section, supervising its maintenance and the construction process of a new building to replace an outdoor substation.
One of Paula’s colleagues recommended the course to her (a fellow engineer with good taste! The EIT is grateful). The course outline in the brochure, however, was the convincer, Paula said, “I realized that it would provide me with knowledge which I would not have necessarily gained while studying at university or in my day to day tasks. I especially liked the fact that most of the modules could be applied in my job in the substations section.”
Here comes the “Steeliness”. Paula’s time management involved discipline and resolve. She attended webinars directly after work – the 5.00pm sessions sometimes necessitating a rather fraught dash to login – and she dedicated weeknights to assignments. This left her weekends free to spend with family.
“Steeliness,” you may scoff, “That is our lot when we choose to study and work!” Yes, but read on. Paula became pregnant while on the course and believed she would have to put the course ‘On Hold” once her son was born (a sensible option one would think). However, apart from missing the odd webinar as a result of travel and work, she missed only one which was pregnancy-related – the day she went into labour. She then determinedly continued with the course, completing it in the allocated eighteen months.
This is where the “Support” comes into play. At one of the recent EIT Graduation Ceremonies, the partners and families of the students were commended for the vital part they play in helping the graduates over the line. Paula would have had her work cut out for her, but an accolade must go to her mum and husband. In Paula’s moving words, “I had strong support from my family. My mother and my husband would take care of my son for the hour needed to attend the weekly sessions and anytime I needed to work on my assignment. It was a bit hard at times but together we made it.”
Paula also employed a quite clever strategy – worthy of consideration for would-be students. She explains, “At the end of each session, I attempted to answer those questions in the assignment which related to the session I had just completed. This effectively gave me a week to complete those questions. I sometimes used my lunch hours too.”
This course offered Paula her first on-line education experience. She found Moodle (an on-line learning management system) handy - uploading assignments as soon as she had completed them and accessing her information at any time, including her grades. The webinar software Paula said, “…reminded her of being in a classroom, except for the inability to see the lecturer and other students. I liked being able to raise my hand and ask a question, answer multiple choice questions, view the slides and drawings or additional writings/notes the lecturer would add on the ‘blackboard’ during the sessions.”
Paula’s comments on the EIT staff are heartening. Her words describe a scenario that is essential to the learning experience of any student, but particularly to those who are studying in a virtual classroom. “My experience with the EIT staff was always a pleasant one. Regardless of my queries or concerns, they always assisted me in a very professional and expedient manner. Whether it related to my inability to attend a session, problems experienced during the online sessions or issues arising with the assignments, I was always satisfied with the outcome.”
And her attitude to the course? Did the hard work pay off? Her words below speak for themselves and bring us to the “Success” bit. “I was exposed to information which I have not yet encountered in my job, but I also gained strength in areas which I am currently involved in. To me, all of the modules taught delivered valuable information, but the most valuable aspect of the course was the knowledge I gained on transformers, circuit breakers, switchgear, power system protection and energy use and efficiency. This knowledge has resulted in me gaining an understanding of a lot of things which I am faced with on a day to day basis including the equipment used”
“My approach to my work has not changed, I still try to approach my duties with safety in mind, but now I would say I am more aware of why I do some of the things I do.”
The last word – Despite her unusually tough trench experience, Paula received the second highest grades in her cohort. Very well done. All of us here at the EIT thank Paula very much for her assistance with this article and wish her everything of the best.
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Past student Peter Bramall talking about his experiences with EIT studying the Advanced Diploma of Mechanical Engineering Technology. He explains how the program fits nicely around his work and family commitments and how beneficial the degree has proven so far in his professional advancement. Hear for yourself!
Well done to EIT graduate, Steve Schober, from Ergon Energy. Recently Steve sent us a note of thanks - not terribly remarkable on its own, but the words were particularly heart-warming. He expresses a justified pride in himself. Without the confidence of youth and the time available at that stage in life, he still did it! With determination and dedication Steve successfully completed the Advanced Diploma in Electrical Supply Industry (ESI) Power Systems. For a good three years he persevered through the course; alongside his full time work and up against the weight of adult responsibilities.
Thank you Steve for trusting EIT to help you advance your career; we wish you both personal and professional success and contentment. Congratulations on an outstanding achievement.
Read Steve’s experience below.
I recently successfully completed an Advanced Diploma in Electrical Supply Industry (ESI) Power Systems.The prospect of achieving this qualification was initially quite daunting, having been out of the education system for some time. Prior to undertaking this qualification, I had been involved in the electrical industry for over 20 years and have a wealth of practical knowledge but was limited academically to Certificate 3, or trade studies, which were achieved many years previously. I am employed by Ergon Energy as a Substation Design Paraprofessional Trainee.
The EIT formula worked for me, I was able to work through the modules individually and systematically built my Advanced Diploma one subject at a time. The ability to see runs were being put on the board provided a great sense of achievement. The study materials were a good blend of practical knowledge and theory. I was rotated through several different work groups in order to complete my studies. This experience was immensely beneficial as I was able to learn about other parts of my company’s electrical distribution business that I normally would not be exposed to.
The online system of study was comprehensive and easy to navigate. The combination of Webcasts, Quizzes, Work Based Projects, Direct Observation Checklists and Summative Assessments provided a balanced approach to acquiring knowledge. These tasks were supported by ample reading materials, webcast recordings and slides. The lecturers were experienced in the subjects they taught and provided a practical approach together with a wealth of information.
I found the EIT study schedule suited my lifestyle. The online classroom (Webcasts) were scheduled at convenient times and all the Assessments, Work Based Projects and Direct Observation Checklist due dates were both practical and achievable.
After completing the Advanced Diploma, I was ecstatic with my achievement and felt a great sense of self pride. Thanks to EIT, it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks.
Steve Schober
When EIT launched its inaugural course – the Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation – we believed fervently that the content was good. The live, Online Learning teaching methodology, however, was very new and it was embarked upon with some trepidation.
In an effort to gather feedback from our initial foray into online education we recently interviewed Osemudiamen (Ose) Usifoh, a graduate from DIA01. Being members of our alumni you will understand that this indicates the very beginning of things – I believe our latest intake of intrepid students, into this particular advanced diploma, is our sixteenth (DIA16). We were pleasantry surprised to find Ose’s story positive, despite the inevitably unpredictable nature of firsts.
As with many of our students Ose was looking for a course which would provide him with some specific skills and professional development in a particular area of engineering. As an electrical engineering graduate he worked as a system integrator with Intech Automation, in Nigeria, and then moved to Total, a petroleum exploration and production company, where he worked in a range of engineering roles. It was his need to provide technical support to their petroleum production plants and development projects which nudged him towards requiring new competencies in automation; resulting in his enrolment with EIT in 2008. And as he says, ‘The rest is history.’
When quizzed about the usefulness of the course his response seemed a little enigmatic. His initial assertion was predictable; that the course provided him with a ‘deeper understanding of the automation profession, thereby improving my competency to deliver quality service to the various kinds of applications where automation is utilised’. But less foreseeable was his belief that the course was responsible for enabling his versatility on the job; allowing him to move into non-automotive roles and facilitating his usefulness to the company in areas not strictly related to automation.
There are a couple of aspects of learning which are daunting and which keep us, the educators, in awe of our students. To embark on and complete a course of study whilst balancing full time work and family is startlingly brave. The ability to do all this online, without the proximity of fellow students and lecturers, is a monumental achievement, showing incredible resolve and determination. Although EIT has embraced live, online teaching in an effort to ameliorate some of these inherent obstacles, when Ose was asked to respond to a question entailing ‘enjoyment’ I was not very hopeful. A tirade was expected, outlining the relentless rigour of the program, including module assignments and deadlines. Astonishingly, he commented instead on the ‘rich study materials’, ‘the in-depth, practical knowledge exhibited by the instructors’ and most hearteningly, ‘the privilege of using an Online Learning platform which is the most advanced that I’ve come across to date’.
It is indeed gratifying to hear from one of our first students after a significant passage of time and to hear his esteem for a program and teaching methodology which was wrought from very earnest intentions and much hard work.
Our deepest gratitude goes to Ose for his generous responses to our questions. We wish him and all our past students everything of the best for 2014 and beyond.
Lyndon B. Johnson, despite his distraction as the 36th president of the USA, certainly gave some thought to the concept of education – the following is a quote from him:
“At the desk where I sit, I have learned one great truth. The answer for all our national problems – the answer for all the problems of the world – comes to a single word. That word is education”.
"One of our EIT students has had us thinking about the essential pairing of biomedical engineering and sport. Steve Parchert is completing our Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering and should have his head down, but instead has his feet up!
As the image below indicates all is not as it seems. Steve is post-op and has logged into his scheduled webinar! Commitment and tenacity are descriptors that come to mind and are well deserved.
"He enjoys a range of sports which have lead to his injuries. Touch football and endurance motorbike riding are the culprits for Steve. Five or six years ago he had his first ACL knee reconstruction. This operation is necessary when the ligament attaching the femur (or thigh bone) to one of the calf bones (the tibia) is torn. At the same time his knee's shock absorbers, the cartilage and menisci, were repaired.
"And he is back again!
"This time, however, the surgeon had to be a little more inventive. A graft from Steve's hamstring needed to be taken to supplement the twice damaged ACL ligament. "Amateur or elite involvement in sport and fitness is on the rise and should be championed. With Steve in mind this seems a lame comment (excuse the pun), but studies have clearly illustrated that keeping fit allays a plethora of disease. Because there is no free lunch, however, medicine and engineering have become essential bedfellows. Biomedical engineering and its research are integral to the treatment of sport injuries and, more encouragingly, their prevention. "Our lives are, however, multi-faceted and this is succinctly reflected in Steve's case. Aside from his sport and his hospital stay with associated injuries, he is busy. He is a dedicated family man and is working in Bundaberg as an Electrical Systems Designer in the power supply industry. And, as mentioned previously, he is studying. His obvious commitment here he explains, is to secure his job and perhaps facilitate a promotion within the company. With this careful juggling of a demanding life, Steve is grateful that EIT's flexible online learning has helped him balance it all.
More than ever engineers cross and re-cross borders to tackle projects. Engineers Without Borders is a not-for-profit organization even named for its international work. It is, however, not alone. Many engineering companies employ teams who, by necessity, become seasonal (and unseasonal) travelers in order to work on assignments around the world.
Allen Doyle, one of EIT’s students and someone whose work has sent him to many countries, is justly proud of his qualification. He describes study as the one area of his life that he had previously been unable to successfully complete; largely because his work demanded that he remain on the road.
Photo taken on the FPSO Capixaba located 100km offshore from Vitoria ES Brazil.
His own words reveal why EIT was able to provide him with the necessary platform for success,
“I could attend (the sessions with my lecturers; the live webcasts) from anywhere in the world; Brazil, Lesotho, South Africa, I even attended a class in the backseat of the car while en route to the Kruger National Park.”
Separate to experience gained on the job, regular professional development and study is critical in all occupations. It has always been considered essential for career advancement, but now the pace at which technology moves and changes has made it also vital for employees who need to remain relevant and technically savvy.
Traditional educational and training approaches and the often overwhelming demands of life are, however, stacked against individuals who plan to up-skill. Fortunately the economics truism of supply and demand has come to the aid of ambitious and/or hard-working individuals. Ironically, the key is technology: An online education platform; offering live, interactive learning.
A cultural shift is required, but the flexibility of a campus-free education has many converts. As Allen states, “There are enough options at EIT to accommodate you, financially or academically”.
A heart-warming fact is that having achieved the Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation Allen feels motivated to pursue further study. In his words, “I’m heading off to China in February for a new project; we will commission a Generation 3 FPSO. As soon as we are in a steady operational state I will look into another course to do at EIT.”
The pile of text books for the Vocational Graduate Diploma of Project Management in Industrial Automation is taller than Sammy, this very patient lab!
Just before his final exam Helmut Schütte sent this photograph to his Online Learning coordinator and included the conversation he had had with his wife, “I have filled my head so full, to the extent that I think the info will never get out, it’s too tightly stuffed!”
Why we would use this image as a marketing ploy you may well ask – potential students have probably made a mental note not to embark on the course already!
But then Helmut goes on to comment, “Great experience, recommendable. I have a very high opinion of EIT and all of you, thanks :-)”
If that does not adequately ease any residual anguish, I must add that we no longer offer this particular program!
Instead students spend 12 months on a Graduate Diploma of Engineering (Industrial Automation) and can exit on completion. Otherwise, having completed this initial year successfully, students have the option of moving into a 12 months masters; the Master of Engineering (Industrial Automation)
Will the pile of books be much reduced? Probably not, but take heart! You will have access to lecturers who are industry savvy and gurus in their fields, great content, flexible learning, and coordinators dedicated to your success. And of course, at the end of the day, you will have achieved one, if not two, great qualifications which will hold you in very good stead.
Our thanks go to Sammy the dog and Helmut for their input here. And from all at EIT we extend our congratulations to Helmut for attaining his qualification.
(It needs to be added that the information in Helmut’s head did manage to escape, but in a timely fashion and to good purpose – he received an overall grade of 92%!)
Born and raised in a small farming community close to the border of South Africa and Botswana I would have never thought that I will end up living in the city and work in the Chemical Industry. I am married to a beautiful wife and a busy 2 year old son.
After High school I made my way to Johannesburg to start a Career in Aviation. I completed my theoretical training in Aircraft Avionics at Denel centre of Learning and Development (DCLD) after which I started my apprenticeship and later completed my training with a Trade Test at SAAT (South African Airways Technical). I worked in the Aviation industry for almost 6 years and was appointed as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer – Avionics/Instruments when I decided to make a career change to the Industrial sector.
In 2012 I had the opportunity to start a new career in Industrial Instrumentation and grabbed it with both hands. I soon realized that I had a lack of theoretical knowledge for the industry and that is when I started my search for part time studies and found EIT and applied for the Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation.
Outline your study experience at EIT. Consider, for instance: the content, your lecturers, learning remotely, your Learning Support Officer, the technology used and your interactions with your fellow students. Please include both your study highlights and challenges:
My first impression of EIT was a good one with extremely helpful staff that assisted me with my initial questions. Everything at EIT is well organised and I never felt unsure of what will be happening next. The course content is very relevant and applicable to day-to-day work and I could relate and implement my learning on a daily basis.
Lectures are organised and presented by highly skilled lecturers that have years of experience in the field. I liked the fact that they could give real-world practical examples/problems. We could even ask questions relating to current problems. Being part of a global student group was humbling and made everything interesting. It was particularly enjoyable to meet and work with various nationalities and experienced individuals from all corners of the world on the Module 5 group project.
Being in a technology-driven industry, I found it really enjoyable to make use of the technology EIT used, making it world-class and one-of-a-kind. This contributed to making my studies “easier” than the traditional way of learning.
One of the big positives was being able to spend time with my family, assisting my wife with our son making dinner together and after my wife and son went to bed having a really good EIT class. That to me that was the best about studying with EIT, still being able to spend time with loved ones and completing my studies while they are fast asleep in the next room.
I am overall very pleased and with the education I received from EIT and thankful for all the work that EIT put in behind the scenes.
I look forward to lifelong learning relationship with EIT and IDC Technologies.
Describe how you have applied the EIT program knowledge to your work and if the program has helped you with career advancement:
From the start I was able to apply my learning from EIT in my work place. At the company I work at we do maintenance and small scale projects with guidance of from our Instrument Specialist.
We work on everything related to Automation from valves, control valves, temperatures, pressures, mass flows, mag flows, substation Automation right up to DCS system fault finding and programming. With the benefit of working in most aspects of Automation I was able to relate to most of the readings and lectures and gained important knowledge on why systems work, and are designed the way they are.
Knowledge gained from the lectures enabled me to ask questions with confidence and understand the principles used to design or set-up a system.
When confronted with a new system or concept I can relate back to an EIT lecture and can even go back and refresh my memory on a specific topic to make an informed decision.
EIT’s Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation has made me a more knowledgeable and confident worker and I will forever benefit from the knowledge gained in those 18 months
What are your training and career goals for the next 5 years?
Currently my short term goal is to apply the knowledge gained with the Advance Diploma and make a positive impact for my employer in my current position as an Instrument Artisan. Hopefully by proving my worth within my department my next goal will be to be appointed as a Technician.
I will also be making use of the EIT value plus option for the entry into 2 complimentary workshops.
My long term goal is to be a competent Professional Control & Instrumentation Engineer (ECSA).
There are currently discussing on the table to introduce a 10th engineering discipline within the ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa) framework that being Control & Instrumentation.
For me to achieve this goal I will continue my relationship with EIT for further studies.
An environmental engineer would surely agree that when it comes to public health, noise pollution is a dangerous threat to a person's wellbeing. It has been well researched and proven that citizens of a country who live near airports have higher blood pressures than those who live elsewhere. People's health is directly affected by noisy engineering design.
The Federal Aviation Authority says that an aircraft's noise output should, at maximum, be 65dBA, observed at ground-level. Gas-powered leaf blowers emit 90 to 102 dBA and generate their own carbon footprint - which has captured the attention of the environmentalists. A town in California named Sonoma, in the United States, has banned the use of gas-powered leaf blowers around the city. Citizens have expressed that they look forward to the "restoration of the quality of life" now that the blowers have been banned.
Thanks to engineering ingenuity a new battalion of leaf blowers are making their way to the markets - some have already arrived. The leaf blowers are battery operated and only emit 65dBA of noise. The newer blowers will also outclass plug-in blowers due to their wireless capabilities. However, with the cheaper gas alternatives, I’m sure some countries will still stick to these tried-and-tested blowers until proper bans are put in place.
More engineering ingenuity is, arguably, needed in all engineering industries, so that noise levels can be driven down.
Steve Mackay tends to agree: "In your next engineering design, think about noise. Think about how to reduce the effect on your wonderful clients. You will probably have a far happier client."
Works Cited
"Acute Effects of Night-time Noise Exposure on Blood Pressure in Populations Living near Airports." European Heart Journal. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
EngInstTech. "ENN41 Noise and Audio." YouTube. YouTube, 30 June 2016. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
"Gas Leaf Blowers Banned in Sonoma." Sonoma Index Tribune. 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
Our buzzword for your engineering career this year is INVESTMENT. The modern world of business centers on the principles of investment. You put something in, and hopefully (with copious amounts of elbow grease) get something out.
When someone looks to invest their hard-earned money, the most important factor they consider is growth potential. The question they ask themselves is: Will my invested money grow?
Pursuing engineering as a career involves just such an investment, investment in your education for your future. Therefore, as a prospective engineer formulating career goals, it is well worth monitoring which engineering disciplines have the most growth potential for the future of your employment.
The Growers
RevPart, an engineering company which specializes in rapid prototyping and 3D printing for several engineering industries, has published their outlook on growing engineering industries with the most attractive starting salaries for the year 2017.
Engineering Employment Outlook from RevPart
RevPart indicates that the starting salary for Mechanical Engineers will be US$83,950 per annum as of this year. (They also say that mechanical engineers will be involved in the building of the next "wave of self-driving cars".)
Automotive engineering - an industry that utilizes the discipline of Mechanical Engineering - has become a serious bone of contention in the United States as the country approaches Inauguration Day (20 January 2017). President-Elect Donald Trump promised car manufacturers, Ford, Toyota, and General Motors, that if he were to become president, there would be a tariff imposed on any vehicles manufactured in Mexico and sold back into the United States
Ford has since announced that it would drop plans to open a factory in Mexico, and rather opted to expand the Ford plant in Michigan and create 700 American jobs.
Other automobile manufacturers are also doing an about-turn on any foreign plans: Fiat Chrysler has announced an investment of $1 billion into making three new Jeep models in the United States, and plans to revamp factories in Michigan and Ohio. The move is set to add 2,200 jobs, the company confirmed in a statement.
Daimler AG has pledged $1.3 billion to expand production of SUVs in Alabama. And Volkswagen Group has recently announced that a planned expansion in the US will top $7 billion.
Mechanical Engineers will be in the pound seats, but the automotive industry, which is going through profound change and modernization, demands expertise from a number engineering disciplines.
To see how automotive engineering could fit into your career goals, take a look at this video from Jaguar Land Rover:
Jaguar Land Rover sold a record 583,312 vehicles in 2016, according to Reuters.
The other industry showing growth this year is the biomedical industry. It's expected to grow by 23% over the next 10 years. And it's easy to see why with engineering endeavors such as this: A flexible, wearable, 'Star Trek tricorder' health monitor is here.
Monitoring and improving the health of humans through biomedical engineering technology is just another example of how engineers are continually changing and improving the world.
We focus on industrial, material and aerospace engineering in Part 2 of our series on: Choosing the right Engineering discipline for your future career. Look out for it.
Works Cited
"Ford Scraps Plan for $1.6 Billion Plant in Mexico after Trump Criticism." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 03 Jan. 2017. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
"Jaguar Land Rover Sells Record 583,313 Cars in 2016." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 09 Jan. 2017. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
"Plastic Injection Molding Prototyping Services." RevPart. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
"Your Future In Automotive - Rebecca Lees, Jaguar Land Rover." YouTube. 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
Dear Colleagues
As a young engineer I used to sometimes ponder on the long torturous career (ladder) path one could follow in ‘the firm’ – no matter whether you were an electrician, technician or engineer. I worked for a huge company (De Beers) mining and selling gem diamonds with billions of dollars of revenue and which had been around for over a 100 years.
A hugely wealthy company with generous conditions and a magnificent emphasis on training and education and other upliftment activities in their communities. The debate was always to move from being in a purely technical role to that with more management but the last thing on our minds was that this huge company with tens of thousands of employees would diminish to a shadow of itself. Which is what came to pass as the diamond mines were gradually sold off. A story replicated thousands of times around the world with other industrial and engineering firms.
Where is the Greasy Pole of Career Upwards Progression Today?
The metaphors vary – from ‘climbing the ladder’, ‘breaking the glass ceiling’ to ‘shimmying up the greasy pole’. All of them have the idea of steady upwards progression if you play ball and do the right thing by the firm.
However, this is not the case today as companies are in a constant state of flux – remember the days of ‘re-engineering’ a decade or two ago – this has simply accelerated? Even companies that were boring and predictable have been cast to the wolves. For example, the power companies (often government owned) sold a predictable thing – energy and they have suddenly woken up to huge competition from their consumers with PV solar panels proliferating meaning less power consumed from the utility. And some companies have plunged into the abyss.
What is worse is that the jobs we aspire to often have changed dramatically or have been outsourced because of some new corporate model. So the ‘job for life’ – as you no doubt repeatedly hear about – is not always part of our careers any more.
The Key Trick is Financial Freedom and Happiness in What you do
Naturally, two of the most important things is working on something you enjoy – hopefully using your strengths - and at the same time building up financial reserves for you and your family. But this doesn’t mean that your career has to follow the traditional ladder of progression but can follow other more interesting paths.
Consider your Engineering Career as moving on a Lattice
You don’t always necessarily continually move upwards in your career but may take some side ways moves. Similar to moving sideways on a lattice framework.
For example, you may set up a business (the ubiquitous web site) on the side of your current career. Or work in many different industries in your current career achieving a huge number of widely differing skills. Perhaps experimenting with areas that you may enjoy and can develop further in the future.
Strategically Reskill and Gain Know-how
There is a huge opportunity for reskilling and gaining new know-how on an ongoing basis – and not necessarily costing much at all. Certainly spending a huge $80,000 on a one year MBA may not be a good idea – there are many other approaches lower risk and considerably more affordable.
For example, the free Youtube learning channels are mindblowingly comprehensive and wide ranging. As well as the huge amount of often free resources on the web.
A friend of mine who struggled in his engineering career because of the demise of his current company has successfully moved into web marketing with Search Engine Optimisation with a focus on the industrial world. Another has moved from water resource engineering into running a chain of accommodation hubs in a sea side village. A technician told me of his successful foray into supplying and maintaining personalised low cost robots. Another who used to work on oil rigs is using drones to undertake surveillance tasks for a burgeoning list of clients. The list goes on….
Consider Retirement Flexible
Many people in their forties and fifties particularly regard retirement as a termination point when they suddenly stop working. A better strategy, perhaps, is to look at making this more flexible with a mix of work, study and travel or leisure activities. This could perhaps give you more financial freedom and at the same time – keep your brain active and challenged.
A Succinct Summary of What a Career Ladder Really is
Tom Freston puts his finger on what a career ladder really is: A career path is rarely a path at all. A more interesting life is usual a more crooked, winding path of missteps, luck and vigorous work. It is almost always a clumsy balance between the things you try to make happen and the things that happen to you.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Smart cities are much more than solar-powered street lights triggered when pedestrians walk beneath them.
Smart cities refer to cities that use the latest in technological innovation in infrastructure and IT systems, and the Internet of Things, interspersed with environmentally-friendly nature-inspired elements.
However, to design a smart city, a sizeable redesign to old infrastructure is usually required. Architecture needs rethinking and reforming, the traditional disciplines of engineering are stretched and smart technology is at the crux of it all. This is all in pursuit of a better quality of life for the humans who live in these bustling cities.
In the book ‘Human Smart Cities: Rethinking the Interplay between Design and Planning’, Louis Albrecht, a Professor in the Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning, at the Catholic University of Leuven writes:
“There is a growing awareness that a number of planning concepts (compact cities, livable cities, creative cities, multicultural cities, fair cities, just cities, smart cities) cannot be achievable solely through physical hard planning.”
Albrecht argues that the transformation of cities into smart cities has historically been overrun by the forces of free-market capitalism; by private companies seeing market opportunities that can be exploited. Instead governments, he suggests, should properly implement a move toward smart cities that benefit the humans that live and work in them. He writes:
“There is also awareness of the fact that (in addition to traditional land use regulation, urban maintenance, production and management of services) governments are being called upon to respond to new demands and to adopt a more entrepreneurial style of planning in order to enhance city and regional competitiveness.”
Governments are noticing that the technology-literate demand that everything, from electricity to water metering, become smart, efficient and data-analysis-friendly, so that they know where their money is going to when to pay their utilities.
Moreover, as smart cities pop-up, with more people gaining access to education and job opportunities (thanks to the smart-city benefit of a city-wide internet), new challenges arise. And most of these challenges are usually infrastructural.
More Cities, More Traffic
Engineers are called upon to rethink transportation because once a city becomes a hub of middle-income activity, it equates to an overcrowding of cars.
The congestion of city roads is unsustainable and is projected to worsen. The BBC reports that 70% of the world’s population “will live in urban areas by 2050”.
How do we cut congestion?
Auto Manufacturers Ford has recommended that cities address mobility challenges with a “fully integrated transportation operating system”. Their goals for the future of smart cities - or as they call it ‘The City of Tomorrow - are: No accidents, no emissions, no congestion and universal access to mobility - a fully automated approach to a city and its mobility.
The BBC spoke to Peter Coker, vice-president of innovation at KuangChi Science; he is quite certain that jetpacking around town will become a social norm. He said: “Jetpacks will be part of future cities. I see it as being the Uber of the sky.” Pigs might fly too, but if this futuristic innovation does eventuate, fewer drivers will remain on the roads and ease congestion there!
What about the more realistic driverless car, will they ease congestion? Perhaps. They will have the capacity to work out optimal routes and departure times and fewer accidents will certainly prevent resultant traffic jams. The Department of Transport in the United Kingdom says that once the technology is fully adopted, it could reduce congestion by 40%. However, experts believe the driverless vehicles could increase congestion in the short-term as the technology is interwoven with cars with drivers.
While the concept of a smart city is not a new concept, finding a clear definition that can be applied cross-continentally is the bigger challenge, as is applicability. Futurologists might get carried away with their vision of a unified, smart city future, but the emergence of these cities is likely to be impeded by practicalities including decision-makers seeing eye-to-eye and budget constraint.
Works Cited
Concilio, Grazia, and Francesca Rizzo. Human Smart Cities: Rethinking the Interplay between
Design and Planning. Cham: Springer International, 2016. Print.
"Driverless Cars 'to Increase Congestion' Says Government." BBC News. BBC, 06 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.
"Media Log In." Ford Partnering with Global Cities on New Transportation; Chariot Shuttle to Be Acquired, Ford GoBike to Launch in San Francisco | Ford Media Center. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.
Wakefield, Jane. "Tomorrow's Cities: What It Feels like to Fly a Jetpack." BBC News. BBC, 11 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Jan. 2017
Smart cities are much more than solar-powered street lights triggered when pedestrians walk beneath them.
Smart cities refer to cities that use the latest in technological innovation in infrastructure and IT systems, and the Internet of Things, interspersed with environmentally-friendly nature-inspired elements.
However, to design a smart city, a sizeable redesign to old infrastructure is usually required. Architecture needs rethinking and reforming, the traditional disciplines of engineering are stretched and smart technology is at the crux of it all. This is all in pursuit of a better quality of life for the humans who live in these bustling cities.
In the book ‘Human Smart Cities: Rethinking the Interplay between Design and Planning’, Louis Albrecht, a Professor in the Department of Architecture, Urbanism and Planning, at the Catholic University of Leuven writes:
“There is a growing awareness that a number of planning concepts (compact cities, livable cities, creative cities, multicultural cities, fair cities, just cities, smart cities) cannot be achievable solely through physical hard planning.”
Albrecht argues that the transformation of cities into smart cities has historically been overrun by the forces of free-market capitalism; by private companies seeing market opportunities that can be exploited. Instead governments, he suggests, should properly implement a move toward smart cities that benefit the humans that live and work in them. He writes:
“There is also awareness of the fact that (in addition to traditional land use regulation, urban maintenance, production and management of services) governments are being called upon to respond to new demands and to adopt a more entrepreneurial style of planning in order to enhance city and regional competitiveness.”
Governments are noticing that the technology-literate demand that everything, from electricity to water metering, become smart, efficient and data-analysis-friendly, so that they know where their money is going to when to pay their utilities.
Moreover, as smart cities pop-up, with more people gaining access to education and job opportunities (thanks to the smart-city benefit of a city-wide internet), new challenges arise. And most of these challenges are usually infrastructural.
More Cities, More Traffic
Engineers are called upon to rethink transportation because once a city becomes a hub of middle-income activity, it equates to an overcrowding of cars.
The congestion of city roads is unsustainable and is projected to worsen. The BBC reports that 70% of the world’s population “will live in urban areas by 2050”.
How do we cut congestion?
Auto Manufacturers Ford has recommended that cities address mobility challenges with a “fully integrated transportation operating system”. Their goals for the future of smart cities - or as they call it ‘The City of Tomorrow - are: No accidents, no emissions, no congestion and universal access to mobility - a fully automated approach to a city and its mobility.
The BBC spoke to Peter Coker, vice-president of innovation at KuangChi Science; he is quite certain that jetpacking around town will become a social norm. He said: “Jetpacks will be part of future cities. I see it as being the Uber of the sky.” Pigs might fly too, but if this futuristic innovation does eventuate, fewer drivers will remain on the roads and ease congestion there!
What about the more realistic driverless car, will they ease congestion? Perhaps. They will have the capacity to work out optimal routes and departure times and fewer accidents will certainly prevent resultant traffic jams. The Department of Transport in the United Kingdom says that once the technology is fully adopted, it could reduce congestion by 40%. However, experts believe the driverless vehicles could increase congestion in the short-term as the technology is interwoven with cars with drivers.
While the concept of a smart city is not a new concept, finding a clear definition that can be applied cross-continentally is the bigger challenge, as is applicability. Futurologists might get carried away with their vision of a unified, smart city future, but the emergence of these cities is likely to be impeded by practicalities including decision-makers seeing eye-to-eye and budget constraint.
Works Cited
Concilio, Grazia, and Francesca Rizzo. Human Smart Cities: Rethinking the Interplay between Design and Planning. Cham: Springer International, 2016. Print.
"Driverless Cars 'to Increase Congestion' Says Government." BBC News. BBC, 06 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.
"Media Log In." Ford Partnering with Global Cities on New Transportation; Chariot Shuttle to Be Acquired, Ford GoBike to Launch in San Francisco | Ford Media Center. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.
Wakefield, Jane. "Tomorrow's Cities: What It Feels like to Fly a Jetpack." BBC News. BBC, 11 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Jan. 2017.
Higher education is changing because governments are changing. The benefit from higher education, for the individual and the country, where the qualification is put to work, is invaluable. Building toward a brighter future for oneself, whilst growing an economy, makes higher education the main vehicle that drives up the potential of a country and its people.
Evolving governments need to secure the employment of professionals produced by higher education institutions to ensure their countries do not experience a brain drain, otherwise known as education immigration.
Graduates, who have acquired internationally recognized skills with internationally recognized qualifications, will naturally weigh up their options. Losing this expertise is a great concern to governments around the world.
President-elect Donald Trump’s education agenda remains to be seen, but he has chosen his Secretary of Education; a woman named Betsy DeVos. DeVos is allegedly a “billionaire philanthropist” with questionable experience in the education industry. With some power in the newly Republican Congress, education could become something quite new and compared to the system that has existed for the last eight years.
In the United Kingdom there is also some uncertainty. Prime Minister Theresa May has warned the United Kingdom that “Brexit means Brexit.” Experts have cautioned the changes to higher education will be irrevocable as the country gets closer to leaving the European Union. There is nervousness about the changing immigration laws following a Brexit.
The Guardian asked Sally Hunt, the general secretary of University and College Union, what she predicts will happen in the next twelve months. She said: “Sadly, I predict the Brexit related brain-drain of academics will gather further pace unless the government acts quickly to guarantee the rights of current EU staff and students to remain, and secures continued access to EU research programmes.”
This is what the former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, lamented in 2015, “The number of skilled people and professionals our continent has lost over the decades is truly frightening.” He went on to say: “It is estimated that more African scientists and engineers live and work in the USA and the UK than anywhere else in the world.”
There are other issues which threaten the stability of higher education and the commitment of bright learners to study in their own countries. Students in the UK, for instance, have indicated that they might take part in fresh strikes to protest accommodation rent prices.
Similarly, South Africa could be facing another bout of protests in 2017. The top-tier higher education institutions in the country have opted to hike their fees by 8%. It was just such a threat which sent South African universities into an uproar in 2016, after which students began to demand free higher education.
The grade 12 class of 2016 in South Africa has said they expect the first year of their career-building tertiary education to be turbulent. Some experts fear that prospective students have already investigated studying abroad; a situation which will further exacerbate the country’s skills gaps in key STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) industries.
More alarmingly, and another concern for students in African nations, is that many universities are not meeting higher education standards. Phillip L Clay, a professor of city planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology writes: While many African institutions have made recent strides and are well regarded, only four African universities outside of South Africa are among the world’s top 500 universities.
What does remain clear is that higher education institutions and governments need to remain on their toes, wherever they are. To be serious about securing and growing their countries’ economies they need to aim to provide excellence in education and ensure they retain the products of this education.
Furthermore, to succeed in this regard they will also need to make a concerted effort to embrace, as Joseph Aoun mentions in his article, Beyond the Limits of Traditional Learning, “……new teaching and learning innovations…….because they make higher education more customer-centric, have the potential to increase student retention, graduation rates and overall attainment.
Works Cited
"Higher Education Network." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Web. 06 Jan. 2017.
"Model for the Transformation of Higher Education in Africa - University World News." RSS. Web. 06 Jan. 2017.
"The Extent of Africa's Brain Drain Is 'frightening': Mbeki." The Extent of Africa's Brain Drain Is 'frightening': Mbeki. Web. 06 Jan. 2017.
Without a shadow of doubt, with traditional power transmission systems, home and factory power systems and motors – good old alternating current (ac) is the name of the game with electricity. Direct Current (dc) has always been the poor cousin.
Dear Colleagues
Without a shadow of doubt, with traditional power transmission systems, home and factory power systems and motors – good old alternating current (ac) is the name of the game with electricity. Direct Current (dc) has always been the poor cousin.
Electrical engineering students through the ages have devoted huge amounts of effort to considering the generation, distribution and transmission of energy in the form of alternating current. The "War of the Currents" started in the 1880s with a fight between ac and dc and was firmly resolved then in favour of ac.
However the old maxim of dusting off the old approaches and trying them again in new applications is certainly true of direct current today where it is seeing a resurgence particularly in power generation (e.g. photovoltaic cells) and most recently – in long distance power transmission systems.
Highly Successful Alternating Current
As most of you would well know and I apologise for telling you ‘how to suck eggs’ – but the success of ac has been in the easier conversion to different voltages – either ‘stepping up’ or ‘stepping down’. Especially for transmission over long distances where it is important to increase the voltage to extraordinarily high values. Use of these high voltages (and resultant low currents) means that the losses over the cables are very low and thus it is very effective economically to transport the energy.
Where required the voltages are then stepped down for the local consumers - again using the miracle of the transformer. This ease of conversion between different voltages was not possible with direct current. Even though, in the 1920s we had the mercury arc valve and then the solid state thyristor - these really only provided a modicum of advantage in being able to change the voltage levels as they were particularly expensive and difficult to apply. Prices have now started to fall though as the technology becomes more effective.
Many of the new sources of power these days are wind and solar in remote locations which are often extraordinarily far from the consumers in the far off cities and this has propelled us into using dc power for long distance transmission.
Over Extreme Distances There are Problems with Alternating current
Over extreme distances, alternating current does have disadvantages as you would imagine – perhaps, intuitively. Having to swing the voltage quickly from a positive to a negative peak 50 times a second (for Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia) is hard work and there are losses as a result. This effectively means the direction of the current has to be reversed - all exceptionally ‘exhausting’ for the generators.
High voltage dc lines experience a lower loss than equivalent high voltage ac lines over significant distances.
This has led to strong development in the use of direct current (dc) systems today.
UHVDC Projects are Mind Bogglingly Big
Recent examples of these ultra high voltage direct current (UHVDC) projects range from an Oklahoma transmission line 1100km long connecting Oklahoma to Western Tennessee with 9 million consumers. This will carry 4000 MW using dc at 600kV. Considerably higher than the traditional alternating current ones at ~400kV.
But UHVDC lines are really big in Asia with China leading the pack with some huge projects.
For example, China has a 800kV line from a dam in Yunnan province to Shanghai with a capacity of 6400MW. An even larger one is carrying 12,000 MW over 1400 km from the coal and wind sources of Xinjiang to Anhui province at 1.1 million volts.
Point to Point is not the Only Game in Town
One of the challenges with current UHVDC cables is that they are generally point to point. This makes it difficult to fan out and have the traditional grid arrangement. However, there are new technologies allowing for new switch gear to isolate faulty cables and to make this a workable option.
So Consider the Way Forward
When looking to a new project – remember that older technologies can often be resurrected and are somewhat more effective than existing approaches.
And certainly having know-how in direct current has advantages these days and it may be that this surpasses alternating current because of its ease of transport.
Especially when one considers that most electronic equipment is powered by low voltage direct current (incl. photovoltatic cells and batteries).
Thanks to the Economist for an interesting article and for Wikipedia for their succinct summary of the virtues of ac and dc.
A clever quotation for direct current from Donald Sadoway: In a battery, I strive to maximize electrical potential. When mentoring, I strive to maximize human potential.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 3rd Jan’17 #633
780, 293 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
That virtually unheard of quantity - surface tension - is the cause of enormous costs in the engineering world and a slight reduction in this rather arcane ‘force’ could save billions of dollars.
Dear Colleagues
That virtually unheard of quantity - surface tension - is the cause of enormous costs in the engineering world and a slight reduction in this rather arcane ‘force’ could save billions of dollars.
A Technical Refresher
As a refresher for those that are rusty – surface tension arises because of the additional cohesive forces between liquid molecules at the surface of a liquid. The molecules at the surface of a liquid do not have similar molecules surrounding them (as they are making contact with different molecules of the surface). This means that they tend to cohere or ‘stick to’ their sister molecules on the surface somewhat more aggressively. This results in a surface film which makes it difficult to move an object on the surface than when it is totally immersed.
Some Practical Applications
The areas where surface tension is an issue are manifold and include such areas as:
- A practical application of surface tension (which you know all about when scrubbing dishes in the sink – after a particularly glutinous or oily meal). The surface tension of water decreases significantly when heated up and becomes a great cleaning agent. This means hot water is a better cleaning agent and can get more readily into all the (filthy) pores and fissures of the dishes than cold water.
- If you touch the inside of your canvas tent after there has been a ferocious rain storm outside; you break the surface tension of the water and thus enable the water to penetrate the pores of the canvas resulting in irritating dripping water from the canvas within the tent. Most modern tents don’t have this problem these days.
- Soaps and detergents lower the surface tension of the water and thus enable even cold water to be used to wash clothes ( as you well know with the repetitive advertising on commercial TV).
Some Amazing Research
Other practical problems with surface tension arise with such issues as squeezing that last recalcitrant dollop of toothpaste out of the tube. Others relate to paints and foodstuffs that stick to piping and mixing tanks and where huge amounts are lost in transit or simply stuck in the tank. If one could address these issues ever so slightly huge savings are possible.
MIT Rides to the Rescue
An interesting report from the Economist shows that Dr Varanasi of MIT has designed an approach which is to change the texture of the surface (such as the inner surface of a pipe) to trap a lubricant which is in the liquid being transported (e.g. the tiny amounts of oil in a foodstuff such as a dairy product). This reduces the surface tension of the liquid and enables the liquid to flow easier. As added impetus they have found that in putting in a slight temperature gradient along the surface – they can also help drive the liquid along.
So next time you ruefully contemplate the difficulties in extracting the last vestiges of hair shampoo – know that help is soon at hand with a far more efficient technique to remove every last drop of shampoo by lowering the surface tension.
Thanks to Hyperphysics (Georgia State University) for a wonderfully revealing set of common sense notes. And the Economist for some interesting applications of research into Surface Tension.
The real test is now to apply this research into the reduction in surface tension to real world problems as Henry Petroski remarks: Science is about knowing; engineering is about doing.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 27th Dec’16 #632
780, 293 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
“We are spurred on by the impossible” may be a fairly trite throw away line from Dyson’s Director of Energy Storage Development (Bruce Brenner). But it does show the attitude of the company driven by James Dyson in pioneering new inventions which are also commercialised with great success. As many of you would know - he has created products ranging from...
Dear Colleagues
“We are spurred on by the impossible” may be a fairly trite throw away line from Dyson’s Director of Energy Storage Development (Bruce Brenner). But it does show the attitude of the company driven by James Dyson in pioneering new inventions which are also commercialised with great success. As many of you would know - he has created products ranging from the ubiquitous vacuum cleaner to hand and hair dryers. Dyson achieved a huge $2.4billion in sales in 2015.
Prototype forever
The Dyson design engineers are encouraged to experiment and fail without shame. Everything however is documented in each engineer’s personal notebook. Typical prototypes (after the extensive testing and experimentation) before successful commercialisation are huge:
- Bagless vacuum cleaner (5127 prototypes)
- 360 Eye robot (1000 prototypes)
- Hair Dryer (600 prototypes)
Dyson’s big project at present is on batteries. He feels that the Lithium Ion ones won’t make it as they don’t hold a charge long enough and aren’t always safe. He has thus focussed on a solid-state battery cell and believes these will be very successful. (Tesla of course, disagree with this as they are backing Lithium Ion batteries to the tune of billions of dollars).
How did Dyson Start his Career?
What makes his success interesting in a hugely intensive engineering and scientific arena is that he commenced his studies at a College of Art after leaving school. His first invention was a wheel barrow that used a ball rather than a wheel as it was easier to distribute weight more widely. And thus didn’t get stuck in the mud of a building site. The bagless vacuum cleaner followed swiftly after this. His current project is a robotic vacuum cleaner where he is taking on some pretty big hitters who have been in this space for years.
One thing that is critical is that all the failures along the way towards a successful product are not random and seemingly hopeless. Product development is done with the highest level of research and know-how to achieve success.
What does this mean to you?
First of all – you don’t need to be an engineering professional with specific knowledge or skills to undertake product development in any field. Simply invest in researching and understand the project you are wanting to undertake in exquisite detail. Dyson was an arts graduate and has achieved notable success in a totally different area.
Secondly – a key part of all successful product development is failure. Just another step to getting to the finished product. Don’t worry about failure – it is something that must be in our DNA to achieve greatness. Disturbing and distressing though it may sometimes be.
Thirdly – entering a market with existing established competitors can be good thing to ensure that you refine your product to create the best. Just make sure you have a plan going forward and don’t simply ‘hope for the best’.
Fourthly – the final price of the product isn’t a killer. If the product is outstanding and has good features – people will pay more than for existing products.
Finally – as the saying goes: ‘The world won’t beat a path to your door for a better mousetrap’. Dyson would have had some superbly good commercial instincts to drive the marketing and production of this huge number of products on a worldwide basis.
Charles Kettering remarked: An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he’s in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots.
Thanks to Forbes for an interesting interview with James Dyson.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 20th Dec’16 #631
780, 293 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
A recent article (detailed below) in Engineering.com titled Engineering Implantable Devices for the Brain, caught our eye. It looks at the collaboration of a Paediatric Neurosurgeon and an Electrical Engineer determined to help eliminate brain disease by building brain implants. Biomedical engineering is in growing demand with shortages of both biomedical engineers and technicians in every part of the world. EIT's Advanced Diploma of Biomedical Engineering starting the week of June 06, 2016 is designed to impart solid knowledge in the area of biomedical engineering; to advance work skills and further job prospects. IN THIS INTENSIVE PART-TIME 18-MONTH LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM YOU WILL GAIN: Practical guidance from biomedical engineering experts in the field 'Hands on' knowledge from the extensive experience of the lecturers, rather than from only the theoretical information gained from books and college reading Credibility as a biomedical engineering expert in your firm Skills and know-how in the latest technologies in biomedical engineering Networking contacts in the industry Improved career prospects and income An Advanced Diploma of Biomedical Engineering To view full program details, click here. To apply for this program, email us at
By Edwina Ross
“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” These are the words of Nikola Tesla (1856 – 1943) physicist, engineer and inventor.
Elon Musk, another scientist, engineer and inventor, may have recently set up his desk at the end of the Model X production line at the Tesla Motor factory in California (with his sleeping bag not too far away), but I don’t believe for a minute that he is insane. Absolute clarity of thought and passion, driven by a belief in the product, is a much more likely scenario.
And his dedication is not misguided. The company's first electric sedan, Model S, won the 2013 Car of the Year by Motor Trend magazine – it was capable of covering 265 miles or 426 kms between charges. It has more recently been refreshed and now Model X and Model 3 are hot on its (w)heels.
The company is, however, facing a hurdle - the sort of hurdle, I must just add, that every company would like to have to leap. To fill their enormous number of orders in a timely fashion is proving challenging, but then the orders are around the 400,000 mark. Even with the highly automated Tesla Factory’s 5.3 million square feet (325160.00 square meters) of manufacturing and office space this would take some doing.
A sign of the changes in the automotive industry (a change that is seeping into many others too), saw Musk, in January of this year, on a mission to recruit 1600 software engineers for his factory. They are to help develop the cars’ autopilot system with capabilities that would allow Tesla owners to summon their cars.
Their employment is part of a thrust by the company to have a fully self-driving car by 2018. (If I remember correctly this was a part of a slightly daunting, but tantalising discussion on the 2016 EIT Roadshow?) Clearly there will be avid observers of developments here.
Naming the all electric motor company after Nikola Tesla is a worthy posthumous badge of honour for the creator of the induction motor and alternating current (AC) power transmission.
According to an old post on the automaker’s website, the founders wrote, “Without Tesla’s vision and brilliance, our car wouldn’t be possible. We’re confident that if he were alive today, Nikola Tesla would look over our 100 per cent electric car and nod his head with both understanding and approval.”
Unsurprisingly Tesla and Musk have similar views on risk and innovation; accounting for their very individual, but fearless drive and determination. In Musk’s words, "Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough." And then as Tesla is recorded as saying, “Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.”
There is a less than a subtle difference here though: Musk embraces failure to further and strengthen his ideas, whereas Tesla was referring to the essence of his nature.
Tesla’s clarity of thought was almost certainly combined with that depth of thought which he associated with insanity and which he warned against. His ‘virtues’ were his ingenuity, imagination and inventiveness. But his ‘failings’ involved an unhealthy preoccupation with his ideas, an obsessive scrutiny which ultimately led to his downfall and in his later years, a life lived in obscurity and relative poverty.
It does suggest that the genius inherent in inventors needs nurturing. Perhaps by those who can harness the creativity and bring a big dose of commercial wisdom to it. The problem of course is that those with this capability may also contain the greed that often drives commercial success and which could result in the exploitation of the creator. Nikola Tesla used numerous patents to help defend himself against unscrupulous people and behaviour, but without success.
Elon Musk, on the other hand, has both the inventor’s flair and the requisite commercial talent. But this man, who appears to have it all, has added good old fashioned hard work to the mix to ensure his star is in the ascendant.
Thanks to the following for their assistance in writing this:
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/who-is-tesla-named-for-2013-8
http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventions/p/Elon-Musk.htm
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-rise-and-fall-of-nikola-tesla-and-his-tower-11074324/?no-ist
http://www.biography.com/people/elon-musk-20837159#an-earnest-entrepreneur
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3398236/Tesla-bulks-IT-talent-car-future-fight.html
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/induction-motors.html
http://www.biography.com/people/nikola-tesla-9504443
FREE WEBINAR | 6TH APRIL | 9AM UTC
There has been a lot of news coverage in recent months about the dangers of Lithium rechargeable batteries – mostly related to fires on some motorized toys. Are all Lithium batteries the same?
Join guest presenter, Simon Chan (Chief Engineer at Radlink Communications) for a FREE 30 minute webinar on the 6th April as he discusses the various types of Lithium batteries used in different applications.
Session Details:
Date: 6th April, 2016
Time: 9am UTC/GMT
Duration: Approximately 30 minutes
Cost: FREE
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Click here to register your place for the live session or to receive a copy of the slides and for full details.
Steve Mackay, Dean of Engineering at EIT and sister company, IDC Technologies enjoys writing his weekly blog including useful tips and current industry matters for his fellow engineering colleagues. With a loyal and expanding following base reaching over 600,000 people around the world, click here to read all of Steve's blogs over at EIT's sister company, IDC Technologies.
Digitally Hunting for an Engineering or Technology Job
Have you experienced the frustration and futility of searching and applying online for hundreds of jobs – particularly in the engineering and technology space? Perhaps, you feel that you are casting your resume into the abyss whenever you apply online.
Unhappily today, you often have to get your resume past an army of robots looking for keywords before handing over a select few resumes to a human recruiter to look at. Some firms are even proactively scanning the web looking for personnel with the perfect characteristics matching a particular job profile. Other strategies are to require you to upload a video to the web with you answering specific questions.
This is all making it extraordinarily difficult for you to actually talk to a human. And it makes it critical for you to follow the right steps in dealing with this plethora of technology so that you can gain an interview.
Predictably the first step is simple
This is for you to review the job description and ensure your resume is aligned with what the recruiter requires in terms of experience and qualifications in a measurable way.
This is to make it easy even for an orang utan to see that you are the perfect match for the job. This doesn’t mean that you must lie but you must put effort in to visualise what the job requires and align your resume with the job. Ensure that you use the relevant key words so that they get picked up by the robots doing the initial scan of resumes. Perhaps put in the acronyms relating to the hardware or software requirements.
Stay up-to-date at all times
Keep everything relating to your online career up to date. This means not only your resume but LinkedIn profile and other social media sites.
Smile for the Camera
Many interviews are conducted online and through Skype. Ensure you are 100% presentable and prepared for any interview. Whether it is demonstration of your sales or technical skills or simply as an interview.
Assess your Performance and Consider Alternative Strategies
If despite all this work; you are still hitting the black hole in terms of results – sit down and consider what you are doing. Get a colleague to assess your resume or presentation and make suggestions. Consider that you may be applying for jobs in an overtraded area where demand is low and supply huge.
Perhaps you should be using other strategies to gain your dream job in engineering – such as gaining more credentials or experience or joining an online discussion group in the topic area. Actively networking with others in the industry is a strategy which engineers tend to be less enthused with but which can work wonders for a job search.
Above all – persist and don’t give up. Ultimately your grit and determination will prevail in your job search.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 16th August’16 #613
780, 293 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
The Master of Engineering (Electrical Systems) has a confirmed 2016 start date. On the 27th of June the first cohort of approved students will embark on this long awaited program.
EIT is very proud to introduce the lecturers for the degree; highly experienced industry experts and passionate academics. Among them is Professor Akhtar Kalam – a guru and devotee of all things electrical. Another is Dr Tony Auditore, an authority on the topic, whose personal journey is only equaled by his experiences in the electrical field. Our own Dean of Engineering, Dr Steve Mackay, also makes the line-up.
The live, online method of teaching will ensure that engineers and graduate technologists can embark on the two year program wherever they are in the world. Furthermore, the qualification is attained part time, allowing students to study alongside work and family commitments.
The EIT interactive platform of learning provides students with two vital benefits. The first is the opportunity, during every live session, to question their lecturers. The second is the ability to form networks within the virtual classroom; with other master students based around the world.
The learning distance is ameliorated by our dedicated Learning Support Officers who will ensure that EIT students remain engaged and on track as they move through their studies.
The start date is approaching and the entrant requirements are rigorous, but our application panel is poised to begin the process of assessing potential students.
To find out more about this prestigious and accredited program, please visit www.eit.edu.au/master-engineering-electrical-systems.
The Queen of England has already spent £600,000 ($748,932) of taxpayer money with trusted engineers and architectural designers that have compiled blueprints for what is being called a 'reservicing' of Buckingham Palace. The taxpayers have been informed that they will be expected to foot the bill of £369 million ($459 million) for a full update of the Palace. All of the bells and whistles! The main engineering company attached to the project is WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff. There are six Buckingham Palace old electric cabling organizations that will also lend their expertise to the reservicing. The refurbishment of the Palace would be the biggest update since World War II. There are aged boilers to repair, 20 miles of pipework and 100 miles of electrical cable that will need replacing.
Official pictures from the report showed the aged cabling and made a point that all of the electrical cabling needed to be redone. Furthermore, the heating of the Palace was installed 60 years ago. The official report read:
A series of detailed technical assessments have examined the material state of the Palace, including the electrical cabling, power generation, hot and cold water pipework and data systems (fire alarms, telephones and IT). These established that elements of the Palace's essential services are significantly beyond their maximum useful life and require urgent replacements to avoid the risk of devastating failure.
The Palace employs 300 staff that utilize offices and reportedly hosts 90,000 people per year due to events and functions. The Monarchy seems adamant that if the infrastructure of the Palace is not updated, the "catastrophic" failure of infrastructural mechanisms could result in a fire or a flood. The report says that the drainage system consists of a mixture of "lead and cast iron pipework" that needs to be overhauled. The reservicing would ensure that the Palace would not have to be updated in the next fifty years. The reservicing will start in April 2017 and continue for a decade, reservicing the Palace wing-by-wing. The report states that the reservicing presents a unique opportunity for the "new generation of construction professionals" who will work on the historic building through "apprenticeships and graduate programmes." It is also rumored that Buckingham Palace might be going solar.
A mock-up of what the Palace might look like with solar panels on the roofs give hope that the electricity bill might - at least - be significantly less in the next ten to fifteen years.
Here at the Engineering Institute of Technology we offer a range of Electrical and Structural Design Engineering programs. A few are listed below:
-
Professional Certificate of Competency in Structural Design for Non-Structural Engineers
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Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (Electrical Systems)
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like more information.
Could you visualise a world without technical drawing software? Showing the inner workings of something you engineered by hand sketching the details as accurately as possible. CAD software is the lifeblood of design engineers. Most modern engineers applying for patents for their tirelessly engineered innovations use CAD programs to create their technical drawings. Other design engineers will use the programs to show a mockup of what an eventual product design may look like, and can introduce hypothetical changes to the product and measure the effect it might have. The pen and ruler has been replaced by computer software. Eighty years ago, however, the inefficient pen and ruler is all engineers had.
A collector of technical drawings appeared on BBC’s Antiques road show in September, with a box full of technical drawings from a railway and civil engineer named Robert Stephenson, who drew technical drawings by hand in 1823. He was the son of who is considered to be the ‘Father of Railways’, George Stephenson. Jonathan Moller, who brought the box of drawings to the popular show bought the box on eBay for $115. The historian on the show valuated the drawings at more than $38,000.
There probably are still the purists who have not let go of the traditional pencil and eraser, however, there is no denying that technology has forever changed engineering. As a result, engineers have had to gain new skills related to information technology to keep as relevant to the industry. Their grasp on technical knowledge has undeniably grown over the years.
LinkedIn have published their list of skills that are most in demand and will most likely get a candidate hired in the modern workplace. The conundrum that engineers face is how to implement non-engineering skills into their daily work life without losing focus on their main skills. The most ‘in-demand’ skills, according to LinkedIn are:
1. Cloud and distributed computing
2. Statistical analysis and data mining
3. Web architecture and development framework
4. Middleware and integration software
5. User interface design
6. Network and information security
7. Mobile development
8. Data presentation
9. Search engine optimization marketing
10. Storage systems and management
Those look more like individual jobs than skills, to be frank. What is apparent is that information technology skills have become very crucial to landing a job in the global village. Having ten of these skills on top of an engineering degree is probably being optimistic. Having some of these skills, however, could put you ahead of the pack. Gone are the days where just being a people person, with the ability of being a team player, gets you the job.
In some cases, engineers abandon their initial engineering studies and move to a DevOps engineering role or software engineering role, away from traditional engineering endeavour. And perhaps some are not wrong. CareerCast.com published a report that showed that software engineers, computer system analysts and web developers are the most in demand jobs of 2016, with petroleum engineering only coming in at fourth place. The starting salaries for engineers may be higher but there seems to be more job opportunities for people going into information technology roles, where only some rely on engineering.
Moreover, there is a push for engineers to become proficient in marketing and entrepreneurial skills as well. Engineers with the market-know-how of Steve Jobs and the technical skill of Steve Wozniak. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched a minor degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation earlier this year, encouraging engineers to enroll due to the lecturers being part of the MIT Schools of Engineering and Management.
Some critics, however, are giving a different perspective on the way engineering is being advertised to future students. Critics say it should not be advertised as a field of study that leans heavily on entrepreneurship and makes it look all shiny. The reality of it is a bit different. Although, working for Tesla or SpaceX would be cool.
“The value of engineering is much, much more than just innovation and new things. Focusing on taking care of the world rather just creating the new nifty thing that’s going to solve all of our problems,” said Lee Vinsel, an Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He spoke to journalist Stephen Dubner on a recent podcast episode of Freakonomics, named ‘In Praise of Maintenance’.
“If you look at what engineers do, out in the world, like 70-80 percent of them spend most of their time just keeping things going. And so, this comes down to engineering education too, when we’re forcing entrepreneurship and innovation as the message, we’re just kind of skewing reality for young people and we’re not giving them the real picture and we’re also not valuing the work that they’re probably going to do in their life. That just seems to me to be a kind of a bad idea” Vinsel said.
This is where LinkedIn’s ‘in demand’ skills come in. A good number of industrial facilities now run on completely automated systems that rely on SCADA systems, PLCs and more. Technical know-how is a must when it comes to these systems, because the Internet of Things lies on the horizon. This means that learning how to secure network information and operations is critical to keeping key engineering industries (like power plants) functioning. It would be advantageous to become well equipped with the skills that could save a company a lot of money, and could get you a pay raise.
Here at the Engineering Insittute of Technology we offer Professional Certificate of Competency in 3D Engineering Design and Printing for Rapid Prototyping 3 month course, as well as various SCADA 3 month courses: The Professional Certificate of Competency in Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) & SCADA Systems and Professional Certificate of Competency in Modern SCADA Communication Systems including DNP3 & IEC60870.
Please contact us for more information.
W. Richard Bowen, author of Engineering Ethics: Challenges and Opportunities, says that engineers are in charge of several industrial operations that have the power to change the society they live in. He lists some of the ingenuities that engineers have designed: “Clean water production and sanitation, energy generation, large-scale pharmaceutical manufacture, hygienic food processing, functional buildings transport infrastructure, mechanical devices, medical diagnostic equipment, instrumentation and computing and telecommunications.”
Bowen says, in the past, “high priority” has been given to the designing of impressive engineering technologies without much attention given to “ethical responsibility”. However, as the title of his book stipulates, these are challenges and opportunities for the engineering man/woman. Engineering companies have historically abided to a code of ethics, a practice that almost all companies in every single industry in the world stick to. But how much do we trust these so-called engineers?
Gallup, a world renowned American research company with a focus on global performance management recently conducted an over-the-phone survey with the help of 1,028 Americans. The poll was conducted to measure the American public’s perception of honesty and ethics in selected professions. The Society of Fire Protection Engineers of the United States, in one of their recent publications, drew a graph according to Gallup’s figures from 2011-2014, which indicated engineers were second in terms of professional and ethical standing, with nurses gaining the top position. Nursing professionals have been lauded in the survey for the last 14 years, getting the top spot every year since 1999.
| Profession | Percentage of respondents |
| Nurses | 85% |
| Engineers | 70% |
| Military Officers | 69% |
| Medical doctors | 65% |
| Pharmacists | 64% |
| Dentists | 61% |
| College teachers | 54% |
| Police officers | Less than 50% |
| Judges | Less than 50% |
Gallup’s American’ Ratings of Honesty and Ethics in Selected Professions 2011-2014 ; as reported by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers of the United States
Moreover, The Dean of Engineering at the Engineering Institute of Technology, Steve Mackay, in a YouTube series titled The Engineering News Network has spoken about ethical engineering. He said: “Ethics for engineers means engineers in the fulfillment of their professional duties should uphold, as paramount, the safety, health and welfare of their fellow citizens.”
With reference to the American Society of Civil Engineers, Mackay outlines what he believes are the fundamentals of ethical engineering. When approaching any engineering project, there are a few “rules of thumb” he believes one can apply:
● Hold safety, health and welfare of your fellow citizen in high regard
● Only work in areas where you are competent
- “Don’t build bridges if you’re an electronics design engineer. Focus on your areas of competence,” Mackay said.
● Be truthful and objective in everything you do
- “Be honest, tell the truth and be objective when communicating with others”
● Try and hold the highest professional standards in whatever you do
- “Don’t take shortcuts; don’t go for the cheap and nasty approach”
● Avoid conflicts of interest
● Ensure that your professional reputation is built on real, objective successes
● Have zero tolerance for fraud, corruption and bribery. Say no
● Always focus on enhancing your skills
Works Cited
Bowen, W. Richard. Engineering Ethics: Challenges and Opportunities. Print.
EngInstTech. "ENN39 Engineering Ethics." YouTube. YouTube, 23 June 2016. Web. 24 Aug. 2016.
"Honesty/Ethics in Professions." Gallup.com. Web. 24 Aug. 2016.
Over 30 years ago, I attended an impressive demonstration of a company that had developed a nifty image processing system and fruit selector to sort good from bad fruit. A great idea but hugely expensive, only operational for a part of the season (fruit picking) and prone to breakdowns and many errors.
Dear Colleagues
Over 30 years ago, I attended an impressive demonstration of a company that had developed a nifty image processing system and fruit selector to sort good from bad fruit. A great idea but hugely expensive, only operational for a part of the season (fruit picking) and prone to breakdowns and many errors. Sadly, it was eventually dumped and the investors retreated licking their wounds (no doubt swearing to avoid any bright technology type ideas in future). However, we are now moving into the right time for the successful launch of many workable robot solutions for processing food. The hype cycle is slowly (?) moving more into the mature area of producing useful economically viable outcomes.
Farming is Extraordinarily Tough
Despite strong population growth with supposedly lots of hungry mouths – nine billion people in 2050 - farming is tough. Constant droughts, floods, fires, hail and simply the costs of trying to plant seeds, maintain good growth of one’s crops and then to harvest crops.
In sadly looking at her fields of maize which had been destroyed overnight by a hail storm, a farmer remarked that you need to have at least seven years resources (capital and human persistence) in farming to be able to stay viable through all the bad years. Twenty years ago, I was helping a mushroom farmer with automating their reticulation and monitoring systems, and a virus wiped out his production for over a year. A year of lost revenue almost bankrupted him but to his credit – he hung on and it is now a thriving highly automated firm.
In many regions (perhaps not Africa or Asia) such as Europe, North America and Australia, there is no low cost labour as the minimum wage in a country often make it uneconomic to employ people full time (besides the ubiquitous backpackers).
The automation of agriculture is often posited as the solution to these problems but equipment is still hugely expensive, unreliable, error prone and difficult to justify for only a month a year of harvesting.
The other challenge is that if an automation project goes wrong – you don’t mess up one day’s production but an entire season (which is generally a year). So the costs of failure can be huge and farmers often shy away for these reasons.
Success Stories are Around
The greatest success story surely lies in dairy farming with automated milking machines (robots?) rapidly becoming the standard especially for new facilities. Cows get milked five or six times per day with their cows’ underbellies and teats being cleaned and the milk production being closely monitored. The level of automation is a bit unnerving for a traditional farmer who is horrified by ‘measured march of the robots’.
Crop Harvesting is Rapidly Growing
Crop harvesting robots are also a rapidly growing (albeit expensive) industry. Robot arms are guided by image sensors that map the tree with its fruit, identify the location, size and colour of the fruit. A huge 10,000 apples per hour is a claimed production rate from one vendor and it can be adapted to oranges, lemons and peaches.
Other variations on the theme are grape mechanical harvesters with operational costs of up to half the cost of a traditional hand picker.
Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and self-driving vehicles (tractors) have certainly made a huge impact as well.
The challenge as alluded to earlier with most automated or robotic solutions is to make them versatile or multipurpose rather than one-off aiming at only one crop and one season but in handling multiple crops from the one farm.
Where can you add value?
There is no doubt that there are huge opportunities in automating aspects of agriculture. As engineering professionals we have developed skills in many other areas of industry. Can you thus apply any of these technologies that you are familiar with to farming in a cost effective way?
In developing automated solutions for agriculture, Walt Whitman’s suggestion is good: Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
Thanks to an interesting article (Dec13, 2016) from the Institute of Engineering Technology.
Yours in engineering learning
Steve
Mackay’s Musings – 13th Dec’16 #630
780, 293 readers – www.eit.edu.au/cms/news/blog-steve-mackay
When the United Kingdom famously opted to exit from the European Union this year, what was the dominant feeling among them? The question sounds like the unanswerable million dollar question at the end of a trivia show. The answer is: uncertainty. They felt that the country had isolated itself from the rest of the world and that engineering endeavor and business was going to be wrapped up in...uncertainty. Engineers are in an era of uncertainty. The world wants new, shiny, efficient things from engineers. And it breeds uncertainty. What are those things, you ask? Society demands more efficient transport, more power production, safer energy exploration, less waste, smarter products, self-driving cars, more impressive entertainment technology, and on top of this, they want it all to be safe and reliable.
This is where engineering in safety, predictability, and risk comes in. Safety engineers are one of the most sought after kinds of engineers because they attempt to shield the general public from the risk attached to engineering endeavor and innovation. Engineers ensure that the systems they build are the safest and most reliable systems they can possibly design. In key engineering industries, risk-related procedures must be followed to ensure that the highest level of performance is possible. And when failures occur, it is the safety engineer's responsibility to figure out the ‘why’ and ‘how’ the failures happen, and adjust their systems’ safety accordingly. In their book, ‘Reliability and Safety Engineering’, Ak. Srividya and Durga Rao, say: “Reliability deals with the failure concept, whereas safety deals with the consequences of failure.”
What are the consequences of failure? Well, sometimes it is the worst possible result; death. The Dreamworld theme park in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, has seen the result of an engineering failure. The Thunder River Rapids ride saw a malfunction that caused the colliding of two of the ride’s rafts, positioned on the conveyor belt. Four people lost their lives after being ‘ejected’ from the ride after the raft was flipped over due to the collision. The Australian Workers Union had reportedly approached the theme park’s operators, Ardent Leisure, and the Queensland safety regulators to bring the park’s safety and operation of equipment into question back in April 2015.
Safety, predictability, and reliability of theme park rides are something automation and control engineers will be making a lot of money out of in the entertainment industry in years to come. A report by Global Industry Analysts predict that theme park revenue, in the United States alone, will reach $44 billion by 2020. Safety PLCs are usually used to automate theme park rides, and will continue to be engineered within the parameters of reliability and will ensure engineers can respond to failure quickly with a fail-safe mechanism. Continuous operation of theme parks means more maintenance being necessary - this is where safety engineers are needed.
Safety, reliability, and predictability of engineering systems have never been more important in a world that will be seeing driverless cars in the future. The question is - can we engineer something that controls a car in a safer way than humans do? Globally 1.2 million people die in car accidents every year. As a result, we have seen companies like Google, Tesla Motors and others; begin to engineer hardware that drives the car for you. But is it safe? Missy Cummings, the director of a robotics focused lab named the Human and Autonomy Lab at Duke University predicted a year of challenges for self-driving in March 2016. She said: “There is no question someone is going to die in this technology. The question is when, and what we can do to minimize that.” The self-driving car has changed the world of traditional safety engineering and presented it with new and unique challenges.
Chris Urmson who was attached to Google’s self-driving car project in March said that self-driving technology is safe. He said that Google’s driverless cars had done 1.4 million miles of driverless driving; the equivalent of 108 years on the road. Urmson has since departed from Google but professed that Google’s fleet was safe and ready for public deployment.
Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors will be equipping every car that comes off of their assembly line with new hardware that allows the car to operate itself. In the near future, you could have a fully autonomous car sitting in your garage. It has been, very much, trial and error with Tesla and self-driving hardware. In June, Tesla’s software was criticized when their Autopilot Technology Package failed to spot a trailer sprawled across a freeway in a customer’s Tesla Model S. The software reportedly was not able to discern that the trailer was in front of it because of its white color. The car slammed into the trailer and the driver unfortunately died. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration opened an investigation. The safety engineers, presumably, had to go back to the drawing board.
However, they are back and Tesla now has full autonomy hardware named the ‘Drive Me’ program, using the Nvidia Drive PX 2 computing platform. The company has now set a safety goal, to not have any serious injury or death in their new fully autonomous cars by 2020.
The Engineering Institute of Technology is hosting the Master of Engineering in Safety, Risk, and Reliability. Through online interactive training, the next generation of safety engineers will bring their knowledge to industries that require system safety in the early stages of projects to the operation of those projects. The course covers key safety modules including:
● Safety Systems and Risk Management
● Incident and Accident Investigation
● Health, Safety and Environment Management
● Human Factors Engineering
● Reliability Engineering
● And more
The Master's program will equip you with the necessary knowledge for reducing risk in key engineering industries. Through live webinars and interactive sessions, industry experts will train the new realm of safety engineers. The next automation, process and design engineers will be developing new engineering innovations that will need safety, risk and reliability engineering. Any uncertainty of new engineering innovation can be diminished.
Below are a list of engineering programs that we at the Engineering Institute of Technology offer:
- Master of Engineering (Safety, Risk & Reliability)
- Professional Certificate of Competency in Safety Instrumentation Systems for Process Industries
- Professional Certificate of Competency in Hazardous Areas and Instrinsic Safety for Engineers and Technicians
Please contact us for more information.
Engineers are synonymous with having unbridled amounts of knowledge. Some might say they have a wealth of knowledge. They have to publish their thoughts and work into books, journals, magazines and the like, in a bid to inform and instruct others. However, a stereotype that is furthered by non-engineers is the apparent fact that engineers are not effective communicators. It is, of course, a generalization to say that engineers struggle with communication, however, it wouldn’t be a stereotype if there was not a stigma attached to the engineering community. There must be some truth to the claims. What is apparent, then, is that engineers should become more acquainted with skills that are not taught in their engineering courses. So, what are those additional skills and knowledge engineers can access to thrust themselves into prominence?
Dr. Phillip A. Laplante, an Associate Professor of Software Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, penned a book named Technical Writing: A Practical Guide for Engineers and Scientists, wherein he discusses the revelations engineers have after graduation. He says that the engineer soon discovers that the range of subjects covered in the engineering curriculum omits any details pertaining to the problems that could arise in the engineering profession. He says, problems concerning new technology, business, law and more, are not taught or specified when in engineering courses. Laplante makes a case for all scientists and engineers to band together and become proficient in technical writing to make their complex-natured way of thinking and producing work, more straightforward.
Before writing even occurs, an engineer can learn the basics too. The Dean of Engineering of the Engineering Institute of Technology Steve Mackay says there is a host of non-engineering skills for engineering professionals, especially, who can assist with communication. He said: “About 42 years ago, I did one of the courses which cost fifteen to a hundred dollars, for two weeks, which was probably one of the most fiendishly, ferociously valuable courses I’ve ever done.” The course was how to touch type (how to use all fingers to type and not look at the screen at the same time).
It is crucial for engineers to communicate in a way that informs both other engineers and non-engineers in a way that is unambiguous. There are differences between technical and non-technical writing, Laplante suggests. He writes: “Precision is crucial in technical writing. When you express an idea in technical writing, it may be realized in some device or process. If the idea is wrong, the device or process will also be wrong.” The removal of any evocations of emotion in engineers’ technical writing is important. Thus, technical writing is a kind of writing reserved for professionals who do not wish to persuade their audience, but rather, to state the facts as plainly as possible.
How does the world prevent the whimsical persuasion of an engineer trying to publish a new study that he/she claims will change the world in a world renowned journal? A process known as ‘refereeing’ occurs. Journals will revise any technical writing that is submitted to them and decide whether or not it is ready to publish. It would ensure that engineers do not overstate or over exaggerate the claims they make in their findings. Other technical writing includes progress reports, feasibility studies, specifications, proposals, facilities descriptions, manuals, procedures, planning documents, environmental impact statements, safety analysis reports and bug reports. All of these documents need to be written in a technical manner.
Laplante outlines “5 C’s” that every technical writer can adhere to. Technical writing should be, 'Correct, Clear, Complete, Consistent and Changeable'. He also implores engineers to circumvent clichés and to avoid writing about physical objects in an anthropomorphic nature. The Engineering Institute of Technology is hosting a three-month interactive online course that will teach a prospective engineer how to write both technical documents and technical specifications. Upon completing the course, a learner would gain a Professional Certificate of Competency in Specification and Technical Writing.
Specification writing is also important to the engineering profession. Specifications usually detail contracts, tender agreements and in some cases the money behind certain operations. Furthermore, it discusses how an engineering design will be implemented - it is particularly assistful for new members joining an already existing engineering team, it can help bring them up to speed. Engineering institutions will develop specifications standards targeted at a particular industry. For example, the Preparation of Construction Specifications for Civil Projects document was a standard published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for any projects falling under their operations. These specifications, according to the ASCE, would prevent misunderstandings and disputes, and should satisfy all parties in an engineering operation.
Moreover, the ASCE says “Arbitrary and ambiguous language will create uncertainty that can lead to increased project costs.” Therefore, becoming proficient in technical and technical specifications writing is paramount for an engineer who desires to become an efficient, financially sound project manager. EIT say their course will teach an engineer how to “systematically design and write accurate and comprehensive technical specifications” so that they can run cost-effective engineering operations. They will also show the stark difference between writing to express and writing to impress.
Mackay concludes by delving into a host of other skills engineers can acquire that would set them above the rest when it comes to being the best engineers they can be. He says engineers can learn time management, basic finance, and bookkeeping, how to negotiate effectively, how to present oral presentations, photographic skills and, finally, networking with other engineering professionals. Equipped with excellent writing skills as well, an engineering professional can further catapult their dreams and aspirations if they just continue to build on their skill sets.
Here at EIT we offer a Professional Certificate of Competency in Specification and Technical Writing three-month interactive live online course. The next intake begins the week of September 18, 2017.
Please contact us for more information.
Works Cited
EngInstTech. "ENN16 Non-engineering Skills Useful to Engineers." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2016. Web. 29 Aug. 2016.
Fitchett, Paul, Jeremy M. Haslam, and Jeremy M. Haslam. Writing Engineering Specifications. London: Spon, Taylor & Francis Group, 2002. Print.
Laplante, Phillip A. Technical Writing: A Practical Guide for Engineers and Scientists. Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2012. Print.
Globally, there will be two billion people aged over 60 years old and older, by 2050. That figure is given to us by the United States government, who use the estimations to build policy around the elderly in their country. How many of these two billion will still be employed in 2050? It is perhaps impossible to say. How many will be let go because of their age? That is also an impossible question to answer. It was George Orwell who famously said: “Each generation perceives itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.” Whether current engineering leadership believes that or not, there seems to be a hiring culture that favors younger postgraduates above older engineers. Or at least that is potentially true for Silicon Valley.
Google has been accused of ageism hiring practices in new claims that could see the search engine giant going to court. A judge has called for engineers - of forty years old or older - who unsuccessfully interviewed at Google for employment to testify in a “collective action” case. The judge said that “software engineers, site reliability engineers or systems engineers” who applied for employment in August, and were turned away, should speak up so that an ageism case can be built.
A spokesperson at Google told media: “We believe the allegations here are without merit and we will continue to defend our position vigorously. We have strong policies against discrimination on any unlawful basis, including age.” On Google’s campus, there is allegedly a diversity group - or club - that sees 40 years old and older engineers engaging in social activities. They’re known as the GREYGLERS or ‘Grey Googlers’. When Yahoo Finance requested a report on the median age and gender ratio of Google, the company were reluctant to provide any information.
However, Google is not the only tech company that has seen an ageism suit being filed. At Elon Musk’s Tesla, a 69-year-old engineer is alleging that he was fired because of his age. He is certain that his age played a factor in his dismissal. The 69-year-old Mr. Thomas Flessner said that when he worked at Tesla, he would have to work harder than everyone else because he had to prove that an engineer of his age could compete with the younger engineers. A spokesperson for Tesla told media: “While we aren’t commenting on the specifics of this litigation, we are committed to upholding a discrimination-free workplace.” Other tech companies also embroiled in ageism claims include Microsoft, Twitter, and IBM.
Patricia J. Bronwell and James J. Kelly authored a book named Ageism and Mistreatment of Older Workers: Current Reality, Future Solutions. Their book positions ageism right alongside racial and gender discriminatory practices. They also write about how ageism is a human rights issue. The book references the stance the United Kingdom Department for Work and Pensions took in 2011. They wrote, that in workplaces, equal training needs to be given to all employees “regardless of their age,” and that, training options need to be communicated to every employee. It is perhaps the contravention of this stance that sees older engineers falling behind with the times and getting fired because of their inability to keep up with the technological changes within a company.
This is most apparent in South African telecoms company, Telkom. There seems to be a divide in the education and training of newer technicians versus the older, more experienced technicians. The divide that exists is one that sees the younger employees grappling with and understanding new technologies pertaining to LTE and fiber infrastructure, but, leaving the older technicians oblivious to the newer technologies. For example, once an aged technician is called out to a customer’s house, they could be seeing technology - belonging to the company they work for - that they have never seen in thirty years of working at the company. A lack of adequate training for older technicians means they get left behind.
Although, there are some skills that engineers and technicians could acquire that would keep them afloat in a world where the younger, budding engineer is taking over. The Dean of Engineering here at the Engineering Institute of Technology, Steve Mackay, says that staying employed as an elderly engineer is all about networking. He said: “I often have people - especially in their forties and fifties- saying they’ve applied for jobs, can’t get them, and that they think there is discrimination against us older guys. It’s possibly true, but, one of the amazing things you can do is build up a network of colleagues, friends, whatever. You start doing that when you’re in college or at university and you keep building it up. The network will actually help you get employment or point you towards opportunities.”
References
Brownell, Patricia J., and James J. Kelly. Ageism and Mistreatment of Older Workers: Current Reality, Future Solutions. Print.
Numbers, By The. "More Software Engineers over Age 40 May Join a Lawsuit against Google." More Software Engineers over Age 40 May Join a Lawsuit against Google. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
The Master’s degree is the new black. It’s becoming awfully fashionable in a world where a Bachelor’s degree is becoming more accessible than ever, and therefore, more redundant. When fighting for lower tuition fees, students from around the world always reference the progressive thinking Germany (and surrounding European countries), who offer free higher education. What they do not always say is that once you venture to obtain your Master’s degree, suddenly, tuition fees are involved. What remains clear is that if you want to be ten steps ahead of the rest with added employment opportunities - and the elusive ‘bigger salary’ - getting your Master’s degree is a good idea.
The good news is that Master’s degrees are becoming more affordable and even more accessible. This week, the New York Times reported on the Master’s in Computer Science that is being advertised at the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Engineering (known to most as Georgia Tech). The college has indicated the Master’s degree will only cost $7,000. At other high-ranking United States colleges, the same course costs between $43,000-$57,000. So, what’s the catch with Georgia Tech’s Master’s? The answer is: The course is completely online.
As a result, Georgia Tech can offer the course to more students than a single classroom can handle. Thus far, they have reported that 4,000 students are signed up to the online Master's degree. Partnering up with Udacity, Georgia Tech is reaching more students with a system based around Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The price is set lower than their brick-and-mortar-college competition because fewer resources are needed when delivering the course. The lecturers who are involved in the startup, that has been operating since 2013, think that the online Master’s might even be more interactive, compared to the physical lecture halls. What are the benefits of an interactive, online training platform, you might ask?
The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) has recently added Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees to their online, interactive engineering training platform. It presents students the opportunity to start at the diploma level and build their way up to the Master’s degree. The Dean of Engineering at the institution, Steve Mackay, speaking about the degrees they offer, said: “They’ve got some serious opportunities [for students]. They’re online - we have a dedicated Learning Support Officer and highly experienced instructors as characteristic ingredients of this program. The idea is that if you’ve done an advanced diploma or a technical diploma, you will get some credits towards the BSc.” From there you would work your way into the Master’s degree and qualify as an industry-ready engineer.
In an interview with a student from EIT who graduated with an Advanced Diploma in Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering in Mining, the benefits of pursuing engineering qualifications online was clear. He said that having a family and already having a job in the industry meant that the only way to continually gain his engineering qualifications was to study online. Attending a brick and mortar university would have prevented him from getting work experience. For him, the convenience of studying online made EIT the perfect fit for his situation. He wants to move on to his bachelor’s and then finish with his Master of Engineering in Industrial Automation. He would be able to do that without setting foot on-campus and can do it from anywhere in the world.
Another student at EIT, Tresor Wa Kahilu, an engineer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said: “Engineering is evolving. People who do extra work get promoted. I want to push forward and get my Master’s so that I can have more opportunities in the engineering industry. Through studying online, I became more confident and became better at approaching problems in engineering.” The coming together of learning coordinators and experienced instructors, interacting with students online, is constantly adding legitimacy to online engineering degree training.
Furthermore, instead of being limited to a single country or territory, studying online is changing the way the world thinks about higher education. Higher education degrees that are available online are going to be - and in some cases already are - internationally accredited. As a result, getting your Master’s degree through an online college/university that is internationally accredited will become big business in the near future. The prestige that some institutions within developing countries - and some first world countries - may have, might also disappear as a result of international institutions offering superior education and training. Soon, some brick and mortar institutions may not be able to keep up with the number of online enrollees at institutions that promise the same knowledge and qualifications, offered more conveniently. Therefore, some on-campus institutions have started offering their curricula both on-campus and online to try and get in on what is expected to be the next big thing in higher education.
Below are a few of the Master Degrees in Engineering that are on offer here at the Engineering Institute of Technology:
- Master of Engineering (Industrial Automation)
- Master of Engineering (Safety, Risk & Reliability)
- Master of Engineering (Electrical Systems)
Please contact us for more information.
EIT is accepting applications to join the January 2017 intakes of each of the Master of Engineering Degrees as listed below. Applications are closing soon but will be accepted until December 16, 2016; apply today and secure your place on the limited places now available!
- Master of Engineering (Industrial Automation)
- Master of Engineering (Electrical Systems)
- Master of Engineering (Safety, Risk and Reliability)
Applications for the January 03, 2017 intakes will close December 16, 2016.
Proposed Master of Engineering Degrees
Our R&D team is working busily in the background to ensure we at EIT can offer you even more cutting edge Master degrees. There are six (6) new programs currently being worked on and we want to hear your thoughts on the proposed Master of Engineering degrees as listed below.
- Master of Engineering (Civil: Structural)
- Master of Engineering (Civil: Railway Infrastructure)
- Master of Engineering (Civil: Transportation)
- Master of Engineering (Mechanical)
- Master of Engineering (Electrical and Instrumentation in Oil and Gas)
- Master of Engineering (Chemical and Process)
View full details of these proposed degrees here: www.eit.edu.au/proposed-master-engineering-degrees.
We are excited at the prospect of being able to offer you even more Master of Engineering degrees in the future.
Applications Now Open!
EIT is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications to join the January 2017 intakes of each of the Master of Engineering Degrees:
- Master of Engineering (Industrial Automation)
- Master of Engineering (Electrical Systems)
- Master of Engineering (Safety, Risk and Reliability)
If you hold a Bachelor Degree, you can apply for a place on one of these two-year part-time (100% online) study programs - accelerate your career into high gear.
Due to the demand for the limited places on these degrees, you should act now; our window for accepting applications will be short.
You can obtain fees, payment options and copies of the application forms by completing the course enquiry form here: www.eit.edu.au/course-enquiry.
The live, online method of teaching will ensure that engineers and graduate technologists can begin the two year programs wherever they are in the world. Furthermore, the qualification is attained part time, allowing students to study alongside work and family commitments.
The EIT interactive platform of learning provides students with two vital benefits. The first is the option, during every live session, to question their lecturers. The second is the ability to form networks within the virtual classroom with other master students based around the world.
Give your career and your self-esteem a massive boost. Contact us today.
Bachelor of Science (BSc) Degrees
We are also delighted that the Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees have been accredited by TEQSA, Australia’s regulatory authority. These BSc degree programs fit in seamlessly to EIT’s other program offerings allowing you to progress from a post school certificate (e.g. trades certificate) to 18-24 month Advanced Diploma, 3-4 year BSc, culminating in a 2 year Master of Engineering degree.
FREE Information Session
If you are interested to know more about the BSc and Master programs, attend our live, online information session with EIT's Dean of Engineering, Dr Steve Mackay. For full details and to register your place, please click here.
Applications are now open for the January 03, 2017 intakes for the following degrees:
- Bachelor of Science (Industrial Automation Engineering)
- Bachelor of Science (Electrical Engineering)
- Bachelor of Science (Mechanical Engineering)
- Bachelor of Science (Civil and Structural Engineering)
One of the concerns that students may have is: "Will I be able to finish the program?”. Yes you will! You will receive full support from the lecturers and your Learning Support Officer and mentor; we want you to complete the degree, as much as you do. The dedicated learning coordinators and knowledgeable lecturers will all focus on providing you with the know-how to help you through the degree program, which will benefit you throughout your engineering career.
You are assuredly getting the most effective online education available. Our highly interactive sessions with experienced passionate engineering lecturers, supported by keenly interested learning coordinators for each class, is a key to our ongoing success and industry high graduation rates. We believe this is by far the best way to achieve outstanding results in your engineering education.
Read more on our Bachelor of Science programs here.
Applications will close December 16, 2016.
Do not miss out on a place – APPLY NOW!
President of the United States, Barack Obama decided to veto the application and in turn canceled the project. Some experts believed it was politically motivated, however, activists had expressed their concerns pertaining to the pipeline. Activists said that “tar sand transport” would have released toxic chemicals into the air, having an adverse effect on the health of the people of Oklahoma. Additionally, the 850,000 barrels of oil that the pipeline would have transported, per day, would have also gone on to be environmentally harmful. Obama’s office cited the debate on climate change as a reason for the rejection of the plan.
Nonetheless, the engineers behind the Keystone project, when it was still being greenlit, tried to reassure the public that it would not be as harmful as some people thought. They said, “The Keystone XL Pipeline will be the safest and most advanced pipeline operation in North America. It will not only bring essential infrastructure to North American oil producers, but it will also provide jobs, long-term energy independence and an economic boost to Americans.” Some engineers believe that whilst other engineers work to build a future where renewable energy is the norm, the current energy-producing methods must still go forward.
Therefore, engineers who are proficient in onshore and offshore pipeline systems are still needed in the world. Offshore-Mag.com estimates that almost 4,000 miles of oil and gas export and transmission pipelines will be built from now, through to 2020, in offshore operations alone. Offshore pipeline installation requires engineers to know quite a bit about hydraulics; fluid dynamics, flow, and conveyance of fluids (oil, gas and water).
Amidst the outcries of protestors claiming the environment is damaged by pipelines and the subsequent emissions they produce, engineering experts have assured the public that the transportation of oil through pipelines is five times safer than transporting oil via railway. Spectra Energy says that long haul pipelines have a clean safety record and are reliable for onshore natural gas transmission. The pipelines are continually monitored to ensure they are working as efficiently and safely as possible, twenty-four hours a day. Should something go wrong with the pipeline, engineers are prepared to deal with the fallout as it happens.
The importance of safety in pipeline design cannot be understated. Billions of dollars have been spent on enhancing pipelines and securing their safety in the United States alone. The process of securing a pipeline’s safety occurs long before construction even begins. Qiang Bai and Yong Bai’s book Subsea Pipeline Design, Analysis and Installation outlines the design procedure for a possible pipeline system. The design guidelines are very similar for both onshore and offshore applications:
1. Design requirements
2. Pipeline wall thickness
3. Grade of pipeline material
4. Type of coating-corrosion and weight
5. Coating wall thickness
Corrosion, erosion or third-party damage to pipelines could result in environmentally damaging accidents, which is what the environmentally-conscious public is aware and scared of. When engineers design pipelines, however, the stress loads are calculated and a probability of failure figure is produced. Additionally, environmental safety impact assessments are also done, to measure the impact the construction and the operation a pipeline design might have.
Are you interested in diving into the very profitable world of oil, gas and water transportation and transmission engineering? A three-month course from the Engineering Institute of Technology will get you started on the basics of pipeline design and much more. Once the three months are over, you will be awarded a Professional Certificate of Competency in Onshore and Offshore Pipeline Systems. Best of all, you can do it in the luxury of your own home as all of the engineering training is done through interactive online sessions. You will learn about the key principles of pipeline design, construction, installation, operation and maintenance. You will be taught several pipeline specifications and standards to ensure that the pipelines you eventually work on will be built in a correct manner and are free from any sort of damage.
The EIT offers a three-month course related to the above, called the Professional Certificate of Competency in Onshore and Offshore Pipeline Systems. Please ask us for more information.
References
Bai, Qiang, and Yong Bai. Subsea Pipeline Design, Analysis, and Installation. Print.
Engineering in the first world and engineering in the third - developing - world is vastly different. Therefore, being the engineering “change” is not as cut and dry as it sounds. Why is that? The answer is technology. The Dean of Engineering, here at the Engineering Institute of Technology, Steve Mackay, explains: “One of the challenges we have is that we have the Western world, with ferocious access to technology and then we’ve got the third world - or the developing world - where things are not as good, where, in fact, you’ve got billions of people without sanitation, without drinking water, a real, real, problem.”
Furthermore, the education in the developing world also has differences to the Western world. Mackay believes, however, that the Western world can add value in the developing world through engineering. This has its limitations. The Western world will have technologies that the developing world does not have. So, why does the Western world just not throw the poorer countries a bone and give them the advanced technologies?
“One of the critical things is when you do get involved with projects in the developing world, it’s not to try and apply some massive, highly advanced, sophisticated infrastructure [or] advanced manufacturing. The trick is to go for barefoot engineering; which is, low-cost technology appropriate to the actual community you’re in,” Mackay adds.
Barefoot engineering can also refer to engineering without qualifications in developing nations. Bunker Roy (71) is an Indian activist and educator. In 2011, Roy gave a TED Talk on the subject of a college he created named the Barefoot College. The college was built in Rajasthan, India, with the help of illiterate laborers. The college teaches men and women how to become solar engineers, artisans, dentists and doctors in their own villages. Roy said these people do not need a paper qualification to determine how equipped they are to offer a service to the people of their country. It is not about money and fancy technologies to the developing world, it is about the survival of human beings.
“We redefined professionalism,” Roy said in his TED Talk. “Who is a professional? A professional is someone who is a combination of competence, confidence, and belief.” He believes that knowledge and skills are universal, and even illiterate people can become engineering professionals. In the Western world, the emphasis on theory-based learning prioritized above technical training can sometimes lead to engineers who do not know the practical uses of technologies that developing worlds could use. So, the developing world’s barefoot engineering “professionals” can teach qualified engineers a thing or two.
However, poorer nations are in need of help from engineers who could put their knowledge and skills to good use and improve the developing world’s quality of life. Whether or not they do that, was the focus of George D. Catalano’s book Engineering, Poverty, and the Earth. He questions whether engineers are, indeed, the “world-improvers” that - in his mind – they are supposed to be. Catalano believes engineers must focus on environment degradation and poverty, something, he believes, engineers have not done in the past. He writes: “[Engineers] strive for maximum profit during the shortest period of time with minimum investment.”
However, there are a group of engineers that strive for the improvement of developing nations with a strict focus on utilizing the technologies of the developing nations. One entity that exists to assist with solving global challenges in engineering, is the non-governmental organization named Engineers Without Borders (EWB). The Canadian branch of the NGO is particularly instrumental in Africa, working towards global poverty eradication through using technologies native to African territories. The engineers attempt to understand and implement cost-effective technologies that will benefit the engineering community of the developing world.
EWB Canada does not work for the benefit of their engineers but rather for the engineers of an impoverished nation. The organization encourages African countries to put politics aside and focus on enriching the continent through engineering. At the end of the year, the engineers that are actively involved in any engineering projects in the developing world publish their shortcomings and failures in what they call the Failure Report. The report is used as a motivational tool for the engineers, constantly encouraging them to learn from the failures of past projects so that they can continue innovating and doing well in developing nations. The organization makes the point that publishing their failures means they may be highlighting their failures but it does not mean they have been defeated or unsuccessful.
Furthermore, the Engineers Without Borders movement also embeds entrepreneurial skills into the communities so that they can build functioning industrial businesses in agriculture and civil engineering for a developing country that might need them most. The CEO of EWB Canada, Boris Martin, says that seed-funding projects in third world countries are not about gaining profit for both parties, but rather contributing to the struggling countries themselves. He says the organization shows how big a part engineering can play in early stage ventures that just need the small technological and knowledgeable push in order to become working systems that can benefit a small village, community or entire country.
Mackay says that engineering can benefit both your local communities and the communities in the third world. He outlines a list of engineering feats that have been perfected in impoverished nations. Reusing industrial waste and implementing solar energy projects for the heating of food, water and general lighting are just some of the things that engineers have been able to contribute. He concludes: “I just want to urge you to jump in there and assist in your small way with a project, in those communities. It is amazing how rewarding it is when you actually help someone else.”
Here at the Engineering Institute of Technology, we offer a six-month Graduate Certificate of Renewable Energy Technologies program, beginning on the 16th May, 2017. Please contact us for more information, spaces are very limited.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States (NASA) has said that after 136 years of global temperature record keeping, 2016 is irrefutably the hottest year on record. The revelations come after September’s data showed that the month was the warmest month in history, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). They reported that September was 0.91 degrees celsius warmer than the mean September temperatures from 1951 to 1980. The warmer global temperatures have already caused long-lasting droughts in the United States, South Africa, India, and Australia.
It all started in 2015 with the El Niño climate cycle. Coupled with the global climate change phenomenon, air temperatures were altered and a drought ensued, which led to less rain and thus less water. It has caused one of the worst droughts South Africa has seen in 30 years. In India, 134 farmers have committed suicide in just two months due to a two-year drought that has led to crop loss. In South Africa, several provinces have had water shortages. The provincial governments have ordered water restrictions be put in place at the utilities and cautioned citizens to use water sparingly or face the consequences. The consequences being...complete water cut-offs.
Even with the El Niño’s natural regression, the realities of climate change have been apparent. The immediate issue is the lack of water. Engineers are hard at work to figure out how to bring technology to the drought-fight at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At a third-party moderated discussion, Madelyn Glickfeld, a member of the UCLA Water Group and Institute of the Environment of Sustainability said: “The technologies that are most promising are smart technologies - technologies that use smart sensors to help people know how much water they’re using. This helps change behavior.” A recent poll by a Californian company named Xylem revealed that 76 percent of people believe that recycled water is the step forward for the region’s water infrastructure.
In response, Eric Hoek, a civil engineering professor at UCLA said: “I can take any quantity of water and turn into any other quality of water. The technology is there. It has been there for 20 years. The question is how much you’re willing to pay. Reusing water should be completely uncontroversial. The reality is it’s much safer to intelligently implement technology than to put water back out into the environment and pray that nature magically cleans it up.”
Hoek is talking about toilet to tap technology and reservoirs that capture rainfall runoff which, in turn, runs the water through a water purification process and eventually produces drinkable and reusable water. These are inventions that engineers have been successfully implementing in several countries for many years. However, Californians are unfamiliar with Direct Potable Reuse (DPR)/the toilet to tap wastewater reuse method. This system could lead to more water being accessible in the drought-stricken state.
However, drinking water aside, the other issue countries will have with further drought climate conditions is in the hydroelectric power plants. In Daniel L. Calzi’s book Dams, Drought and Energy-water Interdependencies, he details how droughts have the potential to affect “the operation of dams in ways that can be detrimental to hydropower production.” Less hydroelectric electricity being produced means higher electricity costs for utilities and customers. This is specifically bad for the United States.
The country’s hydroelectric facilities generated 51% of the renewable energy in the U.S. in 2013, and continue to play a large role to this day. Calzi points out that hydroelectric plants are the least expensive source of electricity and produce no fossil fuels. The only issue is that the facilities rely on precipitation to continue running, which feeds the local water sources. Engineers also have to consider humidity, wind patterns and reservoir dynamics, which in a drought, is nothing less than difficult. Annoyingly, if there is too much water - in the event of a flood, or a related event - hydroelectric plants also stop working.
In an attempt to remedy the water scarcity crisis that is becoming prevalent in the world, Sir James Dyson the industrial designer, is encouraging engineers to lend their expertise to saving water. Speaking of the situation in his own country, Dyson said: “Parts of the country are waterlogged, while in others it’s illegal to use a hosepipe.” He says that the United Kingdom still relies on “antique infrastructure” handed down to them from the Victorian era. He says it is time for the latest generation of engineers to redesign the water system and improve it.
“It is politicians who should be leading this charge. They must think big, think long-term and they must reinforce the value and importance of great engineering,” Dyson said. Engineers in the UK have ensured that leaking pipes are replaced, Dyson adds, however, he says new technologies could be introduced that improve these water infrastructure processes.
Engineers have a plethora of options when entering water industries. A Professional Certificate of Competency in Programmable Logic Controllers & SCADA Systems could see you tackling the digital side of controlling a water utility that relies on automated processes to keep it functioning. You could get your certificate in Structural Design for Non-Structural Engineers and see how water and wastewater infrastructure is built. You could also pursue a certificate in Onshore and Offshore Pipeline Systems - the water has to be transported somewhere. And much more.
Contact us at the Engineering Institute of Technology today to enquire about which course would be right for you: http://www.eit.edu.au/course-enquiry
References:
Calzi, Daniel L. Dams, Drought and Energy-water Interdependencies. Print.
Blog - Steve Mackay
EIT's Technical Director, Steve Mackay, enjoys keeping his blog up-to-date with useful tips and current industry matters for his fellow colleagues. He has a loyal and expanding following base reaching over 300,000 people around the world.
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