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The difficulties experienced by many mining engineering departments in the western world are addressed and the most common causes of the problem discussed. It is shown that the poor public image of the mining industry and the financial difficulties experienced by the mining industry and many governments are the main reasons behind low student numbers and sub-critical mining engineering departments. Possible solutions to the problem of sub-critical student numbers and mining engineering departments are put forward. It is shown that the merger of mining engineering departments with other engineering department and the establishment of broader based study courses are no long term solutions to the problem of low numbers of mining engineering students and graduates. Industrial sponsorship, particularly research sponsorship, is vitally important for the continued existence of strong mining engineering departments. The establishment of networks between different mining engineering departments is seen as the most promising way of addressing the problem. Different concepts of establishing networks are discussed and examples of successful networks given. The possibilities offered by modern communication technologies have not been fully exploited by universities and should be pursued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on changes in continuing education programs for engineering in the United States. Importance of lifelong learning in technical organizations; Organization-focused training programs; Reasons for forming a corporate university.

Continuing education represents a significant investment for engineering firms. With the rapid changes in technology and today's competitive marketplace, firms need continuing education to stay competitive. Yet, with an ever increasing array of choices, how does a firm decide what continuing education to invest in? This article describes a framework for improving decision making on continuing education. The benefits of this process include (1) improving the linkage of educational opportunities to business performance; (2) defining the decision process behind budgeting for continuing education; and (3) strengthening the information on which these decisions are based. This process unifies continuing education into a coordinated effort and integrates it with the other strategic initiatives of the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a discussion on the implications of product life cycles (PLC) on the continuing education of engineers and technicians. Effects of the changes in market technology on PLCs; Relationship between research and development investment and product lifetime; Examples of cases of technology on industries; Relations between industry and university; Relationship between education and research; Role of the university in industrial development.

Describes the Master's degree in European Construction Engineering course development and discussion on some of the issues that have arisen during the development process. Objectives of the course; Detailed discussion on the development of the course; Effects of diversity on course development.

Creating and enhancing a software engineering work force requires several different types of continuing education for software professionals, including: task-oriented education, enhancement-oriented education and selection-oriented education. In this paper, we focus on the important, but often neglected, category of selection-oriented education. We begin with a discussion of technology selection, indicating what it involves, how it contributes to improving the state of practice, and why it is key to technology improvement in general. This is followed by a discussion of some criteria for selection-oriented education programs. We then describe the selection-oriented education activities at the Rocky Mountain Institute of Software Engineering and relate some problems encountered in establishing these activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of rapid advances in knowledge, regulations, and technology, many employed engineers desire graduate-level engineering degrees for career advancement. Accommodating these students in existing graduate engineering programs leads to several conflicts among faculty, full-time and part-time students, and administrators. These include the allocation of faculty time as well as availability of university facilities and faculty. Very important is ability to meet the time constraints as well as the different career goals of both full-time and part-time students. Establishing a separate degree program for part-time students creates concerns about both degree quality control and graduation requirements. In both cases, strict entrance requirements may restrict the admission of many otherwise qualified professionals. These conflicts are discussed in detail. Suggested solutions include wider use of flex-time and support of graduate education by engineering firms; admission flexibility and greater use of communication technology by universities, faculty, and students; and other adjustments by all parties involved in part-time graduate engineering education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling of knowledge in the construction industry is a cumbersome task because of the large amount of data involved and the lack of automated information-modelling tools. Adoption of a method and an automated CASE (Computer-Aided Software Engineering) tool could eliminate many problems encountered in the development of information systems in the construction industry. In particular, this approach may help to assess the information requirements and define strategies for such information systems. The Information Engineering Method (IEM) is introduced to illustrate how the conceptual models may be improved by using this method. Additionally Texas Instruments' Information Engineering Facility (IEF(TM)) CASE tool is described to illustrate the advantages of automating such a method. The introduction of conceptual modelling in the construction industry using data and process models should lead to a better structuring of information. This should result in the development of well defined and structured, not ad hoc, applications. This conceptual modelling approach using information engineering is currently being used at the University of Salford to study the potential development of an integrated database (design, procurement and management of construction) for the construction industry. The case study describes the information analysis phase of the procurement process included towards the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author describes how a group of graduates are undertaking a major investigation into the problems of the costs of producing electronic equipment in a high technology industry. The programme, which is part of the Teaching Company Scheme, is being carried out in British Aerospace and is a relatively unusual example of Management Training continuing engineering education.
The paper describes how the graduates, who join the scheme for two years as Teaching Company Associates, work under the guidance of senior management from the firm and academic staff of the Polytechnic. Apart from undertaking an overall appraisal of the business, its markets and its products, the Associates are making a detailed analysis of the costs associated with the manufacture of products and how these compare with other commercial undertakings. This will lead to further investigations into aspects of design, manufacturing management and technology, quality control and aspects of organisation.
The author then examines the contribution of this programme to the development of the Associates as future managers for manufacturing industry. How far, for example, does it equip them to cope with the strategic as well as operational issues of the business and see the problem from both top management and the shop floor point of view? How far does it help them to see the inter-relationship between functions and disciplines and between technology and the social structure of the firm? Does this type of programme, with its emphasis on application and implementation, offer more than traditional programmes of training or research? These and other issues are discussed in what we believe to be an exciting new development in Continuing Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's view on the works of the International Technology and Engineering Educations Association (ITEEA) from 2013 and the opportunities offered for the future. He states the progress with initiatives in the ITEEA Strategic Plan and member recognition. He notes the new releases of the Engineering by Design course guides. He mentions that the ITEEA plans to address Technology and Engineering Education in STEM, and meet the needs of inservice and preservice teachers.

The article discusses some of the social factors associated with the kind of occupations selected as a life work by students at North Carolina State College. It is to be expected that a significant proportion of the student body should have definite vocational objectives. Two thirds of the total group stated a general field in which they expected to work, such as agriculture or engineering. As one passes from the freshman class to the senior class, one finds that a greater proportion of the students have made vocational choices. In the selective process, the students who are less certain of their vocational objectives probably drop out of college to a greater extent than do those who have clearly defined vocational goals. Assisting the freshman to clearly define his vocational purpose might counteract this tendency to drop out. Of the vocational choices made, the only ones which the students expressed the desire to follow in the open country to any significant degree were fanning, engineering and teaching. Seventy-eight per cent of the students who selected farming as a life work expressed the desire to pursue this occupation with residence in the open country.

In the aeronautical industry as in other manufacturing industries, one of the problems associated with planning an engineering program is to determine the amount and timing of engineering effort needed to support the sales forecast In an effort to understand this problem better, a study was made of the relation of engineering effort to sales It was found that this problem was analogous to that of a servomechanism system for which mathematical techniques have been developed and applied successfully The study resulted in the development of a `transfer-function' formula which has proved to be a useful tool for measuring the relation between engineering effort and sales The method employed to obtain the transfer function and the results obtained by its use are presented herein [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process triggered by the Bologna Declaration has been producing significant results of various types in the EU Higher Education sector. After reviewing some of the consolidated outcomes of this process, reference is made to a novel trend that has emerged recently and which is geared towards the requirement that by 2020 all staff teaching in higher education institutions should have received certified pedagogical training. A description is provided of initiatives within the field of Engineering Education promoted by institutions that have been actively pursuing this precise objective for the past few decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Adjustment to new economical and social conditions in Ukraine, being a space-faring country, requires a new concept in improving efficiency of engineering education to provide rocket and space field with highly qualified engineers and scientists. General strategy to solve this task is to combine the efforts of the secondary schools, academic institutions, R&D institutes and production enterprises in order to educe gifted youth as early as possible and to train them into rocket and space field specialists following the scheme of continuous education: school – institution of higher education – enterprise. This report analyzes the 20-year experience of Dniepropetrovsk State University, Yuzhnoye State Design Office and Ukraine''s National Center for the Aerospace Education of Youth in their joint efforts to organize the system of continuous education and how it managed to enhance the training efficiency of the engineering skills. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Describes civil engineering in Trinidad & Tobago. Information on the country; Details of civil engineering education in Trinidad & Tobago; Characteristics of graduate training of civil engineers in Trinidad &amp: Tobago.

In this article, the author reflects on the benefits of continuing education. Topics discussed include value of continuing education of employee for employers and clients, broadening of education and learning new skills, project approval for energy engineers and energy managers, and interaction with organizations and professional like human resource, legal, and finance.

An interview with Natalie Daniels, a project manager of British engineering company Renishaw PLC, is presented. Topics include how she started her career in engineering, the factor which contributed to her decision of studying for a degree after her four-year apprenticeship in Renishaw, and her description of a typical day as a project manager.

The article presents information on the success of the Distinguished Lecturer Tour program conducted by the North American Region of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) in 2009. The program is aimed at taking advantage of presentations that leading industry experts and academic speakers make at other events. For the said year, the society coordinated 10 distinguished lecturer tours with 33 lecturers brought to a total of 35 local chapters such as in Southern Minnesota, Denver, Colorado and Orlando, Florida.

The article provides information on several professional developments news related to transportation engineering in the U.S. It includes the move of International Transportation Engineers (ITE) to provide reduced-cost Web training, which offers students the chance to expand their education. Another discusses the ITE 2009 Technical Conference which gives three training modules to participants. It also relates the things to do when planning to take professional certification refresher courses.

This article discusses the work of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST). The annual convention of the IEST, ESTECH 2008, is described. The article also lists the "Recommended Practices" publications of the IEST and working groups charged with developing new sets of recommended practices. Continuing education resources from the IEST are noted, including "Access to the Experts" online courses, tutorials, and technical interest groups. Corporations that will host exhibits at ESTECH 2008, including Data Physics Corp, Dytran Instruments Inc., and IOtech Inc., are also noted.

This article presents reflections and insights related to the Johann Rost's experience in teaching requirements engineering. The author recalls his experiences in his search for a compilation of a requirements document. He believes that in requirements engineering, it is impossible to put into practice every best practice or standards there is.