Some Feedback & News from Past Students

 

Chats with Past & Current Students
 

In this new section you have the opportunity to listen to EIT students talk about the reality of the advanced diploma programs. Discussion is a wide-ranging and includes information about the study commitment required, the value of the qualification in their careers, the relevance of the subject matter, future pathways, and more. Listen to these short sessions to get some valuable feedback before you enrol!

 
Frank, current student of Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation and the Advanced Diploma of E & I Engineering for Oil and Gas Facilities.

Frank, based on site in Malaysia, talks to
Senior Course Advisor Ric Harrison in Australia. 

Ric and Frank Chat
 
Podcast (mp3 6’43”)
 
More chats with students coming soon. 

 

 


 

WILL THAT ADVANCED DIPLOMA PROGRAM REALLY BOOST MY CAREER?

 

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.

 

Hazardous Areas Only in Africa

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!

 


FATHER AND SON CHOOSE HIGH-TECH STUDY & SAY: “GO FOR IT

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 IDC Technologies’ 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 IDC Technologies 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 e-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.”
 
IDC Technologies’ course 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 e-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.”

 

Engineer, 70 Years Young, Attends Classes Online
 

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 IDC Technologies 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.”


Studying Engineering at (Very) Long Distance - Online learning from Macquarie Island  (January 19, 2010)

 

Some special visitors just outside Steve’s study area
 
One of IDC Technologies’ 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, which is offered by IDC Technologies 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 IDC 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.
 

 
For more information about the course and other distance learning subjects offered by IDC Technologies, email Sharne@idc-online.com, Ric.Harrison@idc-online.com or visit the website, www.idc-online.com and go to eLearning.