Posted on 02/18/2016 11:48:50 AM PST by Purdue77
The funny thing about working in engineering is that your education is never really over. Innovation is constantly reshaping the concepts and processes you find in various areas of engineering, so the professionals focused on these fields have to be on their toes to learn the latest and greatest advancements. A decent chunk of this learning is done through experience, but sometimes you need to jump start it with a course or two. And who better to do that with than MIT, Boeing and NASA?
That’s right: The biggest names in engineering are teaming up to develop the ultimate systems engineering program, and it’ll all be online. They’re currently working out the details of the curriculum so that the 4-class certificate program - “Architecture and Systems Engineering: Models and Methods to Manage Complex Systems†- will be ready to kick off this spring on MIT’s edX platform.
The different courses in this upcoming program will intertwine the knowledge and extensive research from MIT, as well as the real-world concept and applications gleaned from Boeing and NASA. They’ll be focusing their teachings on the most cutting edge practices and applications in model-based systems engineering. So folks working as engineers in aerospace (obvi), medical devices, automotive and system integration would greatly benefit from the coursework.
“Engineering practice is changing rapidly in tandem with the growth of software, driving incredible capability changes, but also causing enormous challenges managing complex development programs,†Bruce Cameron, director of MIT’s System Architecture Lab and director of the forthcoming program, told the school's Office of Digital Learning.
Why are Boeing and NASA getting in on the education action? With the Space Act Agreement, they have both made a commitment to becoming involved in STEM education, and this program is just one of ways the organizations will support learning in these subjects. Professionals taking advantage of this offering can earn continuing education credits with each course they complete, having a certificate from MIT once all of the coursework is finished.
"The edX platform will provide an interactive, flexible learning experience for engineers around the world to gain technical expertise from leaders at MIT, Boeing, and NASA," said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and MIT professor. "We are honored to be part of this innovative collaboration between industry, government, and academia to offer professional education to a global audience."
Thanks so much. I’m sorta retired at 62. But given my mother is 90 and still going strong,I’m not seeing much purpose in sitting on my ass for the coming 30 years, so updating my mech engr skills seems great right about now.
Wonder how this will fit with the continuing education requirements for licensure. Though, I think most people who actually work in these areas do not get their PE license. Florida just upped the continuing ed hours to 18 credits every two years.
Ping
Just what the tech world needs, more damn certs.
So, is the purpose to help American engineers/STEMs get or keep their jobs or to fully qualify the H1B imports that take their place?
At one time, the Nobel Prize conveyed an honor upon its recipients. No longer.
At one time, to be associated with NASA would have been an honor for an engineer. No longer.
American corporations are getting big into this STEM business.
The educational system is being altered from the top down. The companies are developing programs that output what they need
Oh damn. My mother is approaching 90 and I just turned 60. I was hoping to spend the rest of my life on the golf course. Another 30 years of working. Crap.
But, with the right leadership in DC and at the NASA centers, that doesn’t have to continue to be the case. And, it will be the case if we don’t continue to train new engineers, scientists, and technicians and increase their ability to deal with very complicated systems. The IRS, FAA, FBI, and other agencies all failed to develop new computer systems/networks for the same reasons. Management was a big one, but the lack of appropriate systems engineering is another.
And, there is nothing wrong with that corporations developing programs that output what they need. If I need tube benders and they aren’t available, then I must train new ones. If I need new chemistry to develop radar absorptive materials, then I may have to invest in the nearest university to create that new STEM path.
“I was hoping to spend the rest of my life on the golf course. Another 30 years of working. Crap.”
I’ve been spending my time souping up my 67 Camaro. But I’m running out of bolts to turn. So I’m going back to doing some startups.
There is STEM below the university level. There are current programs in high schools and here, a dedicated middle school.
We have STEM in scouting beginning at the cub level. it is not universally accepted but is doing pretty well where it is supported. Our STEM scouting effort is not universally accepted here but on other councils is coming along pretty good.
Technically they worked for me but they were way smarter so I had to make up techno babble just to not seem like a moron around them. "Maybe we could try to sinterate some cryon persulfamate and use it to reverse the polarity of a nyad pulse converter. What, you never learned that technique? Man, they don't teach you kids much these days"
Understand. I supported a customer on a contract he had with MIT. The MIT people were very smart in their area of expertise. However, systems engineering just wasn’t one of those areas. We had one hell of a time getting them to understand what SE was and how to do it properly. And, they were working one small project of a larger program.
Well, in fairness most engineering schools don’t teach systems engineering. That’s my field as well but my degree is in electrical. And yeah, I see this is for a certificate in systems engineering and in my experience they’ll probably teach them a bunch of software processes and call it systems engineering like Carengie Mellon does. But that’s another matter....
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