Electrical Engineer.

[Specialist]

Hi Guys: I've seen a lot lately about the New Generation of Sparks not knowing a lot, well if what i've just heard is anything to go by then i'm really not surprised.
My Daughter is in College on an Electrical / Electronic Engineering course, at the moment she's learning to wire Lighting Circuits & Ring mains. Today 1 of the Guys on the same course (His dad is also a spark) asked the Lecturer when they were going to learn about supply arrangements, Earthing & RCD's etc. The answer was that they won't be, they're training to be Electrical engineers not Electricians & don't need to know about that sort of stuff. What the F*** is that all about ?.

I might be wrong but I allways thought that an Electrical Engineer needed to know as much as us & then some more, Oh & they're apparently not going to be learning about Pyro, Armoured or a lot of the other things we deal with either. I was just wondering what the hell is the point of these courses ?.

 

[telectrix]

makes you wonder about the standard of education .

 

[Richard]

lol In ammanford college??

 

[Engineer54]

Why am i not surprised?? Makes you wonder what sort of Engineers we are producing for the future!!!

 

[cdavies33]

There is such a thing as Ammanford college! lol...... I did my 17th there haha

 

[Specialist]

lol In ammanford college??

No mate, not Ammanford.

 

[Richard]

Yup, me too. Did everything electrical there infact. I was actually a bit suprised at what he said, as the lectures were ok when I was there!

 

[Guest123]

There is such a thing as Ammanford college! lol...... I did my 17th there haha

You probably know Mark & Gordon & Eiddon then.:cyclist:



Funnily enough I was working in Ammanford today.

 

[Specialist]

There is such a thing as Ammanford college! lol...... I did my 17th there haha

Have'nt heard anything bad yet about Ammanford.

 

[cdavies33]

Yup, me too. Did everything electrical there infact. I was actually a bit suprised at what he said, as the lectures were ok when I was there!

Bloody hell, another spark on the forum close to me! haha. I'm just gonna say the word Glanamman and leave it at that! lol

 

[Specialist]

Yup, me too. Did everything electrical there infact. I was actually a bit suprised at what he said, as the lectures were ok when I was there!

Did'nt say it was Ammanford college or even in this area, if she'd gone there she'd have been taught properly. Unfortunately they don't do an Electrical / Electronic Engineering course

 

[Richard]

Ych a fi!

 

[Specialist]

Bloody hell, another spark on the forum close to me! haha. I'm just gonna say the word Glanamman and leave it at that! lol

Not too far away, Lol.

 

[Guest123]

Unfortunately they don't do an Electrical / Electronic Engineering course

No, The Graig is probably the closest for that.

They do run an HNC in Integrated Building Services. Looked into it but didn't feel I'd gain much from it so am now doing the Electrical & Electronic HNC instead.

There isn't much to do with electrical installation work on the core modules though, some of the elective modules do have parts to them though.

 

[Richard]

No, The Graig is probably the closest for that.

They do run an HNC in Integrated Building Services. Looked into it but didn't feel I'd gain much from it so am now doing the Electrical & Electronic HNC instead.

There isn't much to do with electrical installation work on the core modules though, some of the elective modules do have parts to them though.

Are you doing your HNC in graig? I'v been thinking of starting there on the same course next year. How do you rate it? would you recommend it as a next step after the 'electrician' quals?

Thanks

 

[Specialist]

Hi Lenny: Where are you doing the HNC ?

 

[Specialist]

Why am i not surprised?? Makes you wonder what sort of Engineers we are producing for the future!!!

From what i've seen over the years a lot of them are pretty poor, having said that i've also had the pleasure of working with some really good young sparks who know & love the Trade. Suppose a lot of it depends on how much effort they put in outside of College.

 

[alarm man]

Why am i not surprised?? Makes you wonder what sort of Engineers we are producing for the future!!!

im more worried about the sub standard sparks thats flooding the market,an engineer will find a solution to a problem he/she doesnt know,a half baked spark will just stare..

 

[Guest123]

Are you doing your HNC in graig? I'v been thinking of starting there on the same course next year. How do you rate it? would you recommend it as a next step after the 'electrician' quals?

Thanks

No, I'm doing mine via distance learning with Teeside University.

I weighed it up for a while and just couldn't work a day off a week into things.


So far it's ok, the maths is very intense, ideally a-level standard is needed.

Is it worth it, it depends on what you ultimately want to achieve.

 

[netblindpaul]

Why is it that there are so many of you near to me!

 

[Specialist]

You sure it's not you being so close to us ?

 

[stitch]

I did my HND and BSc in Electrical / Electronic Engineering at Alban Rd in Llanelli, just before they were moving everything to the Graig Campus. Both courses were more theory than practical and then there was the maths, talk about intense. :crazy:

 

[Engineer54]

There was little practical work involved in any of the ''Ordinary'' or ''Higher'' certificate or Diploma courses, as it was considered you would be in full time employment within the industry. (it was in my day anyway) As all these courses were generally taken as ''improvment courses'' that were day release and two nights a week part time courses, (which for most was indeed the case)

My company had it's own in-house dedicated training school/collage where all training was full time, with X amount of days a month on the tools, assigned to working with fully qualified electricians within the companies many departments/factories. Also the in-house training school followed the same term durations as schools and collages in the public sector, so during all normal collage holidays and breaks, we were back in the company work places gaining experience on the tools. Our holidays followed the factory holiday/shutdowns.

As i see it, that system of training benefited the students in at least 2 important areas. Firstly, learning and retaining what was being taught is much easier on a full time basis without week long breaks. Secondly, it didn't take anywhere near 2 years to complete these courses.

 

[Specialist]

The problem with the way these courses are run is that they lead the youngsters to believe they're going to be ready to go out into the real world after the course & we all know that just aint going to happen. So far with the course she's on they are doing pratical install work such as ring mains etc but none of the other stuff that goes along with it & basically they don't understand why they're doing it.

 

[Specialist]

There was little practical work involved in any of the ''Ordinary'' or ''Higher'' certificate or Diploma courses, as it was considered you would be in full time employment within the industry. (it was in my day anyway) As all these courses were generally taken as ''improvment courses'' that were day release and two nights a week part time courses, (which for most was indeed the case)

My company had it's own in-house dedicated training school/collage where all training was full time, with X amount of days a month on the tools, assigned to working with fully qualified electricians within the companies many departments/factories. Also the in-house training school followed the same term durations as schools and collages in the public sector, so during all normal collage holidays and breaks, we were back in the company work places gaining experience on the tools. Our holidays followed the factory holiday/shutdowns.

As i see it, that system of training benefited the students in at least 2 important areas. Firstly, learning and retaining what was being taught is much easier on a full time basis without week long breaks. Secondly, it didn't take anywhere near 2 years to complete these courses.

Yep & that sort of training is what gave us a lot of really good engineers & electricians. The way they do it now is that although they spend 5 days a week in college it's 4 days theory & 1 supposedly practical, which in itself is ok but in both the practical and theory they seem to be leaving big chunks out. They do have 5 weeks as work experience but for that they can send them anywhere, i.e a Carpentry firm or a builders merchant etc it does'nt have to ahve anything to do with what they're studying. For example 1 boy was sent to a Builders & walked after 2 days because they had him sweeping up all the time.

 

[Engineer54]

The problem with the way these courses are run is that they lead the youngsters to believe they're going to be ready to go out into the real world after the course & we all know that just aint going to happen. So far with the course she's on they are doing pratical install work such as ring mains etc but none of the other stuff that goes along with it & basically they don't understand why they're doing it.

That has always been the problem with Youngsters going straight to degree level!! One of the reasons why ''Sandwich Degree's'' came about, in that a sandwich Degree is part time with employer and part time at Uni. The problem for students, that most didn't like, was Sandwich degree's were 4 year courses!! But you came out after those 4 years, with your Degree AND a good working experience....

 

[Specialist]

Hi 54: It's not actually a HNC or HND they're doing, it's a B Tec course which according to the way they punt it should lead on to a Career as an Electrical / Electronic engineer & give them the nescessary skills & underpining knowledge to go out into the workplace.

 

[ACDC]

I did my HND and BSc in Electrical / Electronic Engineering at Alban Rd in Llanelli, just before they were moving everything to the Graig Campus. Both courses were more theory than practical and then there was the maths, talk about intense. :crazy:

Blimey, i was there when they moved from Alban Road, its a big housing estate now..RIP.
Its a small world.

 

[sbrown2]

Too go into the big world and start to become an engineer. The question with the course your daughter is doing is why do you have to learn abbout a RCD. The course is generic and should be educating your daughter with a view to core balance transfomers, current transformer sensitive earth leakage systems and maybe the need for a resistor in the link to earth. All of this theory and relating it root 3 ( I think!) will enable here to go into different industries.

 

[Specialist]

Probably helpful to learn about RCD's, Earthing Arrangements etc before she goes out into the trade & starts having to deal with them without knowing what they are or what they do. As for the Transformers they don't teach that either. I'm trying to find out exactly what they are supposed to be learning, especially after she asked the instructor about armoured & Pyro etc & was told they will be shown what it is but won't learn how to work it or terminate it because they won't need to know about that sort of stuff.

 

[Guest123]

It seems that she is expecting to be on an installation electricians course such as the C&G 2330 but is actaully on a type of electrical engineering course. The two disciplines differ greatly.

Is she sure she is on the correct course for what she wants to do??

Do you have the course title??

 

[Engineer54]

Looks like it's going to be all down to YOU mate, to give your daughter an insight into the practical side of the electrical industry!!! She sure doesn't sound as if she'll be getting much of it from that course she's on!! lol!!!

 

[Specialist]

Hi Lenny: No it was'nt supposed to be an Installation Electricians course as such, it was supposed to cover: Installation, Testing & Fault Finding of Electrical installations and Electronic / PLC systems. What she wants to do is Industrial Electrics / Electronics & eventually specialise in Automation / Machinery.

The course is the B tec Electrical / Electronic Engineering.

 

[Specialist]

Looks like it's going to be all down to YOU mate, to give your daughter an insight into the practical side of the electrical industry!!! She sure doesn't sound as if she'll be getting much of it from that course she's on!! lol!!!

Wish I could mate, but due to a serious health problem it does'nt look like i'll be in the trade to do so.

 

[Engineer54]

Sorry to hear that Specialist, let's all hope things change for the better for you...

 

[Guest123]

I've always been confused by the BTEC's.

Sounds like it's the level 3 she's doing, there are some elective modules that she could choose based on electrical installation.

 

[sbrown2]

I've always thought that the BTEC courses were those that bridged the practical aspects of a job to a decent dose of theory. I did a BTEC computers and electronics when I left school. I only got to level 2 though. But I learnt the basics in assembly language and BASIC (good for statement list inservo's and robots) how to solder on veriboard basic electronic/electrical components and resistors, capacitors etc. This allowed me to catch up after school and got me my apprenticeship.

 

[Specialist]

Sorry to hear that Specialist, let's all hope things change for the better for you...

Cheers mate, Appreciate that.