Continuing Education - What Do You Do?

An interesting question. I'm past my useful years (useful to others, anyway), but I found this hard during my working days. There were never any organized, consistent ways to do this. My wife, a nurse, was required by law to do continuing ed every year, so there were conferences, courses, and seminars all the time, all of them noted by CEUs for their value. Some cost a reasonable amount of money; some were free.

Being cheap, I tried to attend training offered by suppliers as much as possible. I found most university programs hopelessly outdated except for the two or three day seminar types. I read trade journals as much as possible, watching for short articles or product intros that might be useful, then I contacted those people on the phone and asked questions.

I also did some trial-and-error work (not sophisticated enough to call research) on my own. I've still got a coupla cabinets in the garage full of mostly useless junk that I paid for to do this, but which is now pretty useless.

In my last years, I worked in solid modeling, and I spent about 10 hours a week at home trying different techniques, etc. I finally gave that up when I could no longer qualify for the reduced price software license.

Even though retired for several years, I maintain my Professional Engineer registration in Ohio (used to be several states.) Ohio requires continuing education, which is generally offered by a local college specifically for the CEUs to qualify us for registration. Many times on subjects not especially useful, but interesting enough to pay for them to maintain the PE.

Available dollars prevents taking other college courses since I have no employment or consulting income.

My job is a continuous learning curve. We work with universities & research groups as well as undertaking grant funded projects. These often involve novel materials or applications so we have to develop processes & production methods to suit. The company is often presenting papers or talks at symposia & gathering information from participants.

Dog paddle mostly.

The company I work for killed any training or conferences for the last ~5 years. They are just now starting to release the funds to start up again. So mostly, it has been research on my own for a while now. That's OK, that is sort of a norm for me anyway.

I have to say the white papers I come across, & yes, CR4 members have been a big help in that regard.

Thanks all!

I do a lot of my own research on a continuing basis and always have, mostly because I enjoy learning new things. Prior to the Internet I attended specialised short courses at various unis, a few of these courtesy of my employers. Conferences and seminars also. These days I tend to take advantage of online courses, tutorials and so forth.

One thing I tend to avoid are video-only courses that do not make a printed transcript available. I have a degenerative hearing disorder and I will be completely deaf within a few years. Right now my hearing threshold is about 95 decibels. Two years ago it was 60. GlobalSpec/IHS may wish to include printed matter with their webinars, for the hearing impaired?

Log on to CR4!!

In reality, I have to keep up on lots of thoroughly useless training sessions (mostly online), and a few useful ones. I find my own research provides far more usefulness and value than most of the mandated training.

^{PS-CR4 probably is more useful than most of it!}

I have found that by working my way up the ladder at work I have reached a level now where I am paid to well to have to learn anything.

Next step up from here is being paid to well to do anything while at work and the position above that apparently is the one where you are paid to well to even have to come to work most of the time.

I have utilized numerous sources for education continuance. College courses teach a wide variety of the subject but I usually only need part of it. Taking the whole course is usually a waste time for other than what I need. The local community college has numerous courses for general knowledge that are good (computer programs, etc) and not as wide a subject matter. Trade magazines are helpful but many are just advertisements. Books are good references but to read the whole thing puts me to sleep with the "other" information. Seminars for necessary or future needs are good because of their narrow subject. Experimenting with my mind and my hands has probably been the most informative learning. Love to experiment with various equipment and modifications to it.

Perhaps the most valuable source of learning has been the exchange of information and questioning others who have more knowledge on the subject. We can discuss the subject, brainstorm, exchange knowledge and we can limit the scope of the information to only that which is necessary if we want to and not take up other valuable time. My jobs have always been intense and overburdened. This method permits me to learn from the authorities on subjects and pick their minds. We both learn from the exchange. Besides that getting to others is an investment in the future problem solving. We don't have to always be technical and there are some real interesting people out there.

Good Luck, Old Salt

At 79 years old (retired from full-time work 6 years ago), I find maintaining a part-time consulting practice in my field helps with the "self-learning" aspect. Another part of keeping up to date involves my writing for publication. A third way is to teach a course at a local jr. college or 4 year college. A fourth way is to download review articles in new aspects of engineering and read them several times. Keep in mind that lots of effort will be needed on your part. Good luck!!

My situation is different from others here. I received a BSEE back in 1987 and an MBA in 1991. I chose to go the business route, but use my engineering training to solve problems. My continuing education consists of business topics vs engineering. This is because the problem solving aspect of my work doesn't change - the logic is the same, however I'm always working on way to be a better businessman.

I have found that reading books is very important. I also attend seminars, workshops, conferences and presentations from community leaders. To put my skills to use, I make public presentations and remain active on multiple Boards. I also pick the brains of people who are more knowledgeable than I.

My recommendation is to estimate what you plan to achieve from the training and how much time it will take. A semester of college is great for some, however it doesn't make sense for me. I need to gather the information in a short amount of time and I need the information to be laser focused. I don't want my mind cluttered by things that aren't important to solving the problem. I trade money for time (I would rather pay someone more, so that I can get the pertinent information fast).

I hope this helps.

I retired 15 years ago (at age of 58 years, retirement age here in India). For 4 years I worked as part time consultant. After that I continue to up date my knowledge through on line magazines, blogs, seminars etc. For me CR4 is one of the source to acquire new techniques from all over the world.

I feel that there is big mine of knowledge which is not being utilized that is from retirees who have whole wealth of information in their field. Their services can be utilized for training young generation, assisting in new projects, giving expert advice on various subjects. This will keep retired professionals busy and earn some extra income.

The key to all of us should be a curiosity and interest in continuing to learn as we grow both in years and in our careers. I am 80 and life has more exciting things to learn now than ever! I read or scan 3 newspapers each day, two on the net and one print. You may find stories that relate to technology or engineering (like why a bridge collapsed) or management of engineering companies. I scan about 10-12 newsletters that come via by in-box. They have wonderful abstracts with each headline so 95% of the time you need go no further. They are in the science areas and an excellent source to find out where the advancements and studies are being done. Once you start reading these, it will totally broaden your curiosity and have your hooked. I find these invaluable in my role as the technical resource for a small technical company that I still spend 20+ hours a week working at. A fully enjoyable life at my age I must say!

Bart@, I like your outlook on learning.

It's like Coach John Wooden said, "It's what you learn after you think you know it all that really counts."

We should always be striving to move forward with what we know, irregardless of age, because if we're not learning we may as well die. As Ray Kroc (founder of the McDonalds franchising system) said, "are you green and growing or ripe and rotting?"

We don't live in a stagnant environment, economically, relationally or technologically. Our competitors are always learning and moving the ball forward. If we're not learning as well we will be left in the dust.

Hi, Improvement comes in many forms. CR4 has certainly diversified my thinking. The internet provides a vast ocean of learning opportunities, especially if you start chasing some of these CR4 threads all over the WWW. I'm native born & raised in the US & still I've taken three english grammer courses over the years, a couple "practical writing for engineers courses", & a public speaking course. Heavens, as engineers we all know most of our peers have problems writing & communicating, let alone we can't spel enything.

When I was in college, my uncle (a very successful businessman) told me that communication is something I must master or it will be very difficult for me to succeed. Being very young and "all knowing", I argued with him, until he told me something. He asked me what would happen if I were the smartest engineer and I created something that would change the world, but I wasn't able to communicate this to the right people? I gave it some thought and I had to agree. Since then, I've tried very hard to become a better communicator. It's a constant learning experience and I find that it's not only the words, but tone of voice, inflection, hand gestures, eye contact, a twitch or how you sit (or stand).

One of the men I admire the most is Ronald Reagan. We lived nearly across the street from the Reagan Library from 2001 to 2011 and we had some excellent times there. He was known as the Great Communicator. As I watch him speak (on tape), I am so impressed with his communication skill. Simply amazing and inspiring.

And by the way 135711, you made a mistake. The correct words are spelling any things.

Hi Autobroker,

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said, including your views of Ronald Reagan. I consider him to be one of the greatest presidents the US has ever had. And I speeled it rong at the end as a pun.

I new what you means.

All joking aside, it worry that the "new" generation has a very different way of communicating. Text messages with misspelled words, terrible grammar, no punctuation, etc. This is the new way of doing things. And I'm not going to even talk about the terrible job applications I review (from college students).

Not all is bad, but the standard has dropped and the average young job applicant is unemployable.

Perhaps one of the most important things I learned was from my father. He was an EE MIT grad and genius in his profession and other subjects. How many people do you know who would B.S. in Latin? He told us that a formal education was part of the key to success and satisfaction but we must learn a trade in addition to that. Not only could he design it but also build it. This meant his ideas were designed in such a way that they could be built. He learned much about several trades, enough that he could keep employed if his employer went belly up. They included: electrical, machinist, plumbing and boat building.

I have learned that my trades allow me to do the same, know what has to be known and be efficient in it's implementation. The economy has changed and you no longer have the same employer for 41 years anymore. I enjoy these trades, the people involved in them and it allows me a relaxing diversion from the stress environment of engineering and management.

Good Luck, Old Salt

I have access to seminars and extension courses through my employer. I also have seminars and conferences available through my membership in my professional organization, American Society for Quality (ASQ). My employer requires 40 hours of continuous learning each year and ASQ requires I maintain Recertification points, which can be earned by various activities.

I once had an employer who, when I asked to attend a week-long course which would clearly enhance my worth to the company, refused to approve the training because I would "just get a job with another company." So, I got a job with another company.

I work for the government. Training is unavoidable for a lot of stuff that most businesses don't care about. But beyond the bureaucratic stuff, there is strong support for career development, subject to the whim of Congress.

This is probably true for state and local governments too, if they're well-managed.

The trade-off is typically (and in my case) lower pay. I could possibly make 50% more dough in the private sector. But I'm resuming my Master's this Fall with free tuition.

When I was in the private sector, my job worked me too damn hard to leave any energy for continuing ed, and they didn't offer a damn thing for career development beyond more challenging assignments.

I used to have to travel all over the Southeast US to various schools trying to get enough CEUs for my License.

Now, it's all internet courses.

The only drawback with the internet courses is that the tests are much tougher for some reason.

Why does a Fire Protection Engineer need to be up-to-snuff on mesh equations?

As to my specific field in the power industry, I used some online training but since I am not one of the plant operators, I don't CEU credits. I sort of set the paradigm here at our plant, and some (very little) new information seeps in by way of vendors who are members of EPRI, etc. All of the rest of my continuing education is simply this: be interested in new topics, or topics I don't directly work with, and learn. Read and learn, and search the internet for new ways of tackling issues in the power industry, and water purification.