Distance learning to help long-term career development

To support engineers become professionally registered, the Institution has recently collaborated with four universities, including The Open University, to ensure members have access via distance learning to the relevant modules to help them achieved Chartership.

Professional registration is an essential requirement of an engineer’s long-term career development, yet the challenge has always been how to find time to study while having a busy job and a hectic family and social life.

A logical solution for those with busy lives is studying via distance learning. Pioneered by The Open University (OU) over 40 years ago, distance learning, or ‘Supported Open Learning’ as the OU calls its specific method, is where students can study in their own time, when and where it suits them, getting regular support from tutors, study advisers and other students via online forums.

Available to those with a bachelor’s level degree, this collaboration is designed to enable participants to build upon their first degree to reach Masters level whilst still working and earning and without putting their career on hold.  Modules can be selected and a Further Learning plan created in order to work towards becoming a Chartered Engineer.

James Coulman is one such person who, choosing having chosen the distance learning route, in July 2013, achieved his Master of Engineering with the OU, enabling him to work towards achieving his ambition of becoming a Chartered Engineer. He explains why he entered back in to the world of study, his experiences and how it has benefited him in his career.

Coulman explained: “I completed my BEng at Birmingham University in 2009 prior to joining the Royal Air Force as an Engineering Officer in 2010. As a professional engineer I fully understood the huge benefits a MEng could provide to my career and was my ultimate aspiration was to become a Chartered Engineer.”

“However, in 2009 I could not afford, both financially and personally, to complete a traditional full-time Masters with Birmingham or any other university. I took the decision to leave university with my BEng and hoped an opportunity would arise to complete my MEng in a manner that would suit me.”

He continued: “The opportunity arose when I discovered the OU. My career in the RAF is very demanding and leaves little room for free time so the flexibility of the courses I was interested in studying combined with the support network of tutors the OU offered meant that no matter where I was deployed across the globe as long as I had WiFi I could complete my studies with no worries. Finances also played a massive part: to complete my MEng with the OU it cost around £7,000 spread over 2 ½ years, which was completely manageable whilst working at the same time, and significantly less than a full time MEng with a traditional university.”

“Studying with the OU was flexible, manageable and interesting: exactly what I was looking for. The study materials were always of a very high standard, and the tutors were excellent. Always willing to help and never more than a quick email or phone call away, it is the quality of the tutors which really make the OU experience work. As a bit of a technological dinosaur, I found the online experience and interaction difficult to pick up at first, but with practice it became easier.”

Now that Coulman has completed his studies with the OU and achieved his MEng, he is in a much stronger position both in the professional engineering community and within his role as an Engineering Officer in the RAF.  He explained: “My motivation, proactivity and dedication to professional development, identified through my continued studies have been noticed and commented on in my annual assessment which has pushed me into a stronger position for promotion. I am currently applying to become a Chartered Engineer which is only achievable now I hold the pre-requisite qualification of a Masters degree. Once I hold CEng status I will be able to apply for positions within the RAF which are screened to Chartered Engineers only. This will ensure my career continues to progress as successfully as possible.”

He added: “I would certainly recommend the OU to others. If you are prepared to work hard and manage your time to allow for distance learning the rewards achievable through the OU are definitely worth it.”

The Open University’s engineering qualifications are accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED), the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).