Flyfisher
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MdB said:
Ah, the Personal Electronic Transactor, which was very influential in my choice of career after coming across it while working for the Medical Research Council in 1978/79.
- Thread starter robgil
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Ah, the Personal Electronic Transactor, which was very influential in my choice of career after coming across it while working for the Medical Research Council in 1978/79.
Well, as an Open University lecturer (ie someone who writes the courses at HQ) or rather I was until 2 years ago when I decided to go freelance, I can tell you that the courses are equivalent to other universities and that they are accepted by employers. Inevitably some employers will be snobby about them but just as they would be about degrees from other universities that aren't Oxbridge, Durham, York etc. The OU ranks highest for student satisfaction and ranks very well for research and publications. Many university lecturers themselves have OU degrees (I have a Masters with them). Distance learning is tough and I think it takes around 5 or 6 years to do a first degree. We're getting younger students all the time - I also teach for the OU and half my students are under 25 this year I think. Our quality standards are really high - I have taught and examined at other universities over the years so I can compare them and know we're equivalent if not better than many 
The OU is an amazing institution and I've personally been involved with it for 22 years - even when I've worked full time elsewhere, I've done a course or taught a course.
Juju (slightly biaised)
The OU is an amazing institution and I've personally been involved with it for 22 years - even when I've worked full time elsewhere, I've done a course or taught a course.
Juju (slightly biaised)
Penners
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Well, I often wondered why it was called PET. Thanks FF!Flyfisher said:
I started on a Sinclair ZX81 (can't remember the date) and ended up actually writing a stock control programme for my business on it! I was hooked on computers from Day 1!
vicky whitworth
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back to your original question...why do you ask Robgil? Are you planning on starting a course with the OU?
Penners
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That should be easy enough, providing you don't waste time sleeping.
philpjuk100
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Flyfisher said:
Penners
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I mentioned a slide rule to my neighbour's 15-yr-old son the other day. Of course he had no idea what I was talking about. I then tried to explain the Vernier scale principle to him - complete blank. I make no judgment on this - it's just a reflection of how reliant we have become on electronic devices to do our basic mathematics for us.
philpjuk100
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And all without batteries!
Flyfisher
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Penners said:
Has he never watched the film Apollo 13 ?
"Math saves the day" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD0NfshRyh8
(OK, slight artistic licence but basically true)
Flyfisher
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philpjuk100 said:
A school friend had one of the first Sinclair Scientific calculators and we used to take it in turns to find the longest time to perform a calculation, whcih was easy to measure because the red LED display went blank whilst it was calculating. I recall that the record was calculating the tangent of some number or other which took it about 40 seconds - longer than looking it up in our books of tables :lol:
Penners
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How quickly one forgets. All those people sitting with pencil, paper and slide-rule, working out how to replan the trajectory of the most sophisticated machine ever made by man* (in its day)! To cap it all, the computer (said to have marginally less capable than the BBC Micro) on board the LEM went into complete overload during the lunar touchdown sequence!Flyfisher said:
* With all parts supplied by the cheapest bidder - to quote Michael Collins.
For Robgil:
As an engineer and a recruiter for an engineering company, I would tell you this:
An engineering degree is an essential requirement for a successful, well paid career in engineering. A degree alone cannot, however, be relied upon to secure an engineering position. Outside of the young graduate market, the most important qualification for an engineer of any discipline is relevant experience. The engineering degree (OU or otherwise) is just your entry ticket into the engineering job market. Most engineering disciplines are incredibly fast moving and, beyond working from ‘first principles’ (an essential requirement), most of the subject matter learnt from an academic institution will be either obsolete or irrelevant to a modern engineering role. One look at the diversion this discussion has taken into obsolete hardware and tools should be enough to convince you of this.
A much better, and typical, route towards a career in engineering is to start off in an ‘entry level’ position with an employer in the discipline that interests you the most. Most engineering companies rely on training and re-training their existing staff and usually have access to Government schemes to ensure that this happens. Using your employer to educate you to degree level and beyond is a typical path in most engineering disciplines with benefits for both the employer and employee. If an employee shows aptitude and enthusiasm for gaining more knowledge then most employers will want to nurture this desire.
If you are taking the OU course for interest, or as a hobby, then go for it. If you are taking the OU course to obtain a well paid job in engineering then I would suggest that this may not be the best route. Without experience, you will be competing with young, bright (lets face it – cheap!) college graduates.
As an engineer and a recruiter for an engineering company, I would tell you this:
An engineering degree is an essential requirement for a successful, well paid career in engineering. A degree alone cannot, however, be relied upon to secure an engineering position. Outside of the young graduate market, the most important qualification for an engineer of any discipline is relevant experience. The engineering degree (OU or otherwise) is just your entry ticket into the engineering job market. Most engineering disciplines are incredibly fast moving and, beyond working from ‘first principles’ (an essential requirement), most of the subject matter learnt from an academic institution will be either obsolete or irrelevant to a modern engineering role. One look at the diversion this discussion has taken into obsolete hardware and tools should be enough to convince you of this.
A much better, and typical, route towards a career in engineering is to start off in an ‘entry level’ position with an employer in the discipline that interests you the most. Most engineering companies rely on training and re-training their existing staff and usually have access to Government schemes to ensure that this happens. Using your employer to educate you to degree level and beyond is a typical path in most engineering disciplines with benefits for both the employer and employee. If an employee shows aptitude and enthusiasm for gaining more knowledge then most employers will want to nurture this desire.
If you are taking the OU course for interest, or as a hobby, then go for it. If you are taking the OU course to obtain a well paid job in engineering then I would suggest that this may not be the best route. Without experience, you will be competing with young, bright (lets face it – cheap!) college graduates.
ChrisD said:
I was thinking exactly the same thing myself. My intention was to apply for and secure the course then apply for jobs in the hope that the employer would see that I was serious about following this through. I faced a similar problem when doing my NVQ in plumbing, no body would take me on because of the lack of experience and the college wouldn't take me on unless I was working in a plumbing environment. I ended up doing a pipe fitting job just to get my foot in the door. The pipe fitting job was actually much more interesting than doing domestic plumbing, I got to work on some big jobs in London one of which was 123 Bankside. In the end I ended up doing domestic plumbing on a Barratt site in Tonbridge Wells which although good fun did bore me half to death.
middi said:
I couldnt agree more Middi, idiots always seem to be at the top of their game, it takes a lot of time and dedication to learn how to use no brain cells. I think it starts at school.
"If there are any idiots in the room, will they please stand up" said the sarcastic teacher.
After a long silence, one freshman rose to his feet.
"Now then mister, why do you consider yourself an idiot?" enquired the teacher with a sneer.
"Well, actually I don't," said the student, "but I hate to see you standing up there all by yourself."
worms
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robgil said:
philpjuk100
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It seems that a degree is now needed to get employment,it was not always so,some of the best practical engineers I knew,(now all retired) had worked their way up from the bottom as apprentices,most of my heros (Napier,A.A.Scott,Colin Chapman,Derek Bennett,etc )had no qualifications in their final discipline.Have worked with qualified engineers,some very good some not,the best "trouble shooter" I have worked with is a dyslectic ex photo copier service engineer!