Once when asked about his priorities, British Prime Minister Tony Blair replied, “Education, education, education.” We can be sure he was not thinking specifically about courses in mechanical engineering, but his proclamation does highlight the fact that nobody in or out of public life can neglect the need for more or better knowledge.
Change is a constant in our lives, and learning never stops whether you want to learn or not. Ask yourself what new facts, information, techniques, or methods you encountered today. Perhaps it was discovering some pertinent piece of information that makes a connection with a gestating problem. Whatever it is, write it down, and do the same tomorrow. You might be surprised at how much “new” you have learned after only a few days.
As the businesses of turbomachinery design, engineering, and manufacturing continue to make evolutionary advances, as well as occasional dramatic discoveries, fresh understanding quickly leads to better methods. Computer-aided engineering, design, and manufacturing methods have radically changed the way we do things. Global market demands, cutting-edge technologies and new regulations require fresh approaches and therefore new learning. Workforce mobility has increased, and few people today have, or anticipate, one job for life. New graduates expect their career paths will change several times, and sometimes in ways quite unexpected. Continuing education, training, and retraining to cope with all the demands of chance has become essential.
Workforces respond well to training opportunities. They are clear statements of the value that companies place in their engineers. People return from training courses refreshed and motivated, and ready to take on new challenges. However, when company budgets are in jeopardy, training is often an easy target for cuts because it is thought to have little impact on the company’s immediate performance. But that thinking is often counterproductive. The most important resource that any company has is its workforce, and training is an investment for staying strong and being poised to grow.
At Concepts NREC, courses for turbomachinery engineers have been offered for decades. Literally thousands of engineers have benefited from our courses. Today the scope extends beyond turbomachinery design and includes courses in turbocharging and gas turbines, design methodologies that cover automatic optimization and design for manufacture, and generalized approaches to problem solving such as root-cause analysis. Check our Professional Development Course page for upcoming classes.
