Professional and Career Topics

Training is such a critical component of developing successful engineers and improving knowledge transfer within an organization.

We are in the process of developing a more robust internal training program for our firm, and I'm interested to see what thoughts others in ASCE have on corporate technical training programs they've experienced.

What have you seen that works?

What maybe hasn't worked?

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Heidi C. Wallace, P.E., M.ASCE
Tulsa, OK
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Great initiative Heidi!

Re: "developing successful engineers and improving knowledge transfer"

Some thoughts follow:

a. Form a study group to prepare and release internally an anonymous survey to ask everyone what they

wish to learn more about.

b. Research what the literature suggests the most frequent "Missing Links" are in

our traditional CE education programs, from a "Looking-back" perspective.

c. Start the training program with those in the C-suite and Sr. Mgrs. going first.

I'm sure there is more to make the outcomes what you desire.

Cheers,

Bill

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William M. Hayden Jr., Ph.D., P.E., CMQ/OE, F.ASCE
Buffalo, N.Y.

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." -- George Eliot 1819 - 1880
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I worked in a Corps of Engineers organization that had a tactical training plan -- what our people needed immediately to do their jobs better -- and a strategic education plan -- what knowledge and skills the organization needed to expand into areas targeted by our overall strategic plan. Staff were encouraged to include one or both elements in their Personal Development Plans. For those topics not readily or affordably offered by USACE, professional societies, universities, or private firms, our own employees with the necessary knowledge taught in-house courses. Outside tuition was reimbursable. Sometimes the latter were taught at partnering universities with our folks serving as adjunct faculty. A (very) few employees were offered a year's sabbatical for graduate study.

I think it worked very well. Staff members reported educational opportunities as a primary benefit and the organization profited by quickly adopting new technologies.

Bill Mc

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William McAnally Ph.D., P.E., BC.CE, BC.NE, F.ASCE
ENGINEER
Columbus MS
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Heidi:

Please see the following summary of some of what I have learned from doing seminars, webinars, and workshops for internal educuation and training programs:

http://www.helpingyouengineeryourfuture.com/roi.htm 

Hope this helps.

Stu

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Stu Walesh PhD, PE
Consultant - Teacher - Author
219-242-1704
www.HelpingYouEngineerYour
Future.com
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Heidi

For about 15 years now, our company has been hosting sessions covering topics of interest from various disciplines such as mechanical, civil, structural, architecture, electrical, instrumentation, and geotechnics. At one point, even internal-use books were published. Presently, we continue to present primarily lessons learned topics. Some short courses are also taught by our staff focusing on specific technical topics, and since last year, workshops on engineering project management have been conducted to prepare future project managers.

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Robinson Ucanan C.Eng, M.ASCE
Lima
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