Engineering Officer help.

[Boydie]

Aright guys, I'm Boydie and was wondering if someone would help me out with my question please.

I've just finished my NC Electrical Engineering course at collage and basically I'm at the crossroads at this moment in time about my future, personally I think I have three options. I could stay on at the collage I'm at and get better grades. Apply for a military career. Or apply to Clyde Marine to train to become a Engineer Officer. For me, becoming a Engineer Officer would be a dream come true!

The qualifications I have will be my NC Electrical Engineering, this will include Maths, English and Computer Studies too at a similar level I believe. (I haven't received my certificate yet but I know I have passed well.) I also have two Int2 and decent standard grades (some 2's, mostly 3's and even a 4) and lastly I have a qualification in PAT testing, I got this because of my part time job as a PAT tester; maintaining tools and stuff and making sure everything is PAT tested. I think that one could help me out because it will show I'm keen in engineering and repairing stuff plus the other course I just finished ha.

Anyway do you guys think I have the right qualifications to apply for HNC Engineering Officer course? Feedback would be great.

[Bulman]

hey bud, for HNC route all you need are GCSE's as quoted on their website and obviously having your NC will help you in the interview stage because you have engineering experience, got this off their website

For entry into the HNC/D course you will require a minimum of 5 GCSE or Standard Grade passes at Grade C/3 or above including English, Mathematics and a Science based subject.

I dunno what sort of maths your NC involved but if it was advanced it may be worth getting in contact with some of the colleges that provide training for Clyde, and see if the qualification is enough to get you onto the FD route. I don't have any A Levels but did have a advanced maths/science thing I got during my first year in an apprenticeship, I got in touch with the colleges and this was enough to get me onto the FD Course and I simply stated this to the companies I applied for

[Boydie]

Thanks for the reply Bulman. A FD course is quite the jump from from my NC qualification I just finished. But I will look into it.

I have another question if you don't mind. About the Electro Technical Officer course, as you can see it would probably be better suited to me. I think I was reading on the Clyde Marine website, to apply for the Electro Technical course I needed a specific qualification in Electrical. I can't find that bit of information now so maybe I've looked at it wrong. I'm I right or wrong?

[Bulman]

It's no problem, I'm no expert my self, as I'm only starting electro-tech this September, by the looks of it, they only offer the foundation degree electro-tech too, so if you do want to go down the ETO route you would have to be eligible for a FD. So if you want to do that I would check with the south Tyneside as their the only college that offer a FD in ET, if they don't then your best option would be to stay on at college and maybe do a course in advanced/A-level maths and science. Or I have heard some companies offer a HNC/D in Electro Tech but I don't know what companies these are and it means mainly doing the Mech HNC/D and then doing a extra Electro units.

Another member on here may be able to help you with those other options

[Beef1992]

A 1/4 of my class on the FD engineering at STC are ex NC HND students who did general engineering qualifications at college , if the course has the right ucas points then go for it you might struggle at first with the maths but they build everyone up to the same level.

Might aswell strive for the best qualification you can get .

[Boydie]

Thanks again Bulman. I'm going to have to send out a few emails and get some advice from the collages.

A 1/4 of my class on the FD engineering at STC are ex NC HND students who did general engineering qualifications at college , if the course has the right ucas points then go for it you might struggle at first with the maths but they build everyone up to the same level.

Might aswell strive for the best qualification you can get .

That's my thought too Beef1992, try and get the best qualification I can get. You don't mind me asking how the ex NC guys are getting on in your course? Since probably I would be at roughly the same level when they were when they started, plus cheers for your input.

[chris]

Hi, I'm on the fd ETO course at South Shields and it might seem strange but I'd recommend the HND version, mech eng with some electrics to everyone for a few reasons.

I'd suggest comparing the various elements of the two courses HNC engineering+electrics vs the fd ETO. Based on my sea time experience, I really regret not pushing to go on the traditional course as it seems to have a much more practical emphasis. The designers of the new course seem to think that post cadetship, ETOS will just be managing technicians who will have the practical skills they might not have but this doesnt seem to be the case on the majority of ships (excluding cruise ships).

In my opinion, there are a lot of problems with the new course and I'd avoid it and go the HNC route.

[Bulman]

At the end of the day FD is seen as a higher qualification? And to get into a foundation degree you do need to have some experience in maths and physics, plus on topic boydie does have some practicle skills already. It depends what you want obvious the traditional course also involves a lot of mechanical elements. Plus there's nothing stopping you from doing and learning practicle/theory stuff your self!

Im glad Im going to be doing the FD in eto, as I really don't enjoy the mechanical side as much as i do the electrical. the fact the course is mainly electrical suits me.

At the end of the day boydie it's what you prefer most. Maybe do some more research and talk to the guys that have done the different courses (make sure you get a range so their not biast) I'm not 100% sure on what ETwhat's done but do know he's at stc currently abd has given me some sound advice and answered all my questions even if they are stupid

[chris]

The general view I've heard is that the current ETOs in the industry have more respect for the HNC. The academic level of the fd course is certainly higher but the greater amount of practical skills in the HNC course is better preparation for the majority of electrical work on ships.

In earlier posts, some other forum members have pointed out the usefulness of the control theory in the fd course but I'm not yet convinced.

For an example of the mathematical modelling in the fd course phase 3, take a look at these tutorials. We worked at them in class.

http://www.freestudy.co.uk/control/t1.pdf

http://www.freestudy.co.uk/control/t3.pdf

http://www.freestudy.co.uk/control/t4.pdf

http://www.freestudy.co.uk/control/t5.pdf

I'd say that the preparation maths classes in phase 1 of the course are equivalent to the applied mechanics element of A Level maths / the mechanics element from A Level Physics with a large amount of the pure maths too. The complex numbers used in the tutorials used to be part of further A level maths when I was at school.

[chris]

as far as I know about ETwhat, hes also in my fd ETO class and had gained all his practical skills before starting at the college.

[Bulman]

Yeah I see where you're coming from, I would of thought that you would get more of your practicle skills on board the ship, it's like the electrical apprenticeship I was gonna do, you get all the skills while at work but if you do a foundation degree it's part time, one day a week and they only teach you theory and a bit of practicle but it's in the labs with resistors etc, even though at work you're a industrial electrician at uni their teaching then electronics

[chris]

well the quality of on-board practical skill training varies dramatically, so in my opinion the more you can learn from ex-industry craftsman and technicians employed by the college in the workshops the better.

[ETwhat?]

as far as I know about ETwhat, hes also in my fd ETO class and had gained all his practical skills before starting at the college.

Yes but as has recently been discussed at great length here, i've done a fair few things before i started my cadetship - most of which im proud of

On topic, I'm really not sure how much difference / more electrical practical experience the HNC route would have, if you consider that engineers use the same workshops as us, its not like they are building large circuits and our class gets experience on far more that is normally reserved for higher tickets. That said we miss out all the mechanical stuff, which can be good or bad as you look at it.

I wont say that the course is perfect, i think there could have been a bit more effort if building the basic circuits that fill a ship, and also creating the drawings etc so people learn the relationship between the paper, and how it looks in the cabinet, which then helps with fault finding, similarly programming a PLC is interesting and good fun but fault finding on attached circuits would actually be more useful. The theory side is what it is there is always going to be stuff that isnt really needed, but that gets added in to make a module of the correct level.

I would be quick to point out though that the first batch of this version of ETO's have only gone for their orals now, so no one has any experience of how the qualification actually works, some one may say that they think the HNC route is better becasue they did it, they understand it, or its the version they would choose but none of those are really a good indication peoples performance after they complete the course.

That said im still stuck on a ship so fire away with the stupid questions unless they are for more pictures

[GuinnessMan]

That said im still stuck on a ship so fire away with the stupid questions unless they are for more pictures

We want pictures of your ship now!

[ETwhat?]

Ok when i get the google machine to work a bit faster i shall link some for you