Worth doing the FAS courses?

Krieg

Im about to finish 4th year of industrial engineering in GMIT. Since job prosepects arent great Im looking at further education, but I dont want to do a masters for another few years.

Ive been looking at the FAS courses, in particular the Pneumatics, welding and PLC. Now the thing is, I have already learned the basics of pneumatics and PLC's in college and not just theory, but more practical stuff such as 'Build a circuit that does X & Y'.

Is it really worth going to a FAS course in my situation?
Should I ignore these courses and just write down in my C.V. that I am familiar with the basics of these 2 area's?

Anyone with experience with these courses?
Worth doing etc.?

Thanks

Shiny

Isn't this a step back ?


eg
Why would a Civil Engineer go and learn to be a builder after doing
a Civil engineering degree?



When you get a job wouldn't you be in charge of the people doing
this course as opposed to being one of them ?


Just a thought.....

Darren1o1

Krieg wrote: »

Im about to finish 4th year of industrial engineering in GMIT. Since job prosepects arent great Im looking at further education, but I dont want to do a masters for another few years.

Ive been looking at the FAS courses, in particular the Pneumatics, welding and PLC. Now the thing is, I have already learned the basics of pneumatics and PLC's in college and not just theory, but more practical stuff such as 'Build a circuit that does X & Y'.

Is it really worth going to a FAS course in my situation?
Should I ignore these courses and just write down in my C.V. that I am familiar with the basics of these 2 area's?

Anyone with experience with these courses?
Worth doing etc.?

Thanks

I would try get out there and apply about before you resign yourself to another course. If I were you I would be more likely to look at a Master's leverl. Maybe MIE in UCD or CAMME in DCU? Are you going for Level 8?

Krieg

Shiny wrote: »

Isn't this a step back ?


eg
Why would a Civil Engineer go and learn to be a builder after doing
a Civil engineering degree?



When you get a job wouldn't you be in charge of the people doing
this course as opposed to being one of them ?


Just a thought.....

Well my long term plan is to do maybe 3-5 years as a technician. It was an area I really liked while on work placement and I feel that I would greatly benefit from the experience toward future career. Your probably thinking, why didnt I do Mechanical eng. Well I liked the sound of industrial over mechanical, but I still believe that to be a good Industrial engineer, you do need some technical expertise. I figure, If i can get a couple of these fas courses completed, it will show that I do have some technical ability. Many employers believe that Industrial Eng is very theoretical (and it is), but there is a big practical side to it as well

It does sound like a step backward, but lecturers have told me that many engineers/techs who were recently put out of work are turning toward fas courses as a way of getting a piece of paper that say 'I can do X' and also shows that they were trying to better themselves while unemployed.

Darren1o1 wrote: »

I would try get out there and apply about before you resign yourself to another course. If I were you I would be more likely to look at a Master's leverl. Maybe MIE in UCD or CAMME in DCU? Are you going for Level 8?

Oh absolutely, I have updated my C.V. and I plan to start properly looking a job a month before exams. But It never hurts to have a solid back up plan either.
It would be a good time to start a masters, but I want to leave that another 5 years, until I find an area that Im really interested in and do a masters in that area.
Yes im currently going for level 8

Offy

I spent four years in the AIT doing a degree in engineering, years ago I spent a year in FAS doing a course in Factory Automation. The FAS course was harder, FAS prepare you for a specific job, college prepares you for an industry.
Factory Automation covers PLC's, electronics, pneumatics, micro-controllers, visual recognition, conveyor systems, CAD and robotics. Everything you need to repair and programme automated assembly lines. Just to give you an idea of the difference between FAS and college on the pneumatic front, what I did in college for a degree was complete child's play compared to what I did in FAS with pneumatics's. We never worked with more than 4-5 valves and actuators at a time in college but in FAS we trained with equipment with hundreds of valves and actuators.
College is for theory, FAS is for hands on but overall college is worth a lot more to you.