Engineer courses for Electrician. Which one to take?

Electrisco-pops

I'm an electrician and I wanted to start the Electrical Engineering course in DIT however all the places are taken. I'm am looking at starting the electronic engineering course in IT Tallaght however I'm not sure if this would be benificial relative to my Trade.
Any one know weather or not I'll be able to link this course to my trade?

DublinDilbert

jamesekeenan wrote: »

I'm an electrician and I wanted to start the Electrical Engineering course in DIT however all the places are taken. I'm am looking at starting the electronic engineering course in IT Tallaght however I'm not sure if this would be benificial relative to my Trade.
Any one know weather or not I'll be able to link this course to my trade?

I guess one of the things is how long do you plan on studding for, cause there's various options depending on what your looking for. What area's would you like to work in, in the future? If you go down the electrical engineering route you might be confining your self a little, so electronic engineering would be a good alternative, if you feel it would interest you enough.

Also just cause you've an electronic qualification doesn't mean you can't do automation work etc..

Electrisco-pops

Well I am currently doing a 12 week course on KNX systems (www.knx.org) in Loughlinstown which is an industrial automation system that aparently just has not become popular yet in Ireland, and automation certainly is very interesting to me.
That makes me feel a little better about starting this course in Tallaght. I was planning on doing 4 and a half years part time and I'm gonna work extra hard while i'm unemployed to try get it done a little quicker.

First 2 years
http://www.it-tallaght.ie/PartTimeCourses/ElectronicEngineering/Name,17548,en.html
Second 2 years
http://www.it-tallaght.ie/PartTimeCourses/ElectronicEngineering/Name,17549,en.html

If you think this is a bad idea don't hesitate to tell me!

Thanks for your reply

DublinDilbert

KNX is slowly getting more popular, i've seen it being rolled out in a few places for BMS's....

Automation is something you can always get into later on and i'm sure the IT in tallagh will have some modules designed for this... I don't think its a bad move at all, you probably have lots of electrical experience, so a qualification in electronics will only complement this.

CatFromHue

a friend of mine is/was an electricain.

he is now studying electrical building services engineering in DIT.

He seems to quite like it too.

You could have a look at it, might or might not be beneficial

DK47

There is only on true pure electrical engineering course in the country. its down in cit, electricians start in second year, there is no other course like this one in the country, i would recommend it! if you contact them i think there is a few places left!

pljudge321

DK47 wrote: »

There is only on true pure electrical engineering course in the country. its down in cit, electricians start in second year, there is no other course like this one in the country, i would recommend it! if you contact them i think there is a few places left!

Im pretty sure UCD's Electrical engineering degree could be counted as a pure electrical engineering degree, maybe a bit light on the practical side but quite heavy on the theory side of things.

To the op, my previous boss did his electrical engineering degree up in Belfast after being an electrician, might be worth a look.

DublinDilbert

DK47 wrote: »

There is only on true pure electrical engineering course in the country. its down in cit, electricians start in second year, there is no other course like this one in the country, i would recommend it! if you contact them i think there is a few places left!

I'm not sure what the advantage of a pure Electrical Engineering Degree is, cause as an engineer your always going to be asked to solve different problems and having a range of skills/knowledge/tools available will definitely help you.

A lot of electricians seem to want to stick to Electrical Power subjects, and maybe with a little control systems thrown in, as they already have some knowledge in this area. Its worth considering other engineering skills to complement their existing knowledge. It also opens up large possibilities for future employment.

pljudge321

DublinDilbert wrote: »

I'm not sure what the advantage of a pure Electrical Engineering Degree is, cause as an engineer your always going to be asked to solve different problems and having a range of skills/knowledge/tools available will definitely help you.

A lot of electricians seem to want to stick to Electrical Power subjects, and maybe with a little control systems thrown in, as they already have some knowledge in this area. Its worth considering other engineering skills to complement their existing knowledge. It also opens up large possibilities for future employment.

Agreed, There's a reason most engineering courses have common first years and shared modules the courses during the later years.