B.Eng. in Aircraft Systems Carlow IT

CaptainSkidmark

Just wondering if anyone here knows anyone who did the course, Im going back to college and i want to do this course.

Im finding all the same basic information o different web sites but im having trouble finding people that actually did the course.

Just wondering was it worth it and what kind of jobs did people get into when they graduated.

J

jmayo

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone here knows anyone who did the course, Im going back to college and i want to do this course.

Im finding all the same basic information o different web sites but im having trouble finding people that actually did the course.

Just wondering was it worth it and what kind of jobs did people get into when they graduated.

J

Sorry, but I find it weird that a college that is nowhere near a decent sized airport is offering such a course.

I guess it is just another example of why our education system is often viewed as substandard.

I am not sure how long this course is running, but I don't think it is that long so you might find it hard to get feedback on achievements of past graduates.
Of course I am open to correction on this.

CaptainSkidmark

i wonder how it compares to the course in DIT

Steyr

jmayo wrote: »

Sorry, but I find it weird that a college that is nowhere near a decent sized airport is offering such a course.

I guess it is just another example of why our education system is often viewed as substandard.

I am not sure how long this course is running, but I don't think it is that long so you might find it hard to get feedback on achievements of past graduates.
Of course I am open to correction on this.

See my post here: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056087328&highlight=Carlow

AFAIK it is because of the Fouga CM170 Super Magister.

CaptainSkidmark

they also have one in dit i think, in carlow they have a 747 rolls engine!

Steyr

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

they also have one in dit i think, in carlow they have a 747 rolls engine!

Correct


215-Instructional Airframe, Dublin IT.

216-Museum, Baldonnel.

217-Museum in Linz, Austria.

218-FAS, Shannon.

219-Museum, Baldonnel.

220-Avionics Workshop, Carlow IT.

3-KE-Museum, Baldonnel-Dismantled.

Skuxx

I started doing the course September of last year but left after 6 weeks as I got offered an apprenticeship with Shannon Aerospace! I don't know about people who have qualified but one of the worries I had was where you would get the practicle experience after the course needed to apply for your cat B licence! I'm still in contact with the lads up there and they are working through the EASA's so I suppose it would be a good way to get them out of the way anyway!

testicle

What airframes do UL have?

Delta Kilo

UL doesnt have any airframe to the best of my knowledge (Im a student of aero here). ULs course is much much much more theoretical than the course in CIT or DIT. We do have an old jet engine that has sections cut away so you can see the guts of it. We have a windtunnel and had a cockpit of an old 737 at one stage too.

We spend most of our time in lecture halls and classrooms with pens and calculators as opposed to using wrenches and hammers on real airframes.

slimjimmc

jmayo wrote: »

Sorry, but I find it weird that a college that is nowhere near a decent sized airport is offering such a course.

I guess it is just another example of why our education system is often viewed as substandard.

I am not sure how long this course is running, but I don't think it is that long so you might find it hard to get feedback on achievements of past graduates.
Of course I am open to correction on this.

Why do you find it weird, it's not as if any there are many scrap planes/engines lying around and no airline is going to let students poke around at the innards of their aircraft. Degrees involve studying a lot of theory too which can be learnt anywhere.

jmayo

Steyr wrote: »

See my post here: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056087328&highlight=Carlow

AFAIK it is because of the Fouga CM170 Super Magister.

So they have one of the old Fougas and that means they should be running what purports to be an engineering degree in aircraft systems ?
Sorry but using that analogy, Nutgrove shopping centre in Dublin has/had a glider hanging up (actually know the guy they bought it off), so what would that entitle them to run ?

BTW when I was in college an engineering degree course was 4 years, not 3 and you needed honours maths in the leaving cert. :rolleyes:
And people wonder why our third level education standards are questioned, but that is a whole other debate and not for here. :mad:

The DIT BEng Tech course appears a lot better, they have years more experience in this area and get this they are near enough to Dublin airport. :rolleyes:

http://www.dit.ie/media/documents/engineering/schoolofmechanicalandtransport/transportengineering/DT011.pdf

slimjimmc wrote: »

Why do you find it weird, it's not as if any there are many scrap planes/engines lying around and no airline is going to let students poke around at the innards of their aircraft. Degrees involve studying a lot of theory too which can be learnt anywhere.

Right where do I start ?
Any college that offers aeronautical courses should at least be near some form of airfield, preferably an airport with maintenance facilities.
Carlow has neither, with nearest airfield being Kilkenny and last time I checked they don't do maintenance there.

And no I am not talking about letting some first year loose on a 737, but they should at least have option of visiting studying at nearby maintenance facilities.
Any college I have previously researched offering aeronautical courses have usually been near such facilities.

To me this just goes to show the whole lunacy of our third level education system.
If one takes this viewpoint further, why don't they start marine biology degree courses in Carlow or maybe Athlone will get in on the act.
Colleges should specialise in certain areas and one of the last places someone should place aerospace/aeronautical studies would be Carlow.

Some bright spark decided they would start an aerospace course and even worse someone up the chain oked it.

Steyr

jmayo wrote: »

So they have one of the old Fougas and that means they should be running what purports to be an engineering degree in aircraft systems ?

I really dont know but I can not find anything else out about it. BTW whats with all the :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

It gets terribly annoying :rolleyes:

jmayo

Steyr wrote: »

I really dont know but I can not find anything else out about it. BTW whats with all the :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

It gets terribly annoying :rolleyes:

Rolleyes are meant to show my disbelief I guess.
For instance visit the politics forum and most posts have them aplenty.
BTW I only used two.

I have seen small colleges in other countries offer various courses in aviation management, etc, but they had a nearby airfield or rather a small regional airport with services to cities in the vicinity.
In this case I think it is daft having such a course in Carlow.

Wouldn't it make more sense to have this course and faculty near where there can be a link up with actual people in the industry, that way students could do placements, lecturers could do research for companies, etc ?

testicle

Degrees have changed since you, and indeed I, were in college. Have a google for the Bologna Agreement.

jmayo

jmayo wrote: »

BTW when I was in college an engineering degree course was 4 years, not 3 and you needed honours maths in the leaving cert. :rolleyes:

I think the ITs now have renamed their diploma to a degree :rolleyes:
Lots of course don't now or back in 99 when I did the Leaving require honours maths :rolleyes:

rob88

carlow is just over an hour away from dublin airport.. in fairness that is not far.. if they needed to visit an airport every day i could see it being a bit of a bother but for a few trips now and again an hour away shouldn't be and wouldn't be a problem

jmayo

RoverJames wrote: »

I think the ITs now have renamed their diploma to a degree :rolleyes:
Lots of course don't now or back in 99 when I did the Leaving require honours maths :rolleyes:

Sadly true and it is easy to see how the likes of Intel now view the calibre of our graduates as ... well not great.

BTW you have exceeded the quota of :rolleyes:.
Be warned.

rob88 wrote: »

carlow is just over an hour away from dublin airport.. in fairness that is not far.. if they needed to visit an airport every day i could see it being a bit of a bother but for a few trips now and again an hour away shouldn't be and wouldn't be a problem

Ehh I know the roads (including the motorway) from Carlow to Dublin pretty well and it can be done in an hour and 10 if you break a few limits and it is not busy as in late evening.
Try during normal morning or evening and well good luck.

BTW proper engineering/science faculties need close relationships with industry and geographic proximity helps.

If we need another college in Ireland doing aeronautical related studies let it be Limerick IT or DCU.
But would that be called logical planning ?

Anyway this is probably no help to the OP, who personally I would advise heading for UL or DIT.
Now I await the Carlow brigade lashback

Darius.Tr

Still cant make up my mind DIT or Carlow IT for a course in aviation...

Mr Marri

jmayo wrote: »

Sorry, but I find it weird that a college that is nowhere near a decent sized airport is offering such a course.

I guess it is just another example of why our education system is often viewed as substandard.

I am not sure how long this course is running, but I don't think it is that long so you might find it hard to get feedback on achievements of past graduates.
Of course I am open to correction on this.

LOL, oh this cheers me up no end.

You know your right. it's all about how close to the airport you are, the first question in every interview is going to be how close to the airport was your college. just tell them you coulld hear the planes and you've got the job. Oh and I love the way the laws of physics change depending on how close to the airport you are. So next time something doesn't work I'll just tell people to move closer to the airport and that will fix it, because they obviously didn't factor in einstein law of airport relativity.

I'm going to go dry my eyes.

A320

Darius.Tr wrote: »

Still cant make up my mind DIT or Carlow IT for a course in aviation...

I don't think you can just go to DIT and do a course,the people that go here are sponsored by their companies ie an apprenticeship

testicle

A320 wrote: »

I don't think you can just go to DIT and do a course,the people that go here are sponsored by their companies ie an apprenticeship

Course you can http://www.dit.ie/study/undergraduate/programmes/aviationtechnologydt011/#d.en.38388

Darius.Tr

Yeah its a new course comming up this year...It's engineering combined with business as far as i understand.
http://www.dit.ie/news/archive2009/launchofditaviationtechnologycentre/

Mythago

Delta Kilo wrote: »

UL doesnt have any airframe to the best of my knowledge (Im a student of aero here). ULs course is much much much more theoretical than the course in CIT or DIT. We do have an old jet engine that has sections cut away so you can see the guts of it. We have a windtunnel and had a cockpit of an old 737 at one stage too.

We spend most of our time in lecture halls and classrooms with pens and calculators as opposed to using wrenches and hammers on real airframes.

Isn't the UL course Aeronautical Engineering? This is aimed at careers away from the Hangar floor, and often away from Aircraft maintenance in general! Although you may be offered work ex. at Shannon Aerospace.

alan1990 wrote: »

I started doing the course September of last year but left after 6 weeks as I got offered an apprenticeship with Shannon Aerospace! I don't know about people who have qualified but one of the worries I had was where you would get the practicle experience after the course needed to apply for your cat B licence! I'm still in contact with the lads up there and they are working through the EASA's so I suppose it would be a good way to get them out of the way anyway!

I've found over the last few yrs. that guys who come to a Hangar from college are TBH useless(I've dealt with about 20 in the last 2yrs). They may have passed their modules & be B1's in waiting but we find they have absolutely no tool skills, their quite clever & know the theory. but ask them to remove a panel at your peril.

Quotes from college students on work experience(guys who have had 3-6 months work experience already!):

"Do all the bolts on this panel unwind the same way?"
"What does pe-new-meh-tic mean?"
"This is broken" (Ratchet was clicking.......)
"This doesn't fit" (attempting to connect oxygen rig to tyres)

I'm all for providing work experience but the industry is very poorly geared to provided college students with level required.

Taking the traineeship at Aerospace "should" give you the general hand skills required but as far as I'm aware they still only go to "A" level so you need to do the B on you own time.

A320

Mythago wrote: »

Although you may be offered work ex. at Shannon Aerospace..

In an office though,no thanks

Skuxx

Mythago wrote: »

Taking the traineeship at Aerospace "should" give you the general hand skills required but as far as I'm aware they still only go to "A" level so you need to do the B on you own time.

Already started, got mod 1, 2 and 9 done! Hoping to do 3, 4 and 5 next!

A320

good stuff,i noticed a while back doing mod 10 the 5 year exam limit doesn't apply to b1/b2 common modules i.e 1,3,8,9,10 always a bonus!

pilatus09

Was looking to start the course in DIT Bolton St, BEng in Aviation Tech in Sept, but called Engineers Ireland and the course is not recognised by them, the BEng in Aircraft Systems in Carlow IT is recognised by Engineers Ireland.

Anyone know why a well established institute like DIT doesn't have this course recognised by Engineers Ireland.

Both courses are very similar but with Carlow IT BEng in Aircraft Systems approved by Engineers Ireland I think i will be choosing Carlow IT instead.

Any thoughts or opinions greatly appreciated!

Pilatus09

A320

I'd hazard a guess and say because it's a new course and they have not evaluated it yet

CaptainSkidmark

Darius.Tr wrote: »

Still cant make up my mind DIT or Carlow IT for a course in aviation...

are you a mature student or what may i ask?

pilatus09

Yeah, I will be entering as Mature student, I was thinking the same thing myself about it being a new course for 2011 so i will give them a shout tomorrow to see if it will get recognition or not in the future.

It is a pity Carlow IT dont incorporate some Management & Accounting, Finance & Project Management aspects to the course too.

brophya2007

Hi All,

I am currently a second year student in UL studying Aeronautical Engineering, as stated above it's not very technical. So I'm trying to get some "hands on" experience either in the evenings or at weekends. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

Darius.Tr

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

are you a mature student or what may i ask?

I'm a student , just finishing my leaving cert this year and looking for a course in aviation industry...

Shamrock125H

I would advise people against the IT Carlow course. The course itself is very poorly structured. You will not even touch an aircraft for the first year and a half and it is possible to lose intrest very quickly by sitting in classroms learning various types of maths and electronics ect. with no explanation, practical or otherwise, of how what you are studying relates to aviation. As you'd expect, the workload is quite high. This course has a high drop out rate.

The qualification itself is useless unless you pass all of the JAR maintenance exams (75% pass mark, multiple choice) and work experience is also required to gain the license and you must arrange this yourself which can be difficult.

My advice is, if you wish to become an aircraft engineer, apply for an apprenticeship. Companies can sometimes be hesitant about taking on new inexperienced people who have been trained elsewhere due to the probable cost of retraining to their standards.

Also, bear in mind with the current situation it's becoming less and less likely you will get a job in this sector in Ireland and emmigration is something you may have to consider.

heelers547

Shamrock I dont get why you would advise about the course in carlow it, do u know nyone in the course ?

Skuxx

brophya2007 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am currently a second year student in UL studying Aeronautical Engineering, as stated above it's not very technical. So I'm trying to get some "hands on" experience either in the evenings or at weekends. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

Is it maintenance hanger experience your looking for? Your only hope around Limerick would be to write to Shannon Aerospace or Air Atlanta although I'd be surprised if you get anything from them. I know with aerospace once 16.45 hits the place is almost emptied so no chance of getting evening work and its only a skeleton work force at weekends so same story!!
There would also be the issue of stamping for work for traceability (sp?) and I'd say you would have to be there full time to get a stamp!! Although you won't know until you ask I suppose!

tu2j2

brophya2007 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am currently a second year student in UL studying Aeronautical Engineering, as stated above it's not very technical. So I'm trying to get some "hands on" experience either in the evenings or at weekends. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

If its hands on experience you want then Aeronautical Engineering isn't the way to go, trust me, I know It won't do you any harm either though.

Your best bet is too try Shannon aerospace during the summer, there was a guy who finished in Carlow there last summer working with us for a few months but he was doing it unpaid which is probably your only hope. But if my memory serves me correctly you'll be doing co-op this summer. You know where your going yet?

Might be worth trying aerospace for some experience the weekend, there is a bit of work going on some weekends, no hope of getting paid though I'd say.

Sarans1988

CaptainSkidmark wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone here knows anyone who did the course, Im going back to college and i want to do this course.

Im finding all the same basic information o different web sites but im having trouble finding people that actually did the course.

Just wondering was it worth it and what kind of jobs did people get into when they graduated.

J

Check out this site:
http://www.itcarlow.ie/downloads/aerospace/aerospace-graduate-video.html

If you have any further queries I suggest you contact the college directly. I'm certain that they will be only to happy to tell you about the course and how it is approved by the Irish Aviation Authority, European Aviation and Safety Agency and Engineers Ireland.

handsomecake

i did avionics in carlow in 2003.did the first semester(twas the first year of the course and it was a bit of a joke to be honest when i look back),then left and went to shannon aerospace.got the cat A and left.did the b1's in my own time.

as far as i know only 1 guy from the avionics course i was on is still employed in aviation and is miles behind because he has to get all his practical experience now and airlines just dont want to know.

not in the current climate any way.

i seen last year a cv came in from a guy from italy with engineering degrees/quaifications aplenty and it was just cast aside.he was no good to a line maintenance operation.

ive nothing good to say about carlow by the way.nothing.