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Distance Continuing Education Courses
University of Arizona – College of Engineering
Engineering Professional Development
Distance Non-Credit Continuing Education Courses
(CEU Credit awarded for completion)
Our non-credit distance course are available through your web browser without the need for any additional software on your computer. A high speed connection is recommended but you can take these programs with a dial up connection. When you register for a course, you will receive a user name and password to access The University of Arizona distance site and can begin taking your course. The courses are text based and use a variety of interactive tools including PowerPoint presentations, Word files, Discussion Areas, Case Studies, Quizzes, Audio,Video and Flash Animations depending on the course you take. You can print the text for the course modules or logon from any location with a web browser. Call R.D. Eckhoff (520.621.4007) if you have any questions about non-credit distance education courses.
Telephone (520) 621 – 3054
Fax (520) 621- 1443
[ web: registration form ]
The Court Environment & Engineers (Text-only course)
Course Overview
Engineers working as a technical consultant and/or expert witness in the legal environment must function as educators, evaluators, and investigators in a manner that appropriately supports the distinct needs of their employer/ client. (And, employer/ client requirements will differ depending upon whether the employer/ client is the plaintiff, the defense, or the court itself.) Beginning as a technical consultant and/or expert witness requires (1) a knowledge of both the law regulating the practice of engineering and the Canons of Practice and (2) the development of a) a detailed resume that includes pertinent credentials; b) a fee schedule, billing philosophy, and a mechanism for billing if serving as a consultant, c) a philosophy on note taking, and d) a philosophy on how files will be maintained.
When a case is acquired, the technical consultant/expert witness must
(1) establish a procedure with the client/employer for the filing of reports;
(2) review case documents (i.e., the complaint, charges, interrogatories and interrogatory responses, depositions, reports, and pictures);
(3) review all applicable codes, regulations, and standards; and
(4) examine all evidence related to the case.
Testimony in the form of a deposition provides the technical consultant/expert witness with a unique opportunity to offer professional opinions related to the case in the absence of a judge and jury – hence an ability to “partially control” the proceedings. Testimony before a jury requires that the technical consultant/expert witness display the best characteristics of a professional thespian.
This course is addressed to
(1) engineers in industry assigned, as a company employee, to assist company attorneys in litigation
(2) the consulting engineer interested in becoming a technical consultant and/or expert witness for the legal profession,
(3) the consulting engineer just getting started as a technical consultant/expert witness for the legal profession, and
Course Modules
Module #1: The Technical Consultant/Expert Witness
Module #2: A “Big Picture” of the Legal System from the Viewpoint of the
Technical Consultant/Expert Witness
Module #3: Testimony by the Expert Witness
Module #4: The Experiences of Others
Module #5: Case Study
About the Author
David A. Conner holds B.E.E. and M.S. degrees from Auburn University and a Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the States of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee and in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Dr. Conner is active in IEEE having served as a Delegate/Director and as Treasurer of the Institute. He has 44 years of combined experience in industry, academia, and government and has been an active technical consultant/expert witness in the areas of code application, manufacturing procedures, personal injury, product design, product liability, product transportation, and tax law. In addition, Dr. Conner is a member and Chair of the Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, advisor to a Govonor and aide to a Congressman.
| Fee: $350 | CEU Credit: - 1.0 PDH - 10 | on-line registration |
Developing and Managing a Comprehensive Set of Project Objectives (Video and Text)
How to establish clear criteria for a Project’s strategic success!
Project success is more than the completion of tasks, even if their completion is timely and within a budget. This tactician’s view of success is only one half of the project picture. A complete appraisal of project success must evaluate the project objective, the deliverable. A project manager, or anyone who contracts for a project’s completion is risking strategic failure if they do not begin with the development of a comprehensive set of project objectives.
This purpose of this course is to understand the difference between strategic and tactical project success, to more fully understand the role and importance of project objectives, and to develop skill in their creation of use. Project Management skills are management skills. This program is intended for any manager who has or anticipates having oversight or operational responsibility for the successful completion of projects. In addition, anyone who contracts with a project manager to manage a complete a project on their behalf will benefit from this material.
Course Modules
Module #1: Cause/Effect Thinking
Module
#2: Project Objectives: The Link Between Strategic & Tactical Decision-making
Module #3: Performance – Time – Cost. The Objective’s Three Dimensions
Module #4: Refining & Managing Your Project Objectives
About the Author
Ron Parker is an expert in Technology, Systems Architecture, and Decision Support. He has the ability to mine critical distinctions and actionable ideas from data, reports, and statistics to positively impact decisions and behavior. He has extensive experience in processes as diverse as industrial analytical & measurement labs, hydraulic valves, hot metal injection molding, latex form & mold, consumer products, machining, fabrication, AC and DC electrical motors, parts assembly, automated (web/IVR) and agent-based customer support and call center operations and Information Technology Infrastructure. His consulting activities include: Strategic and Tactical business metric planning, Utilization Improvement, Increasing production from "Maximum Capacity" processes, Project Management consulting in the field of commercial facilities construction, Process management consulting in the field of industrial laboratory statistics and measurement uncertainty studies (This is the "new" successor to r&R studies, uncertainty is the broadest concept of measurement variation.). Mr Parker has delivered hundreds of public seminars in a variety of technical, engineering & operations management topics through Universities and other sponsoring institutions.
| Fee: $350 | CEU Credit: - 1.0 PDH - 10 | on-line registration |
Principals of Financial Management for the Technical Executive
(Full Video and Text)
In today’s shrinking world with increasing competition and the financial market’s focus on corporate earnings, project managers are required to meet customer satisfaction, cash flow, profitability and other financial goals. If you are going to survive and excel in this ever changing and constraining environment, Engineers must know how finance and accounting techniques work and how they can impact your project. In addition, you will be required to report on the financial status of your project to your team, the customer and company management. This course goes into the details of revenue, total cost, budgets, committed, cost to date, open commitment, estimates to complete, and estimates at completion, not just from an accountant’s stand point, but from the engineer’s prospective. After completing this course you will have the confidence to report the financial status of your project, the problems you are encountering, your plan of action and the projected outcome. Don’t miss this opportunity to get a firm grasp of the financial management issues that affect your project results and controls your future.
Learn How To
• Understand basic accounting.
• Read and understand your company’s profit and loss statement.
• Read and understand your company’s balance sheet.
• Read and understand your company’s cash flow statement.
• Understand project accounting.
• Communicate effectively with management, accounting and financial personnel.
• Minimize the financial risk to your project.
• Control and predict cost and estimates at completion.
Course Modules
Module A: Fundamentals of Finance
Module B: Division of Labor
Module
C: Business
Module
D: Process Principals
Module
E: Finance Reporting
Module
F: Tactical Reporting
Module
G: Operating Budgets
Module
H: Capital Budgets
Module
I: Financial Analysis
| Fee: $1295.00 | CEU Credit – 1.0 PDH – 10 | on-line registration |
About the Author
James Abbott holds a B.S. Degree from Auburn University and is a registered professional engineer in the State of California. He is a Senior Member of Institute if Industrial Engineers and a member of the American Society of Quality. He is the author of 12 books including “Become the Manager of the Future”, “Optimize Your Operation” and a current best seller on Amazon.com, “The Executive Guide to Call Center Metrics”. James is president of Abbott Associates Inc., a strategic process-engineering firm based in Greenville S.C. For over twenty years Mr. Abbott has taught and helped inspire corporate america in applying the principals of process and project management and the use of “best business practices” in his seminars. He has made a career out of taking technical topics and explaining them so that “the rest of us” can understand. A professional engineer for more than 30 years, James learned early on that even the best methods are useless unless they are delivered in a fashion that allows their swift and effective implementation.
The Systems Engineering Process (Full Video)
Objective
Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary process that ensures that the customer's needs are satisfied throughout a system's entire life cycle. This process is comprised of the seven following tasks: Stating the problem, Investigating alternatives, Modeling the system, Integrating the system, Launching the system, Assessing performance, and Re-evaluation. This course covers the process and tools for systems engineering of large-scale, complex systems: requirements, performance measures, concept exploration, multi-criteria tradeoff studies, life cycle models, system modeling, etc. Graduate-level requirements include extensive sensitivity analysis of their final projects. This course consists of apprximately 40 hours of Video Lectures presented as a graduate level class.
Author – Terri Bahill, PhD., Systems and Industrial Engineering, The University of Arizona. [ web ]
| Fee: $1295.00 | CEU Credit – 4.0 PDH – 40 | on-line registration |
Model Based System Design (Full Video)
Objective
Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary process that ensures that the customer's needs are satisfied throughout a system's entire life cycle. This process is comprised of the seven following tasks: Stating the problem, Investigating alternatives, Modeling the system, Integrating the system, Launching the system, Assessing performance, and Re-evaluation. This course covers the development of the system design requirements: input/output, technology, performance, cost tradeoff and system test. Defining and specifying the system and model requirements. Study of various systems design tools. This course consists of approximately 40 hours of Video Lectures presented as a graduate level class.
Author – Terri Bahill, PhD., Systems and Industrial Engineering, The University of Arizona. [ web ]
| Fee: $1295.00 | CEU Credit – 4.0 PDH – 40 | on-line registration |
Electrical Safety - Procedures and Requirements (Text-only course)
Objective
To provide an understanding of the importance of working safely with electricity. The goal is to provide knowledge of safe work practices. An overview of OSHA requirements, understanding the hazards of electricity, safe work practices, safe switching procedures, grounding of electrical systems, personal protective grounding, and implementing a model safety program are topics covered. Accident case histories are included in the course. This course is addressed to: Electrical Contractors, Designers, Electricians, Engineers, Industrial Machine Operators, Inspectors, Maintenance Mechanics and Technicians, Project Managers and Supervisors.
In this course, you will learn:
• What constitutes electrical hazards
• Which employees must be trained
• OSHA Electrical Safe Work Practices
• OSHA penalties for noncompliance
• How do current OSHA rules apply to your facility
• When is personal protective equipment required
• Lockout/tagout procedures
• Safety for maintenance of electrical equipment
Course Modules
Module #1 Introduction to OSHA
Module #2 Understanding Electrical Hazards
Module #3 Electrical Safety Related Work Practices
Module #4 Electrical Switching Procedures and Personal Protective Grounding
Module #5 System Grounding
Module #6 Model Electrical Safety Program
Module #7 Electrical Safety Principles
About the Author
Steven J. Owen has been active in the electrical industry for over 25 years. Starting as an Apprentice Electrician; working up to Superintendent, Project Manager, Electrical Engineer, Senior Electrical Designer and Chief Electrical Code Analyst. Steve has worked on projects ranging from one-person operations to projects in which he was responsible for the supervision of 550 electricians and an electrical budget of $25 million. Steve is certified as a Master Electrician in 43 states; as a National Electrical Code Instructor for 27 states; as a General Contractor continuing education instructor in Florida; as an OSHA authorized General Industry instructor for 10 and 30 hour classes; as a NICET certified Power Distribution Technician; as an Electrical Inspector by BOCA, CABO, IAEI, ICBO & SBCCI; as a Certified Instructor by NCCER; Steve is a principal voting member of National Electric Code Panel #3. He is a Veteran of the U.S. Army.
| Fee: $350.00 | CEU Credit – 1.0 PDH - 10 | online registration |
Fundamentals of Engineering Science / FE Exam Review
Course Overview
This distance course is a study guide using a variety of learning materials including text, videos, audio, worked out examples, dialog boxes, flash animation and quizes. TA’s and Faculty members moniter the class and electronically provide additional help. Each module has a similar human interface and navigation structure as well as site search and print engines. The course is intended as an overview of Engineering Science and as a preperation course for taking the FE (EIT) exam. Each topic has a review and pre-test prior to starting the module. Fee includes 1 year access to the web site.
Course Modules
1. Statics
2. Mechanics
3. Fluids
4. Dynamics
5. Thermodynamics
6. Circuits
7. Economics
8. Materials Science and Engineering
Instructors – University of Arizona Faculty
| Fee: $495.00 | CEU Credit – 4.0 | online registration | TBA *