A Strategy for Sourcing Continuing Engineering Education

Overview & Synopsis

Many are calling for increased continuing education for engineers, but few details are provided as to how to source that education. This paper recommends a strategy for sourcing continuing engineering education (CEE). Providers of CEE are categorized here as internal (the organization itself), external (universities, professional/trade organizations, commercial education providers, government, equipment manufacturers and engineers' clients) and hybrid (a combination of internal and external). The focus is on who delivers the content rather than where the training is held, who pays for it or who organizes it. Typical forms, advantages and disadvantages are discussed for each category of provider. The objective of this paper is to compare the categories of CEE providers and to put forward a framework within which organizations can develop their CEE programmes. The best strategy for an organization usually is to use a combination of providers, depending on their training needs.