BAE Systems and Cranfield University are to roll out a range of new groundbreaking online learning courses which they claim will raise the overall capability of the company's engineers. The two partners says that the mechanics and structures engineering courses are groundbreaking in terms of the scale of the tutor-led training they offer - and the fact that they can be directly delivered through BAE Systems' corporate intranet or via Cranfield's own website. This allows delegates to learn from home or while on placement abroad as well as in-company. The courses are also delivered at a fraction of the cost of teaching by traditional methods. "Two years ago we recognised we needed to train around 1,000 of the 3,000 engineers working within our mechanics & structures discipline up to the level where they become practitioner engineers and their skills are at a level where they can easily move between projects or businesses," said Richard Blockley, head of technical programmes at the BAE Systems Virtual University. "We estimated that it would cost £10,000 per person to train these engineers in the traditional classroom environment, including their time away from the job, accommodation and travel costs, making £10 million in total. " This tutor- led online training will be completed at just a fraction of that £10 million cost. "Not only will we deliver the required depth of technical learning to our engineers in a personalised, flexible and interactive format but we will do it in a highly cost-effective manner. "During the pilot phase we have already demonstrated seamless working in Europe and the USA." An approach to Cranfield University, where BAE Systems has longstanding links, resulted in the creation of five bespoke tutor- led online courses. Course materials were developed by Cranfield in conjunction with the University of Southampton and University College London, working with BAE Systems experts. BAE says that as a result, the learning is very relevant to delegates' jobs in the company and provides the underpinning knowledge to enable them to be recognised as a 'practitioner engineer'. Each course will take ten to 20 delegates under an academic tutor from one of the partner universities, and requires up to 50 hours of time over a 12-week period. The company expects to enrol 150 delegates on the courses in 2005, increasing to a throughput of 300 delegates per year from 2006. "This could be the tip of the iceberg as there is a potential for as many as 10,000 employees worldwide from a wide range of disciplines who work with mechanics & structures engineers, in addition to those engineers employed in the M&S discipline, who could benefit from this type of training within BAE Systems and its partner companies and supply chain," said Mr Blockley. | 
