Media Release
October 16 2007
New degrees boost defence industry skills
A new associate degree in defence technology being offered at UniSA is set
to help fill the skills gap in the burgeoning defence industry.
The shortage of skilled technical professionals in the defence industry has seen graduate engineers fill the breech when they are already in high demand as full engineers for the defence sector and other industries in SA.
Research Fellow at UniSA’s Defence and Systems Institute, Peter Hamilton, says UniSA has consulted widely with industry and developed the new programs to give experienced technicians and tradespeople the professional skills to play leading roles in the defence industry and enhance their extensive practical knowledge.
“Senior technical staff are a vital part of the defence industry and there has never been a clear educational path to train them for a senior role,” Hamilton says.
“Often they have a trade background and are hugely experienced on a practical level but need to advance their management and technical skills, so this is where the new associate degrees in engineering are a perfect fit.”
The associate degree programs will provide grounding in the practical application and management of defence technology, and will be taught with a significant cognitive emphasis that builds on existing technical skills.
The associate degrees have been developed to provide further education for experienced technicians and tradespeople who want to develop an advanced, technical management capability but also for those who want to enter the defence industry from outside.
“These new degrees will produce a regular supply of ‘defence-enabled’
senior professional technical staff, trained to both think and act with
a high level of effectiveness and that is vital to the growth of the
industry in SA,” Hamilton says.
“In the future we envisage that the associate degrees will also offer a
pathway towards professional, chartered accreditation by Engineers
Australia.”
The associate degrees each offer 16 courses via day release over two
years and are employer and family friendly in their delivery. Content
includes lectures on defence culture, principles of system engineering,
technical management practices and a range of applied, defence
technology related courses.
“Major defence industry companies and organisations have expressed strong support for this initiative and are very supportive of the flexible structure of the study regime,” Hamilton says
“The bonus for SA is that with very little content change, the new programs can be aligned to also meet the needs of other, non-defence industries including mining and automotive manufacture, or utilities such as water and electricity, which are also experiencing a senior technical staff shortage.”
Contact for interview
- Research Fellow Peter Hamilton office (08) 8302 5883 mobile 0407 619 317 email peter.hamilton@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
- Michèle Nardelli office (08) 8302 0966 mobile 0418 823 673 email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au