Open Uni Degrees

[SPEEDBIRD5FP]

Hey Everybody.
Just wondering if any one knows of an open uni degree in aeronautics or dynamics that can be completed in correspondance. I want to have a back up so if the airline packs up, or i lose my medical i have something to fall back on plus ill have something to study in the cruise!!!
Thanks a lot.
S5FP

[Genghis the Engineer]

As regulars on here will know, this is a bit of a personal crusade of mine.

At present there is no distance learning first degree in aerospace Engineering (or, even more seriously, Mechanical Engineering) available in the UK. It's a shocking omission and in my opinion at-least, a very serious one that is very damaging to our industry.

I've been pursuing this for some time, and believe that I've now got the ear of a major university with a well regarded, if young, aerospace Engineering department. I'm talking actively to them about this - but it's early days and no official announcement has yet been made. However, if you (or anybody else) want to drop me an Email with your contact details, I'll pass them onto the University so that they can contact you when things are a bit more developed.

In the meantime, your best bet is probably Embry-Riddle, which is a US based university (main campus in Florida) who offer very well regarded aerospace degrees by correspondence. But, they aren't cheap (even compared to the OU, which is quite expensive), and the course isn't formally recognised by the UK Engineering Council. If you were doing such a course with a view to working as an Engineer in Britain, I'd talk at the same time to the RAeS and make sure that your subject selections won't exclude you from UK Chartered Engineer status later on.

G

[SPEEDBIRD5FP]

Thanks a lot g man.
Just sent you a message with contact details.
S5FP

[Spitoon]

Whilst I wouldn't argue with Genghis' comments about the lack of engineering distance learning opporunities, there are plenty of other options that are aviation related - Cranfield, Loughborough, City of London come to mind. Many of the courses are post-grad but entry requirements tend to be a first degree or equivalent professional qualification/experience.

[Keith.Williams.]

Although the OU do not do a B Eng degree they do a BSc, for which you can pick from a wide range of engineering subjects. The Engineering Societies do (or at least did 5 years ago) recognise such degrees provided they are made up of an acceptable mix of modules at appropriate levels.

Essentially you have to do an honours degree made up of a mix of modules picked from a list provided by the society you wish to join (assuming of course that you wish to join any of them).

If you write to one of the socities they will send you a list of what is required. The RAES used to send out a combined list for a wide range of societes.

It is of course possible that all of this has been "improved" over the past few years.