TRAINING

Starting from our strong management and high technology base, we offer training planning, material preparation and delivery on a wide range of high-technology and manufacturing management issues, whether your need is for a short course or an extended programme, for face-to-face teaching or web delivery.

Background

In the 1980s, Martin was a lecturer on a microelectronics Professional Development Programme and a contributor to the OU module “Microelectronics for Industry: The engineer’s perspective”.

In the 1990s, training became a more significant part of his portfolio, and Martin devised, wrote and delivered a number of industry-driven training courses in surface mount and related technologies. Most of this work was carried out through the Scottish Advanced Manufacturing Centre (SAMC) at Livingston, an offshoot of Napier University, and included managing the development of accredited courses both for HNC candidates and at MSc level.

Recent projects

During 2001–2003, Martin was one of the team working through the Electronics Design Realisation Centre to devise a degree course and CPD training for layout designers. This project involved market research, project management, graphic style management and industrial coordination as well as module writing.

Throughout 2000–2004, a key SAMC/Napier project was an extended part-time technician training course for NCR Dundee. Martin worked with the company to devise the programme, and personally taught a diverse range of topics including 5S, Health and Safety, Lean Manufacturing, New Product Introduction, Presentation Skills, Quality/Environmental Engineering and Value Engineering.

Elements from all these courses continue to be the foundation of our customised training for a wide range of companies, the material always being freshly-visited and suitably extended. Martin particularly enjoys the challenge of topics such as Reliability, where attendees can frequently pose searching questions based on their real-life challenges.

Current activities

The EDR Centre project included the conversion of key modules employing on-line delivery and for use with post-graduates, for which Martin worked with Bolton University’s AMI team. Since 2003, Martin has been responsible for tutoring these modules, as well as for upgrading material and devising three new modules on the MSc Electronic Product Design pathway:

• 4982 Lead-free implementation (2004)
• 4817 Design for Thermal Issues (2005)
• 4945 Design for Product Build (2006)

Whilst the material has to meet academic requirements, it is based on the real world, with a focus on company needs.

Martin takes a keen interest in teaching and retains links with Napier’s Educational Development department as part of his own Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme. Keeping updated is amazingly difficult, so Martin’s CPD includes wide reading and researching, some of which is seeing the light of day in his blog on electronics manufacture, provided primarily for student support.