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Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials operates as a broad network of institutions and individual scientists who are willing to contribute to our research and educational programs.  The institute offers very specialised educational courses that are of interest to engineers with fully established professional background and to undergraduate engineering students at their final years of study.  The objectives of the workshops are to provide the participants with in-depth knowledge and top level technical competence in their area of professional activities.

Our lecturers and students are dispersed in many countries around the world, but thanks to the modern communication technologies, we are able to deliver the teaching materials very effectively in terms of quality, time and financial resources.
 

- High level of knowledge provided: The workshops are set to provide a level of knowledge that is above the average undergraduate university courses;

- Wide applicability: The topics of the workshops are of interest to the broad engineering community;

- Originality: In general, the topics of the workshops are not covered in details in the regular university programs;

- Direct communication between lecturers and students: Our online educational system runs using PHP software, which allows a dynamic communication between lecturers and students.

These are just some of the distinct features of the online workshops offered by our Institute.

Interested to study or to become a lecturer?  Please, contact us on contact@ausihem.org and we will get back to you very soon.

Frequently Asked Questions:

- The name of the Institute is Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials.  Does it mean that the Online Workshops cover only subject related to the High Energetic Materials?
 -What are the benefits of the online workshops?
- Who are the lecturers?
- How Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials selects the topics of the workshops?
- How is the teaching process organised?
- How students communicate with the lecturers?
- What is a Certificate of Proficiency?
- Do the workshops comply with the international quality standards?
- Do the workshops comply with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) policies of the accrediting engineering associations?
- How much the enrollment to the online workshops cost?

The name of the Institute is Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials.  Does it mean that the Online Workshops cover only subject related to the High Energetic Materials?
No. The Online Workshops for Intensive Professional Development cover a very broad range of topics that are not limited only to the high energetic materials and dynamics of ultrafast reactive systems.  It is an upgrade of an existing system for delivering Workshops for Intensive Professional Development to local and international participants.  Currently, the workshops are organised in three major groups:
- Special Engineering Topics (e.g. “Nano-particles in energetic materials”);
- General Engineering Topics (e.g. “Fluid Mechanics”);
- Information Technologies (e.g. “Java SE 6”).

What are the benefits of the online workshops?
- Placing yourself on the edge of the modern engineering knowledge;
- Great improvement of your qualification;
- Enhancing your position within the company you are working for;
- Flexibility in learning;
- Maintaining an independent schedule for study;
- Saving a lot of money;
- Ability to download course materials and other related media as part of study;
- Easy communication with both professors and students from around the world;
- Opportunity to work and network with other students;
- Collaborating on a variety of projects in a virtual environment.

Who are the lecturers?
We have very scrupulous quality standards and only Honorary Fellows of the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials are allowed to take part in the Online Workshops for Intensive Professional Development as lecturers.  The Honorary Fellowships of the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials are awarded to prominent scientists working in relevant engineering fields and having extensive experience as lecturers at other educational institutions.  Possession of an academic degree of PhD or above is essential.  A list of the Honorary Fellows of the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials can be found here. 

How Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials selects the topics of the workshops?
The figure bellow provides an illustration of the selection procedure.  Lecturers are invited to propose the topic and the content of the lectures, tutorial sessions and exams, as well as the workload (number of lectures and tutorial sessions) to the Vice-Chancellor (Education) of the Institute.  As a general rule, the topic of the lectures must be original (not to be covered in details in any regular university programs), the lectures must provide a level of knowledge that is above the average undergraduate university courses and they have to be of interest to the broad engineering community.  An ongoing internal quality control is carried out by the members of the Scientific Monitoring and Advisory Committee to the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials.  If the proposal successfully passes the quality criteria of the Institute, then it is recommended for inclusion in the General Educational Program (GEP) of the Institute.

How is the teaching process organised?
The lecture notes are very detailed and self-explanatory, they include all of the information that is required to understand and learn the subject and they provide references to additional literature.  Reading and understanding one lecture normally takes about two hours of the students time.  The students have full access to the teaching material located in the online classrooms.  PDF is our preferred format for presenting the lecture notes.  Our practice shows that listening to the lecturer greatly improves the level of understanding of the teaching material by the students.  For this reason, the lecturers are required to add audio comments to each page of the lecture notes.

After each lecture the students must complete an online tutorial session.  The questions and the exercises of the tutorial session are written in a way that proves a full understanding of the lecture by the students. Completed tutorial exercises must be handled to the lecturer for marking.

At the end of the workshop, the students must complete a comprehensive open book exam, which must be handled to the lecturer for marking.  Upon successful completion of the tutorials and the exam, the lecturer must nominate passing students to the Director (Education) of the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials for promotion.  These students will be granted Certificates of Proficiency in the corresponding professional field.

How students communicate with the lecturers?
Our online classes run using PHP software, which allows a dynamic communication between the lecturers and the students.  The students are encouraged to communicate with the lecturer online, if they need additional explanation of the material.

What is a Certificate of Proficiency?
A Proficiency Certificate is a type of professional certificate issued by the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials, which reflects on specialised knowledge and skills attained in the workshops.  A person can obtain a Proficiency Certification by completing the following requirements: (i) learning the teaching material; (ii) completing all tests and assignments scheduled for the workshop; and (iii) successfully passing the final exam.

Do the workshops comply with the international quality standards? 
The Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials strives for the highest possible quality in teaching and learning.  The workshops are set to comply with the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems – Requirements and ISO 9004:2000 Quality management systems - Guidelines for performance improvements.  To monitor how successful the Institute is in providing quality teaching and learning we regularly seek feedback from our students.  Feedback is welcome at any time throughout the duration of the workshop.  A Workshop Evaluation Survey is carried out at the end of the workshop.  Students are strongly encouraged to complete the survey as it is important tool to improve the quality of teaching.  The feedback is anonymous and provides the Institute with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas that need improvement.

Do the workshops comply with the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) policies of the accrediting engineering associations?
The Online Workshops for Intensive Professional Development organised by the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials fully comply with the CPD policies of Engineers Australia (IEAust) who are the accrediting engineering organisation in Australia.  IEAust is a partner of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and a signatory to the Washington Accord, 1989 and Sydney Accord, 2001 of the International Engineering Alliance:

- The workshops are organised and delivered by an internationally recognised group of scientists.  A minimal requirement to deliver a workshop within the Australian Institute of High energetic Materials is a possession of a Postgraduate Degree and at least 3 years of industrial practice.  Most of our lecturers are professors from internationally recognised universities.  All professors are Doctors of Philosophy and/or Science with decades of successful scientific, engineering and educational career behind them;

- The objectives of the workshops are to provide the participants with in-depth knowledge and top level technical competence in their area of professional activities.  In most cases, the topics of the workshops are not covered in any of the available undergraduate university courses;

- The teaching material is well supported with practical examples; it aims improvement of the business and management skills of the participants, and whenever it is necessary, it covers areas of risk management;

- The Online Workshops for Intensive Professional Development can contribute with substantial number of hours to the CPD records of the participants.  Whenever it is in a reasonable conjunction with the main teaching material, 10-15% of the time is spent on topics that aim improvement of the business and risk management skills of participants.

Click here to download the CPD policies of Engineers Australia.

How much the enrollment to the online workshops cost?
Each student pays an enrollment fee.  The amount of the enrollment fee is determined by the lecturer and depends on the workshop workload and other factors.  The enrollment fees are normally given in Euros.  Click here to make a conversion to your local currency.  As a general rule the online workshops provide an excellent educational value at much lesser cost than the workshops that require the physical presence of the participants.  You do not need to pay for the travel and accommodation of the lecturer, neither for your own.  The only thing you need is a computer connected to the Internet.