Acquisition with Adam Carter, a Race Engineer and (by happy coincidence) one of Oxford Brookes' earliest motorsport graduates. One vital factor of the Data Acquisition Systems course is that it has no official start and end date. Learners can register and begin the course on any day of the year: there is also no statutory course end date, so students can also complete the course in a timeframe to suit individual personal circumstances. This in itself provides a real USP for the course (and a number of others that will follow).

Our long-term Vision is that the revenue streams and surplus that the funded CPD modules in time will produce would then fund the development of further modules, so that a portfolio of perhaps 12 to 18 modules in time will become available. A full Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or MSc thus could be gained primarily through the distance- and blended-learning environment. The modules will also provide the educational Matching Section required by professional institutions, such as SAE-UK or IMechE, when BEng graduates wish to apply for Chartered Engineer status (where the minimum required educational base is MEng).

Whilst the Motorsport/High Performance Engineering sectors are the ones intended to be addressed initially, the generic content of certain modules (particularly the Management and Business Development-related modules) will have applicability to small businesses/employees in other sectors and clusters q.v. Aerospace, defence, ICT, which we hope also will contribute highly towards the ultimate self-sustainability of the project. Indeed, only recently, a senior representative of a world-class SE-based paper

manufacturer, whilst attending a seminar at Oxford Brookes University, enquired after our Data Acquisition courses, thereby proving the genericapplicability of the company-accessible upskilling mechanism that this course portfolio is providing.


The future's bright…
To conclude, the development, provision and large-scale company-uptake of industry-focused short course provision is one of the key reasons why Oxford Brookes University and SAE-UK have partnered with a CPD portfolio that stretches to over 200 pages in online format, SAE's portfolio must surely represent one of the single-richest sources of CPD on the planet. The aim of the collaboration of the two organisations is to map some of this catalogue of CPD resources to the UK and European motorsport and automotive community, either directly where course content is immediately applicable or, after iteration by the MKE/Oxford Brookes University course development team (to focus more clearly on motorsport and automotive industry needs, as these are perceived through recent intelligence and close industry dialogue).

Perhaps the last word really ought to go to Pat Symonds. Pat reviewed the Data Acquisition course material his comment: 'Really good. Made me want to be back at university'. Praise indeed.

Contact:
Mike Meechan on +44 01865 484240 mmeechan@brookes.ac.uk;

or online at www.msportknowledge.ac.uk
or www.brookes.ac.uk/go/motorsport