Composites education standards

Off Topic Educators Exchange forum
#1

Hello,
As a new composites instructor in a brand new program I can use all the help you might be willing to give. My state (Maine) has only one other composites program so we have no direction from the state level. The other instructor, he has been doing this a while, has been a great help but if any one is willing to and could spare the time to point me in a good direction to find some curriculum materials and/or standards ( skills that students should master to get a job) your help is gratefully appreciated!

Thank You
JMask

#2

Hi,
I cant help you with American standards, but perhaps the following may be of use to you. I work in Northern Ireland which is governed by UK standards and there is a body called SEMTA here. This body is a skills council and sets out to develop standards that can then be taught by colleges/tutors to wider society. They have recently developed ‘National Occupational Standards’ with employers and educators (e.g. ourselves) in a wide range of practical topics:
http://www.semta.org.uk/about_us/media_centre/news/semta_composites_nos.aspx

Is it all practical shopfloor operator focused training that you’re aiming for? We ( http://process.nsacademy.co.uk/process-safety-links.aspx?tab=3 ) are also in the process of developing national standards for courses for engineers / managers, etc

This will be very useful to all concerned and I would assume there are similar standards inthe US.Maybe a good starting point?

#3

Well my FAA standards that my school had to adhere to was the curriculum had to include:

[ul]
[li]History of Composites[/li][li]Materials and Manufacturing Processes: Adhesives, Fibers, Resins, Fillers[/li][li]Applications[/li][li]Terminology[/li][li]Safety[/li][li]Lay-up Procedures[/li][li]Inspection[/li][li]Damage Assessment of Materials[/li][li]Repairs[/li][li]Nondestructive Testing[/li][li]Federal Aviation Regulations as they apply to Composites[/li][/ul]