1 What are the advantages of continuing education for engineers?Continuing education is a necessary invest-ment that returns absolute dividends; it helps us to make the most out of our talent and dedication. To name a few of the advantages, continuing education improves your ability to provide quality service and adapt to change, and it gives you the opportunity to gain prominence in your industry and to be selected for work on challenging projects. Engineers who are committed to continuing education and lifelong learning will be far more successful than those who are not.

If engineers are to meet the worlds challenges, then continuing educationthrough formal education and through knowledge gained in the course of daily workis absolutely essential. With so many technical changes occurring at such an accelerated rate, engineers who dont keep pace and dont take continuing educa-tion seriously will, quite frankly, become obsolete. There are lots of articles out there about the half-life of an engineers knowl-edge, and if we dont keep up to date with the latest technologies, then there will be others who replace us.

2 What are the best places for seeking continuing education opportunities?One of the main steps that an engineer can take is to pursue a masters degree and a doctoral degree through formal uni-versity course work in his or her specific area of interest. In addition to full degree programs, you can enroll in online or class-room courses, and professional socie ties like ASCE, the American Water Works Association, and the American Council of Engineering Companies, to name just a few, offer excellent courses both online and in classroom settings.

As much as we talk about formal course work, Im a strong believer that the place to really learn is in the course of doing our jobs, from projects that we work on and from our colleagues. At Hatch Mott MacDonald, we have a mentorship program that is designed to encourage sharing of on-the-job knowl-edge. Our different groupstunnel groups, highway groups, wastewater groups, and othersmaintain knowledge centers on our

7wisdom and guidance for [ successful career building]

An interview with Nick DeNichilo, P.E., m.AscE, on the importance of continuing education By DaviD Hill

Nick DeNichilo, P.E., M.ASCE, is the president and chief executive officer of Hatch Mott MacDonald, which is

headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey. The firm has numerous programs that provide and identify learning opportunities.

Q u e s t i o n s7

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intranet, where you can find the latest advances in technologies.

We also offer in-house technical semi-nars through lunch-and-learn programs and internal webinars, and we have communities of practice where practi-tioners throughout the company have an opportunity to ask their counterparts specific questions on particular design issues. Its a fantastic way to interact and learn from sharing knowledge.

3 What type of balance should engineers strike between learning more about their areas of expertise and expanding into new areas of knowledge?

I think thats up to the individual engineer. Some of our engineers are driven to dig deep within their own areas of expertise, while others thrive on making connections between different engineering practices. We are an inter-disciplinary firm, so there are many op-portunities for cross-fertilization. Over the course of engineers careers, even though they might be specialists in particular fields, we like the idea of hav-ing them be quite knowledgeable about the other parts of our business. Many of our project managers have been exposed to front-end services, studies in design, preconstruction, and commissioning services. This way, they can communi-cate and understand the needs of our clients much more effectively.

4 How important are such nontechnical education topics as ethics and management in comparison with more technical subject matter?

Nontechnical topics are no less impor-tant than technical topics. At the end of the day they complement one another. Its not just about having a command of science and the laws of physics; you have to have business savvy, the ability to work with people, team-building ability, and engagement and commu-nication skills. You also have to know about ethics, safety, leadership, and management, which are absolutely essential. The successful engineering business cant just rely solely on individ-uals with advanced degrees.

A lot of nontechnical issues like safety, ethics, and management and leadership training translate into better design quality as well. The trust and goodwill gained by a company that works ethically with its stakeholders can be its greatest competitive ad-vantage, and a safety-focused culture enables you to become much more focused on whats important.

5 Is there much difference between taking courses online and seeking in-person opportunities?

Online learning can be efficient and cost effective, and its a good way to reach many people, but for some things there is no substitute for learning face-to-face. We have a mentorship program that is designed to encourage the sharing of on-the-job knowledge, and we try to provide a lot of informal opportunities for engineers to learn from one another. Workshops and classroom venues are also great opportunities to learn, for here you can share stories about suc-cesses and instances in which you could have done a better job. E-learning is important, but I do believe that there is a difference between that and face-to-face communication, and you need to have a blend of both.

6 How great a role should a firm play in providing or identifying continuing education opportunities for its employees?

Businesses that are successful invest a lot of time and money in learning and development programs. A day doesnt go by when you cant improve your technical and personal development. A robust learning and development pro-gram ensures that you have a technical-ly competent staff and one that is savvy, creative, innovative, and energized. This enables you to deliver successful projects safely and cost-effectively, and a technically competent staff with the latest state-of-the-art tools enables you to meet and exceed a clients expectations.

At Hatch Mott Mac-

Donald, we make learning and development programs available to all stafffrom recent graduates to more experienced employees. We encourage our staff to obtain advanced degrees, which we incentivize by paying 100 percent of tuition. The quality of an engineers knowledge is really a major differential, and progressive companies and their clients value those leading-edge skills and knowledge. You cant survive today in this business if you dont invest heavily in continuing edu-cation and learning and development.

7 Where can engineers go to find guidance in selecting educational courses?

There is a lot of guidance out there that an engineer can utilize in order to add value to his or her career through courses. Professional organizations are an invaluable source for engineers looking to learn more. I know that our engineers have benefited immeasur-ably from our close relationships with institutions like ASCE and with many of the colleges and universities that we are actively involved in.

Also, staff should be able to discuss their specific needs with their managers. We have a professional excellence de-partment, and every year staff members undergo a professional development review that gives us an opportunity to assist in their professional and personal development, assess their competen-cies, and work with them to assist in improving their skill sets from both technical and personal points of view.

If this is the profession that youve chosen for yourself, then you might as well get the most out of it. Youre not going to get that if you just come to work every day and you dont try to

grow technically or person-ally. I have a bachelors and a masters degree, and I take my professional development courses seriously. It really is lifelong learning, and it never stops. ce

David Hill is the senior writer of Civil Engineering.

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