Steel got it: Metallurgy program moving online this winter
Beginning in January, McMaster's renowned Metallurgy of Iron & Steel certificate program will be moving online. The program is Canada's only academic certificate of its kind.
For over fifty years, the University’s Metallurgy of Iron & Steel certificate has trained local steel industry professionals in the science of making and using steel.
Developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering, the two-year certificate program traditionally consisted of five courses delivered through evening and weekend classes at McMaster’s downtown campus. Beginning this winter, the Metallurgy program makes the switch to online learning.
Following in the footsteps of many other programs at the Centre for Continuing Education, the full Metallurgy of Iron & Steel program will be offered next term in an interactive online environment. Students will spend their class time online watching narrated power point slides, reviewing supplementary materials and engaging in group discussions.
A working knowledge of metallurgy (specifically metals, their properties and applications) is highly valuable to individuals working in steel manufacturing, fabrication, sales and distribution.
“Steel industry professionals from a variety of departments — from engineering to purchasing to sales — have been consistently attracted to our program over the years,” says Metallurgy program manager Todd Rich.
But since McMaster offers Canada’s only academic certificate in metallurgy, the Centre for Continuing Education recognized an opportunity to provide valuable industry training to a much wider audience by transitioning to online classes. Now students located anywhere in the world can benefit from the same quality program that the local region has enjoyed for years.
“The [Metallurgy of Iron & Steel] program has been in existence longer than the [McMaster] Faculty of Engineering,” explains Dr. Gord Irons, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at McMaster and Director of the Steel Research Centre. “[The program] has been highly valued by our local industry for many years. But the steel industry is now a truly global one.”
The new online format, explains Irons, will give McMaster’s program the “global reach” required to meet the ongoing needs of today’s steel industry.
Online classes begin in January, 2013.
