DIGEST 2006 - Sabita

AsAc activities focus on CPD:
Flexible pavement engineering
course to cater for industry
needs
Les Sampson
CEO
The Asphalt Academy Trust
After six years of
operations during which
more than 3 750
delegates attended 98
educational events organised
by AsAc, the academy is now
poised to make a major
contribution to continuing
professional development
(CPD) and personal growth
through the presentation of a
comprehensive course on
Flexible Pavement Engineering
The first course is scheduled for
presentation from March 2007 to
May 2008 in Pretoria, in
association with the Continued
Education Section of the University
of Pretoria.
The development of this course is
an exciting new initiative
instigated during the 2005/06 in
response to an industry needs
survey undertaken by the CSIR on
behalf of the Asphalt Academy.
The survey reported that road
authorities, consulting engineers
and other practitioners had raised
concerns about the lack of
pavement engineering knowledge
displayed by recently graduated
civil engineers, technicians and
technologists. In the past, this
shortcoming has forced employers
to deploy significant resources
over several years to ensure that
young engineers had the
necessary know-how to carry out
their duties effectively.
There were several motivating
factors for the development and
presentation of such a course.
Although various institutions offer
similar courses either on demand
or as part of a continuing
education programme, most of
these are infrequently available,
and often have insufficient
practical content.
Various tertiary institutions offer
semester block courses on
Transportation Engineering or
Urban Engineering either as a part
of a postgraduate qualification, or
simply for individuals to gain
further information. However,
actual lecture time is relatively
limited, requiring that a large
amount of the learning be
67