"By assessing our attendees in this manner, our certificates will be more meaningful and valuable to our students and their companies," said Dr. Bill Holm, assistant vice provost for Distance Learning and Professional Education and director of the Georgia Tech defense technology education program.

Beginning in September, the assessments are required if the short course counts toward a certificate.

"The assessments can be as simple as 10 multiple-choice questions given each day at the beginning of the course," Holm said. "Students would then answer the questions and submit them at the end of the day."

Students attending at least 80 percent of the class receive a Certificate of Attendance indicating the continuing education units earned. Students who also pass the assessment receive a Certificate of Successful Completion indicating the CEUs earned and that the course helps satisfies requirements for a professional certificate. Depending on the field of study, five or six courses are required for a professional certificate.

Four courses in systems engineering are also being introduced to meet growing industry demand, as well as five other defense courses. These new systems engineering courses will eventually become part of a certificate program:
- Fundamentals of Modern Systems Engineering,
- Leading Systems Engineering Teams,
- Modeling and Simulation for Systems Engineering, and
- Systems Design and Analysis.

In addition to the systems engineering courses, the defense technology education program has added six short courses to its 58-course inventory:
- Radar Waveforms: Properties, Analysis, Design, and Applications,
- Introduction to Wireless Communication Systems,
- Modeling and Simulation of Antennas
- Atmospheric LIDAR Engineering
- Introduction to MIL-STD-1553, and
- Transmit/Receive Modules for Phased Array Radar: Components, Construction, and Costs.

"All of our defense technology courses highlight some of the latest research efforts of our scientists and engineers," Holm said. "Our researchers work on the forefront of science and technology to improve the defense preparedness of the U.S. We understand the importance lifelong education plays in that preparedness."

The 2006-2007 defense technology course schedule is posted online at http://www.pe.gatech.edu/. For more information about upcoming courses or the defense technology program, contact Holm at 404-385-6158 or bill.holm@gatech.edu.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Jennifer Wooley
Assistant Director of Client Marketing
404-385-7460
jennifer.wooley@dlpe.gatech.edu