As the capital of the Negev, Beersheva serves as a center for higher education. The city has a university and three colleges. One of them, the Technological College, provides training for practical engineers.
What is a “Practical Engineer”?
Practical engineering is a profession that mediates between the professional worker, whose main occupation is practical work, and the engineer whose main occupation is technological planning and development.
The Practical Engineer, accordingly, is a professional skilled in the handling, maintenance, operation, production and development of advanced technological equipment at the level of the daily operations of factories in the fields of high technology, construction companies, architectural offices and industries of broad and diverse kinds. There are various specialties and a wide variety of work functions in the field of practical engineering. As technology advances there is more and more demand for practical engineers in all the various branches of industry.
Characteristics of the Educational Programs
The educational programs focus on the acquisition of practical and technical knowledge: they aim to allow the student to acquire skills for practical work. After meeting the minimum standards of the qualifying examinations and a final project in the framework of his specialization, the student is granted a diploma of Practical Engineer from the Ministry of Economics and Industry. The educational program consists of 2,200 hours of study and it is offered in three schedules: day classes, evening classes and a special track.
- a day program for two years (4 semesters)
- an evening program lasting 3 years (6 semesters), meant for people who are employed.
- A special track: 4 continuous semesters or 6 continuous semesters of night school (including a summer semester). For comparison, a B.A. degree involves 1,800 hours of study over three years!