Gemology - Students Drying Up

.

Are students opting for courses in gemology/diamonds?A recent discussion was that students are drying up for the longer courses because they fear no future in our field....no way to make any real money...

On one hand...Any real geologist knows there was never any "big money" in the mineral and crystal world it was never a get rich career. It is about knowledge of the minerals and ability to answer questions of perspective buyers. In these days anyone can do a little research on the internet and get a rough idea about any stone. Being up to date with recent knowledge is very crucial. 

Passion for one's profession is always the key. Whether you want to be an engineer or doctor or a carpenter or anything else your desire for it should be paramount.

Okay but more importantly...

Students seem to still only want to join the course or enter into the field because of money. None of them have patience for the long in-depth courses. Is this happening everywhere?

It seems as though there is a chasm that is widening between the simple retailers who prefer a lighter knowledge of stones...and the scholars who know how and when the crystal grows....it seems less people are caring about what caused the inclusion and more concerned with the overall color of the stone. 

On the other hand...

 In my experience the students currently enrolling are hoping things will improve and they'll be able to stand out, they are occupying their time during a "career break" or are being led on to think that they'll earn loads of cash by schools for being so qualified.

To make money in this trade you need to be in the sales side of things, where qualifications in gemmology are a bonus but not essential. So why pay out for it?

Gemmology is a passion, to echo Mike's point. Someone who is passionate about this industry will walk over hot coals to learn a bit more, see a different viewpoint or touch that rare piece.

If the educators want to pull in more students, they need to make it all a bit more modular and help to spread the payments. GIA seem to be doing this, but they need to ease up on the time scales.

(Thank you Damon Miles) 

American Power Group making moves in the Marcellus

American Power Group

American Power Group Receives $1.5 Million Order From Cudd Energy Services for Hydraulic Fracturing Installation in the Marcellus Shale Region

American Power Group Corporation (OTCQB: APGI) announced today that its subsidiary, American Power Group, Inc. ("APG"), has received purchase orders totaling $1.5 million from Cudd Energy Services to upgrade and convert diesel pumps used for hydraulic fracturing to APG's Turbocharged Natural Gas(TM) Dual Fuel System. APG will provide full turnkey installation including engineering services under an EPA Test Exemption while completing the EPA Memo 1A Testing and Compliance process, similar to the procedure APG completed in June 2012 for a different high-horsepower non-road compression ignition engine family. APG expects the installations to be completed during the next two calendar quarters in conjunction with the scheduled completion of the Memo 1A Testing.

Cudd Energy Services (www.cudd.com), a subsidiary of RPC Inc., is an oilfield service company offering a broad range of technical and specialized oilfield services to companies engaged in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas worldwide.

Prometheus Energy (www.prometheusenergy.com) will manage the onsite supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the primary natural gas fuel source. Prometheus Energy provides turnkey fuel solutions that enable oilfield and other industrial users of diesel and other crude-derived fuels to use secure domestic LNG, reducing fuel cost and emissions. The company is vertically integrated from LNG production, distribution and logistics to onsite storage and vaporization.

American Power Group

Green Energy Generation

Thank you ETRADE for keeping me up to date....for more information please follow the 

LINK

APGI reports fourth quarter fiscal results

American Power Group

Lyle Jensen, American Power Group Corporation's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very pleased with the progress we have made and the market leadership momentum we have created during the past year with both our vehicular and stationary dual fuel diesel engine solutions. We continue to work closely with the EPA to achieve approvals for additional Outside Useful Life (OUL) and Inside Useful Life (IUL) vehicular conversions. APGI is currently a leader in vehicular EPA OUL approvals with 88 engine families on four different OEM engine platforms. We expect to complete another 100 EPA OUL engine family approvals on four additional OEM engine platforms before the end of the second calendar quarter of 2013. We will begin testing for lower mileage IUL conversions at the University of Houston in January which we anticipate will result in additional IUL OEM engine platform approvals throughout the year."

Mr. Jensen added, "As these EPA approvals are secured, private and corporate fleets will be able to begin their own evaluation testing on a wide range of engine models, providing a platform for us to achieve our initial near term objective of 1,000 conversions per year which would equate to over $10 million of annual revenue. As these fleets move into production, our next targeted goal is 1,000 conversions per month. We anticipate that our recent National Distribution and Master Marketing Agreement with WheelTime Network, LLC will provide us with high-quality certified conversion centers across North America to support these scalability requirements."

Jensen further stated, "We made tremendous progress with our stationary conversion efforts this year, reporting fiscal 2012 stationary vertical drilling conversion revenue of $1.9 million, five times higher than revenues from that segment in fiscal 2011. Notably, second half conversion revenue was double the revenue generated in the first half of the year. Endorsements from the Linde Group, CONSOL Energy and EQT helped open up the Marcellus region for expanded APG conversions in 2012 and we expect to enter new regions in Canada and Colorado during the coming year. APG's technology is currently being tested by several of the world's largest Oil & Gas equipment corporations for the application of dual fuel technology on horizontal fracturing rigs and we anticipate that field testing will be completed in the first quarter of calendar 2013 with production orders to be awarded shortly thereafter. Our proprietary dual fuel technology that provides our customers the ability to lower energy costs and reduce emissions, has differentiated APG and positioned us as a recognized leader in dual fuel conversions."

Thank you Etrade for the update

For more info here is the LINK