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2008 – Year of the Engineering Team

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Daily engineering news

15 September 2008

News

Students missing out on assistance



Some masters-level engineering students are not receiving fair access to student assistance, according to Engineers Australia. Shown here are university students at Sydney University. PHOTO: Newspix

Students in some engineering courses accredited by Engineers Australia are missing out on financial assistance for their studies due to an inconsistency in the Commonwealth funding structure for tertiary students.
The issue was highlighted by Engineers Australia at a recent submission to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee. The committee reported on the inquiry into the Effects of Climate Change on Training and Employment Needs.
The courses being highlighted are masters-level programs offered by universities for officers and associates to upgrade their qualifications to the equivalent of an undergraduate four-year engineering degree.
Graduates from these new courses are then eligible for registration on the National Professional Engineers Register and chartered membership at Engineers Australia.
Since these courses are offered at the masters level, students are finding it more difficult to access the types of student support available to undergraduate students such as Commonwealth scholarships, lower HECS levels and Centrelink payments. This is despite their qualification being the equivalent to an undergraduate bachelor degree in engineering in terms of accreditation.
Engineers Australia believes that if these students are upgrading their skills to the accredited equivalent of an undergraduate engineering degree, they should have access to the same level of student support mechanisms offered to undergraduates.
A pdf of the full submission can be downloaded by clicking here.

Better standards needed to train engineering teams

Engineers Australia is calling for increased support from federal, state and territory governments to support the development of a comprehensive accreditation system for engineering education other than undergraduate degree study. This accreditation would cover qualifications that lead to careers as an engineering officer, associate or professional engineer.
This was one of the recommendations in Engineers Australia’s submission to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee.
At the moment, Engineers Australia’s accreditation program is primarily focused on undergraduate qualifications at Australian universities.
Expanding the program to internationally benchmark all courses across the engineering team such as associate degrees and officer programs delivered through vocational education would help maintain training standards. It could also develop articulation and retraining pathways across the disciplines within the engineering team.
A pilot program to accredit vocational education and training/TAFE accreditation is currently under development by Engineers Australia.

Mutual recognition assisted in free trade agreements

Setting up professional services working groups within free trade agreements (FTAs) could help solve what has been described by Engineers Australia (EA) as a key problem for Australian engineering companies – registering engineering staff to work overseas.
This view was put forward in a submission to the Inquiry into Australia’s Relationship with ASEAN by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade – Foreign Affairs Sub Committee last Friday. The submission was presented by Kathryn Hurford, associate director of public policy and policy analyst Andre Kaspura.
According to Hurford, a professional services working group within a FTA is one mechanism for the Australian government to support the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements (MRA) between Australia and FTA partners. The group is a committee of country representatives designed to enact mutual recognition provisions in FTAs.
The establishment of MRAs creates greater career mobility for Australian engineers. An MRA between Australia and Singapore, for example, would make it easier for engineers to move and work between both countries.
Government support for the negotiation of MRAs is particularly important as EA is not a government body. This often makes it difficult when attempting to negotiate with government registration boards in other countries. 

Call to review English language requirements

Stricter and more consistent requirements for English language skills should be enforced for engineers entering Australia to work on 457 temporary work visas.
In its submission to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship called “Visa Subclass 457 Integrity Review: English Language Requirements”, Engineers Australia called for all engineers entering Australia under the 457 stream to have proficiency in English equivalent to International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Level 6.0.
This level, defined as “competent” is the level permanent migrants are required to have in order to work in Australia and is assessed by Engineers Australia. Under the 457 visa rules, the IELTS requirement for temporary workers is 4.5 – Intermediate.
The inconsistency is due to an assumption by the federal government that engineers entering Australia under the 457 scheme are being evaluated after migration through a registration or licensing system.
At the moment, Queensland is the only state where registration as an engineer is mandatory under the Professional Engineers Act 2002. In other states, registration is voluntary either through Engineers Australia chartered membership or registration on the National Professional Engineers Register.
Thus, engineers fulfilling the IELTS Level 4.5 requirement for their the 457 do not necessarily have to attain a IELTS Level 6.0 requirement after migration, depending on where they work.

More opportunities for Queensland engineers

In an attempt to tackle the state’s skills shortages in engineering, the Queensland government will create 450 engineering training places over four years for associate professional occupations, in collaboration with employers.
The move is part of the Queensland Skills Plan 2008 which aims to boost numbers in slow-growing professions such as engineering, information and communications technology and nursing.
According to the minister for education and training Rod Welford, there is an estimated shortage of 2200 computing professionals in Queensland.
“The plan is to bring together schools, the VET and higher education sector and industry bodies to promote a positive image of ICT and the careers available,” he said.
The plan will also develop an Indigenous Higher Education Action Plan to improve opportunities for indigenous people to enter the professional workforce.

Engineer named NSW scientist of the year

Photovoltaic engineer Professor Martin Green was presented the inaugral NSW Scientist of the Year award at a ceremony in Sydney last month. He is the executive research director at the Centre of Excellence for Photovoltaics at the University of NSW. Green also won an award in the environment, water and climate change sciences category
Other engineers who won awards were:

• Professor Veena Sahajwalla from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at University of NSW in the engineering sciences category
• Chris Nicol, chief technology officer at National ICT Australia in the computer sciences category

Notices

Have a say in where Engineers Australia is going

Members are invited to contribute to the development of the next strategic plan for Engineers Australia (EA). The plan will provide the framework for EA's activities over the period 2010 to 2015.

Planning sessions will be undertaken in Divisions, College Boards, and special interest groups over the next few months.  A final planning forum will be held next July, with the intention of recommending a new plan to Congress in November 2009.

The strategic plan must represent the interests of EA members and the community at large.

For more information, or to submit suggestions or comments, visit www.engineersaustralia.org.au/strategicplan2010.

Notice of annual general meeting 2008

The 88th annual general meeting of Engineers Australia will be held in the Members Dining Room 2 of the Old Parliament House in Parkes on 20 November.

Nominations sought for national deputy president

Engineers Australia is calling for nominations for the position of its national deputy president for 2009.
Current national deputy president Peter Godfrey will assume the position of national president at Engineers Australia’s National Congress meeting on 20 November 2008.
Bye-law 32.4.3 requires that the national deputy president shall be an Honorary Fellow or Fellow of Engineers Australia who has served at least one term as a delegate to the National Congress.
Voting for National Deputy President will take place at the National Congress meeting.
Eligible candidates are invited to obtain nomination and submission guideline forms by contacting the executive officer to Council on 02 6270 6509 or emailing executivesupport@engineersaustralia.org.au. Nominations close
on 17 October.

Fee changes from October

Engineers Australia has announced changes to the services and fees for chartered status assessment and membership admission which come into effect 1 October. All prices listed exclude GST.
The fee for a chartered status assessment will increase from $400 to $500. This is the first fee increase since 2001 and reflects increased administration and support costs.
The membership admission fee will increase from $40 to $50. First year graduates are exempt from this fee.
Members seeking readmission after a lapse in membership must pay a readmission fee of $50.
A member seeking chartered status reinstatement after a period of more than six months but less than five years, will require a desktop assessment of competency, equivalent to a CPD audit which will cost $200.
For a full list of conditions, visit the Engineers Australia website.

Have your say on the federal tax review

Members are invited to provide comment on tax issues that affect them as part of Engineers Australia’s submission to the federal government’s tax review.
Members are invited to comment on problems with the current system, reforms needed to address these problems, and whether new features need to be included in the tax system to overcome future issues.
Please provide comment to policy@engineersaustralia.org.au by 26 September.
To read the review’s terms of reference and the background paper click here.

Nominate inspiring and influential women

Nominations are invited for the next edition of the publication Who’s Who of Australian Women to be released March 2009.
The theme of the edition is “Lessons we learn”. Entrants are encouraged to share their experiences on education and who may have inspired them. The idea behind the publication is to recognise modest, quiet achievers in society alongside more high profile women.
For more information click here.

Regional members needed for survey

Do you live or work in a regional area? Then the Regional Taskforce of Engineers Australia needs your help to complete a short survey.
The group aims to improve access to membership benefits, such as access to CPD and peer support, for members living in a regional area.
Information collected from this survey will assist Engineers Australia in understanding its regional members and improve the planning of CPD activities and other services.
The survey can be taken by clicking here.

Representatives sought for standards reviews

Engineers Australia (EA) is seeking representatives for several Standards Australia Committees. Members interested in participating on the committees can email Nina Lenz for more information.
The committees are:

• AG-008 Gas Distribution
• AG-013 Components used for Gas appliances & equipment
• BD-033 Chemical Admixtures for concrete
• BD-050 Aluminum Structures
• BD-069 Accuracy in Building Construction
• BD-083 Earth Building
• CE-028 Test Pumping Water Wells
• CS-021 Swimming Aids
• EL-006 Industrial Switchgear & Control Gear
• EL-008 Power Transformers
• EL-048 Wind Turbine Systems
• EL-053 Fire Hazard Testing - Electrical Equipment IT - 007 Public Access to IT Equipment
• IT-033 eBusiness Architecture & Data exchange
• ME-002 Gas Cylinders
• ME-016 Unitary Air Conditioners
• ME-018-04 Maintenance of Diesel engine systems for underground coal mines ME-020 Internal Combustion Engines
• ME-024 V-Belt drives
• ME-037 Rolling Bearings
• ME-046 Gas Fuel systems for vehicle engines
• ME-062-11 Air & water handling for power stations
• TX-004 Ropes & Cordage.

Publications

Calendar

Engineering Education Australia will run the following short courses:

• Managing self and others (2 days) Hobart 22 Sep
• International trends in managing power quality and voltage dips (2 days) Sydney 24 Sep
• Electrical engineering practice module 3 – protection systems, motor starters and power quality (2 days) Sydney 25 Sep
• Design and fabrication of pressure vessels (3 days) Melbourne 6 Oct, Perth 13 Oct
• Managing self and others (2 days) Townsville 7 Oct, Adelaide 16 Oct, Sydney 30 Oct
• Negotiation skills (2 days) Melbourne 7 Oct, Brisbane 21 Oct
• Asset management and maintenance (2 days) Brisbane 8 Oct, Sydney 21 Oct
• Inspection, repairs and alterations of pressure vessels (2 days) Melbourne 9 Oct, Perth 16 Oct
• Contract management (2 days) Brisbane 13 Oct, Perth 20 Oct, Darwin 27 Oct
• Managing cultural differences (1 day) Perth 13 Oct, Brisbane 27 Oct
• Relate to Aussies (1 day) Sydney 14 Oct, Melbourne 20 Oct
• Earthworks (2 days) Melbourne 16 Oct
• Creating and managing networks for successful business relationships (2 days) Sydney 16 Oct, Melbourne 21 Oct
• Project management (2 days) Brisbane 16 Oct, Darwin 30 Oct, Perth 23 Oct

• Launceston 2-3 October
• Melbourne 9-10 October
• Mt Druitt, Sydney 20-21 October
• Brisbane 23-24 October
• Canberra 30-31 October