The registration process for people doing engineering work according to the Identification of Engineering Work, (IoEW) document gazetted in March, will start in earnest next year.
Surnames A through K need to register next year. So, the big question is: What are assessors looking for?
People who are preparing to register need to realise that ECSA will not be assessing their papers – it will be registered professionals from industry doing the assessment. This means that the paperwork must not be in a CV format, as it needs to say explicitly what the candidate’s specific roles and responsibilities were.
There are 11 outcomes that they will be assessed against:
1. Define, investigate and analyse engineering problems
What was the problem? How did you go about investigating it? Assessors need to see actual examples. They want to know what exactly you contributed. State exactly your role in the investigation of an engineering problem. This does not include the results; it is only the investigation and analysis part. Calculations, if applicable, need to be shown.
2. Design or develop solutions to engineering problems
Now that you know and understand what the problem is, go ahead and discuss how you designed or developed a solution. Once again, calculations and reasoning needs to be shown.
3. Comprehend and apply advanced knowledge
In developing the solution:
• Were there any legal requirements that you had to consider?
• Which engineering principles did you apply?
• Did you apply any specialist knowledge?
• What in the environment did you consider when developing the solution i.e., local knowledge, local suppliers, local procedures etc.?
4. Manage part or all of one or more engineering activities
Describe your involvement in the management of an engineering activity.
It is important to note that in all these outcomes the assessors are looking for appropriate experience. If you are applying for professional engineering technician, your experience in problems that could have been done by the average artisan does not count.
5. Communicate clearly with others while performing engineering activities
Assessors want to see examples of your communication during an appropriate engineering project and what you did to ensure that your communication was well understood.
6. Recognise and address the social, cultural and environmental effects of engineering activities
Once again, make sure your examples are at an appropriate level to your application and then specify in detail your contribution to the project.
7. Meet all legal and regulatory requirements and protect the health and safety of persons during engineering activities
Specify exactly which requirements you took into consideration.
8. Conduct engineering activities ethically
If you do not have an example of where it was required of you to choose between an ethical and a non-ethical action, at least make sure that you know ECSA’s stance on ethical behaviour.
9. Exercise sound judgement during complex engineering activities
Assessors need to see examples. Describe an engineering problem, the options you had, which you chose and why and the result.
10. Be responsible for making decisions during engineering activities
This is not the same as outcome 4, where you were requested to show examples of how you managed an engineering activity. Manage means getting the job done through other people. In this outcome you need to show an example of where you were solely responsible for the decisions taken during an engineering activity.
11. Undertake professional development activities to maintain and extend personal competence
Assessors need to see examples of CPD accredited courses done to give assurance that you are taking continuous professional development seriously in a world of ‘disruptive’ technologies.
Next time I will talk about the new CPD requirements – especially important for companies applying for their courses to be registered for CPD points.
Yours in automation,
Johan Maartens.
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