Defining the Australian mechanical engineer

Abstract

The attribute focus in engineering education now adopted by the engineering education accrediting bodies of the US, UK and Australia is based on meeting the assumed needs of professional practice. It is associated with an increasing expectation by employers of work-ready graduates rather than relying on subsequent work-based learning and experience to develop many of the essential professional practice attributes. Yet the scope of the mechanical engineering profession is broad and views of practitioners contributing to debate on attribute requirements are largely influenced by their own often unique professional formation.In addition, the formative development of the profession in Australia has been significantly influenced by 19th and 20th century UK and US practices, although historically the industrial profile of Australia has been strikingly different. An analysis of current industry distribution of Australian, UK and US mechanical engineers presented in this paper shows continuing, although less marked, differences.To develop a clearer perception of the profession in Australia, its educational formation, and operational environment, this paper provides a concise study of the formative development of the profession, and presents a breakdown of the industry sectors in which they are currently employed. The effects of momentous global changes in engineering employment and formation over recent decades are also discussed.Recent changes in engineering employment have included major structural changes to organisations, accelerating technical and educational developments and mounting societal expectations making it imperative that attributes be attuned to the new engineering paradigm as increasing demands are placed on our graduates. This paper provides an essential foundation for ongoing debate and analysis of attribute needs related to this broadly based engineering discipline. Although presented from an Australian perspective, many issues discussed are applicable worldwide.

Proposal of skills for the bachelor degree of Industrial Engineering in the context of the new curriculum.

“…Podemos describir con más detalle las competencias que necesita un Ingeniero de Organización, dividiéndolas en una serie de objetivos formativos (conocimientos, habilidades y actitudes). Podemos agruparlos en tres categorías (Ferguson, 2006):…”

Profile and competences of Spanish industrial engineers in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)

“…The main reason for this is the globalisation of markets and increased competition from products and services relocated to countries with low wage levels (Ferguson, 2006;Gallwey, 1992;Yannou & Bigand, 2004). The situation is heightened by the fact that companies in countries competing only on the basis of cost are succeeding in increasing their productivity while also achieving technological advances allowing them to offer higher quality and even innovative products and services (Yannou & Bigand, 2004).…”

“…This would cover many crossfunctional skills: interpersonal communications, teamwork and leadership (Dym, 2006;Maffioli & Augusti, 2003;Teixeira, Ferreira, Silva, & Flores, 2007). But also the ability to formulate a problem, to model it and to think up solutions; to develop the creativity of colleagues; to recruit individuals, to motivate them and assess their progress; to negotiate and assess risks; to organise information flows; to understand strategy, marketing and economic concepts (Bankel et al, 2003;Chen et al, 2005;Ferguson, 2006;Yannou & Bigand, 2004). …”

“…Highly developed knowledge and skills in mathematics, multivariant industrial statistics, data mining, industrial economics, continuous improvement, distribution of assembly lines, production programming, reduction of changeover times, optimisation of inventories, workstation analysis, knowledge management, Six Sigma, activity-based costing, multicriteria decisions, productive maintenance, supply chain management, simulation... (Elsayed, 1999;Fliedner & Mathieson, 2007;Gallwey, 1992;Maskell, 2000;Yannou & Bigand, 2004) • Knowledge and skills specific to the sector where the graduate is ultimately employed (Ferguson, 2006). Almost all the above skills are connected with knowledge and abilities.…”

“…To this end we identify here the professional profiles to be expected of those graduating from such courses, specifying the technology employed, the problems treated and the population served by the industrial engineers (Ferguson, 2006;Thompson, 1967). We deal with meanings and proposals for Industrial Engineers within a European context, drawing information from the academic debate which has been launched in a number of scientific publications (using "Engineering and industrial and education" as keyword in Web Of Science, Science Direct and EBSCO Business Source Premier databases).…”