Engineering Council of Namibia

Transcription

1 Engineering Council of Namibia your local networking partner in engineering 9 Love Street, PO Box 1996, Windhoek, Namibia, Phone: , Fax: , ecn@mweb.com.na Document Updated: June 2005 REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION WITH THE ENGINEERING COUNCIL OF NAMIBIA AS ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN Definition SECTION 1 Engineering Technicians are persons who, by virtue of a combination of education, training and experience have attained a certain level of competence, which enables them to apply known engineering principles and techniques to the solution and practical problems of varying complexity, as required by industry and commerce. Their education and training will be relatively broad based and they will be able to spend 40% of the time in intellectual work. Their work will include a combination of design, commissioning, project or construction management, measurement and testing, quality assurance, production, maintenance, management and any other activities, which require their level of competence, all under the supervision of a competent and qualified engineer. Their stature is such that they would not be able to become partners or directors in a consulting engineer s practice, but they may, through their competence and experience, be able to rise to some higher positions in the engineering field. As a minimum requirement they must be in possession of a National Diploma obtained at a registered Technikon or Polytechnic, together with stipulated years of acceptable engineering experience under the supervision of a competent and qualified engineer/technician. Persons not holding the minimum academic qualifications will be required to have increased periods of both engineering experience and responsible engineering experience depending on the applicable qualification. Purpose The Engineering Profession Act, 1986 (Act 18 of 1986) requires that applicants who desire to register as Engineering Technicians inter alia must satisfy the Engineering Council of Namibia, called the Council that they: (a) hold an appropriate qualification in terms of the Act, or have passed the examinations prescribed by Council in respect of persons not holding a recognised qualification; and (See Table 1) (b) have, for a period determined by Council, performed work of an engineering nature,

2 which in Council s opinion is of sufficient variety and of a satisfactory nature and standard. (See Table 2) The purpose of this document of the Engineering Council of Namibia is to describe the educational qualifications, experience and practical training which will satisfy the requirements for registration. For the purposes of this document, the acceptable work of an engineering nature will generally be referred to as Experiential Training, although far more than training is involved. It is further intended that this document be used by applicants for full registration in the various branches of engineering, by members of the Registration Committees when applications for registration are considered and also by employers when compiling practical training programmes for the Engineering Technician in Training. SECTION 2 Registration as a Trainee A person who has passed an appropriate examination recognised by Council is eligible for registration as an Engineering Technician in Training. Application forms can be obtained from the Council s offices. The applicable qualifications, as determined by Council from time to time, are basically as set out in Table 1. Table 1 - Qualifications as recognised by Council CATEGORY Engineering Technician Engineering Technician Engineering Technician Engineering Technician QUALIFICATION National Technical Diploma (N6) or equivalent (1 year theory + 2 years incorporated practical) National Diploma in Engineering (T3) or equivalent (1½ years theory + 1½ years incorporated practical) National Diploma in Engineering (S4) or equivalent (2 years theory + 1 year incorporated practical) National Higher Diploma (T4) or equivalent (2 years theory + 2 years incorporated practical) Equivalent or non-namibian Qualifications 2

3 The benchmark for the evaluation of all equivalent or non-namibian qualifications will be the National Diploma in Engineering (S4). The degree/diploma structure and content must be acceptable to and in line with the norms as set by Council. To enable Council to determine whether or not a qualification is equivalent to a recognised qualification, an applicant may be required to attend an interview and/or to sit for an examination. SECTION 3 ENGINEERING WORK FOR ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN IN TRAINING Post-Qualification Experiential Training Requirements for full registration. In this document, Experiential Training means engineering experience gained after attaining the recognised minimum qualification in engineering and which may be structured or unstructured. The Engineering Council requires that applicants for registration be trained (including availing themselves of development opportunities), to its satisfaction in the application of engineering principles and methods within their branches of engineering, or combination of branches, and be given progressively more responsibility until they are capable of accepting professional responsibility in making and executing engineering decisions at the level appropriate to the respective category. Engineering Technicians in Training must become aware of the interaction between related branches of engineering and the other members of the engineering team, with respect to their own tasks. They must develop the necessary judgement to involve and utilise to the best advantage other members of the engineering team. They should develop the ability to apply a holistic approach to the execution of their tasks. The prescribed minimum experiential training period after obtaining a recognised qualification is as set out in Table 2. This period does not include the practical training of the basic education of the NTD/ND/NHD in engineering. Table 2 - Minimum Period of Experiential Training After Qualification CATEGORY QUALIFICATION YEARS OF EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING NEEDED Engineering Technician Engineering Technician National Technical Diploma (N6) (or equivalent) National Diploma in Engineering (T3, S4) or equivalent) 5 3 Engineering Technician National Higher Diploma (T4) (or equivalent) For registration Council must be satisfied that the Applicant has attained the required level of competence. Council will in judging experiential training, amongst others, take into account the following: 3 2

4 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) leadership in decision-making, engineering design, planning and administration; pre-diploma training of engineering technicians on the appropriate level specifically. nature of experiential training; standard of experiential training; variety of experiential training; recognition of appropriate pre-qualification experience and advanced study; specialisation; lectureship; SECTION 4 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF ACCEPTABLE EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING Elements applicable to Engineering Technicians in Training Applicants not in a possession of the appropriate qualification in terms of the Engineering Profession Act must have attained adequate engineering understanding and judgement ability on the level of Engineering Technician. Acceptable experiential training must provide satisfactory experience to Trainees in application of engineering principles and methods and must include the experiential training elements and the level of responsibility as stated in Section 4. Problem Investigation The Applicant must prove competency at investigating simple practical engineering problems in their field/s of specialisation and for which engineering judgement is required. The following practical engineering functions are required to be contained in such tasks: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) problem identification and formulation; finding and selecting relevant information; evaluating, investigating and testing; the analysis of factors that influence the solution, like relevant practical engineering principles; taking into account experiential, economic, social, environmental, quality assurance, safety, project management, and statutory factors. Problem Solving The applicant must prove competence in developing an acceptable solution to simple problems using information acquired during the problem investigation. This includes the drawing up of plans, detailed designs, reports, specifications, adjudication of tenders and interviewing skills. 4

5 Execution / Implementation The applicant must prove competency in the execution of engineering tasks or projects (for example construction, manufacturing, transformation, processing, production, commissioning, testing, certification, quality assessment operation and maintenance covering the efficient utilisation of people, materials, machines, equipment, means and funding with due regard for their interaction, to achieve the end result within the set parameters. Responsibility The applicant will prove technical and managerial responsibility for taking engineering decisions. Their responsibility should include sufficient recognition of economic considerations, social circumstances, environmental factors, quality assurance, safety and legal aspects, as well as to the Code of Professional Conduct. Notes (i) (ii) (iii) The degree of responsibility of Trainees, as well as their personal and specific involvement with each project, should be clear from the reports that accompany their applications. Council suggests that you provide examples of at least three projects that you have undertaken and to prove that you have gained experience such as design, planning, budgeting, construction, supervision of engineering tasks, analytical analysis (plant and machines), execution and management; different weights may be awarded to the essential elements of experiential training, depending on the requirements of the specific engineering branches; different composition of the essential experiential training elements may be structured in order to evaluate the level of work performed. These could be application of technological knowledge, manipulative skills, thinking skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills and management skills. General Objectives The aim of Engineering Technicians in Training must be to qualify themselves adequately for careers as registered Engineering Technicians and later, after further study and experience, possibly as Incorporated Engineers. Acceptable training in engineering activities must offer Engineering Technicians in Training satisfactory experience, mainly in the application of engineering principles and methods, in order to demonstrate problem solving abilities, in respect of the following fields: (a) (b) the planning, design, supervision of construction, installation and maintenance projects, which may include comprehensive systems; the translation of design drawings into detailed construction instructions for junior technicians; 5

6 (c) (d) the execution of construction, installation and/or maintenance projects, which may include basic and comprehensive systems; the solving of technical problems, which are of a general nature. RECOGNISED EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING FOR ENGINEERING TECHNICIANS Experiential training in engineering recognised by the Council as of sufficient variety and as of satisfactory nature and standard to qualify an applicant for registration as Engineering Technician (Eng. Tech.). It must, however, be noted here that the experiential training must in all cases be the trainee s own work. (Should discrepancies show that the work was not done by the proponent then the supervisor will similarly be guilty of an offence in terms of the Engineering Profession Act). A. NATURE OF EXPERIENCE OF ENGINEERING WORK CATEGORY 1 Planning: Investigations, reconnaissance, programming, forecasting, reporting and surveying. CATEGORY 2 CATEGORY 3 CATEGORY 4 Design: Development, preparation of technical specifications, draughting, system analysis, prognostic analysis, non-destructive testing, analytical inspections, quality control and calculation of design criteria. Supervision: Contract administration, project management, construction / erection maintenance, production installation control and laboratory/testing. Tertiary Lecturing: Tutorship, trainership. CATEGORY 5 Quantitative Analysis: Data analysis and interpretation and statistical computation. CATEGORY 6 Application of Technology: Problem analysis, operational and maintenance procedures. B. STANDARD OF EXPERIENCE The skills applied must be on the level of the Engineering Technician s education and will be: 1. The proven application of the basic theory, principles and codes of practice by the candidate for the relative unaided and independent sound solution of typical and 6

7 practical engineering models of basic nature and of equitable scope. AND/OR 2. The proven gain of the elementary skills and knowledge of the fundamental elements of planning, control, leadership, human conduct, organisational behaviour and similar supervisory orientated proficiencies. AND/OR 3. The proven development to a semi-specialist level through research or tutorship to the extent that basic engineering models were relatively independently solved and successfully implemented. C. VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE FOR ENGINEERING TECHNICIANS A minimum of 40% of any combination of the items mentioned under the 6 categories under paragraph A above, provided the candidate holds the minimum academic qualification prescribed by the Engineering Profession Act or provided the candidate proves sufficient in depth knowledge in categories 2 (design) and 5 (quantitative analysis) in order to substitute his/her lack of such minimum academic qualifications. Departure Points The minimum qualification, as prescribed by the Engineering Profession Act, or equivalent is only a departure point for Engineering Technicians in Training upon which their careers as Engineering Technicians will be based. They must, however, still prove that they have and can use all of the skills to function as competent Engineering Technicians. Requirement for an acceptable Spectrum of Skills and Experience within a Recognised Branch of Engineering Engineering Technicians in Training must develop and demonstrate technical and associated abilities in an acceptable variety of activities within a branch of engineering, in order to satisfy Council that they are competent Engineering Technicians. In order to describe the required experience more adequately, a distinction is made between six groupings of functional work performance elements, as set out in the following paragraph. Functional Work Performance Elements, Scope and Work Performance Level Acceptable work performance must include all of the under-mentioned work performance elements. The scope of the tasks as well as the minimum level of skill at which each 7

8 (separately and in combination) must be performed, must satisfy the requirements as laid down by the recognised engineering bodies, in conjunction with Council, for the various branches of engineering. These elements occur to a greater or lesser extent in all engineering work. A combination of the scope of the elements in each grouping and the level of the work performance of the tasks form a typical profile of the registered Engineering Technician. It may differ from branch to branch as other categories of professionals have different profiles. The functional work performance elements are divided into the following groups. The most important skills and functions are as follows: * Technological knowledge and knowledge enrichment skills The application of familiar and new technological knowledge within the engineering category or branch that applies. * Manipulative skills The effective handling, care and setting up of, for example, measuring equipment, control systems (of vehicles, aircraft, ships, etc.) or monitoring systems. * Mental skills The diagnosing and solving of a variety of basic technical problems by a systematic/rational and sometimes repetitive approach, process of selection, evaluation, data simplification, calculation, analysis and design. * Communication skills The tracing, acquisition, preparation, transfer and exchange of both technical and non-technical information in written, graphic, oral and audible forms, as well as by means of electronic media. This includes the use of technical languages such as mathematics, drawing symbols, etc. within the branch that applies. * Interpersonal skills The conduct and actions, which influence interpersonal relationships, especially in the work situation. * Managerial skills Managerial functions (including supervision), which embrace decision making, leadership and co-ordinating tasks in respect of organising, scheduling, planning, evaluation, control and improvement of the activities of subordinates, colleagues and of Trainees within the respective engineering field. 8

9 Matrix of the Relationships between the Scope and Work Performance Levels of the Functional Elements In general it will serve as a valid guideline that the functional elements, within a branch of engineering, can find application in a specialised area. The Engineering Council will act as a moderator to evaluate the variety or/either the depth of the area required to cover adequate compliance to achieve competency in that area. This requires a process of weighting of the functional elements and a totalling of the results. The results of the overall weighting procedure should confirm a person s competency in the specialised field of performance. The matrix of skill levels versus various functional elements, as required for the various branches, may vary depending upon which functions are considered as core elements. It can be expected that certain work performance elements, such as mental and communication skills, will become increasingly important for Engineering Technicians during their careers and all Trainees should, therefore, in respect of these two functions at least, attain a skill level above the basic level during the period of experiential training. 9