Unit Description and General Aims

Engineering Professional Practice helps students prepare for the professional practices in engineering field. The profession of engineering is defined by ethical and legal obligations, and engineers need to understand the regulations and principles governing their work to effectively serve the public. Students who take this course become acquainted with the philosophy, law, and contemporary issues underpinning engineering practice.

Course will present the core competencies of engineering technologists and their responsibility to guard the public’s health, welfare, and safety. In that context, competing ideologies will be identified that creates conflicts in choice. Several case histories will be explored to identify conflicting ideologies. Students are asked to develop their own personal development and professional goals.

This course introduces students to the Institution of Engineers Australia’s stage 1 competencies for engineering technologist. Topics include codes of ethics, agreements and contracts, ethical and legal considerations, professional liability, public protection issues, environmental regulations, and environmental sustainability considerations. It prepares students to think critically while working with complex engineering and environmental issues.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this Unit, students are expected to be able to:

1. Investigate, research, report and reflect on engineering professional practice in the workplace
   Bloom's Level 4
2. Explore the nature of professional responsibilities and challenges faced by engineering technologist and document them in the reflective journal
   Bloom's Level 4
3. Review and reflect on the role of engineering technologist, codes of ethics and standards of professional engineering bodies
   Bloom's Level 2
4. Evaluate the importance of community engagement, continued professional development and lifelong learning for an engineering career
   Bloom's Level 2
5. Evaluate and reflect on issues relating to diversity, inclusivity, including intercultural and indigenous issues
   Bloom's Level 5

Student assessment

Overall Requirement: An overall final unit score of 50% or above must be achieved to pass the unit once all assessment has been completed.

Prescribed and Recommended Readings

Core Textbook:

• D. Dowling, A. Carew, R. Hadgraft, Engineering Your Future: An Australasian Guide, 4th Edition. John Wiley, Australia, ISBN: 9780730369165

Recommended Textbooks:

• C. B. Fleddermann, Engineering Ethics, 4th Edition. Pearson Education, 2012. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-214521-3
• R. McGinn, The Ethical Engineer: Contemporary Concepts and Cases. Princeton University Press, 2018. ISBN - 9781400889105

Reference Materials

• The Making of an Expert Engineer 1st Edition by James Trevelyan
• IEEE referencing guide

Unit Content

Topic 1

Becoming an engineer

1. The role of an engineer
2. Core skills and attributes of an engineer
3. Impacts of engineering on society
4. Professionalism, certification, and registration for professional practice
5. Key engineering professional bodies

Topic 2

Engineering in the society

1. What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)?
2. Role of engineers in SDG
3. Strategies for practicing sustainable engineering
4. Environmentally sustainable engineering
5. Socially sustainable engineering
6. Intergenerational and intragenerational equity
7. Community consultation and communication
8. Climate change and engineering

Topic 3

Professional responsibility and ethics

1. Professional responsibility: standards and professional liability
2. Work health and safety (WHS) and personal liability
3. Engineering ethics
4. Professional accountability

Topic 4

Professional Skills

1. Self-management and professionalism
2. Engineer’s personality and attitudes
3. Sources of inspiration
4. Developing an inquiring mind
5. Developing goals and strategies
6. Lifelong learning and reflective practice
7. Knowledge frameworks

Topic 5

Collaborating with others

1. Understanding different personality styles
2. Emotional intelligence
3. Working in groups
4. Cross functional and cross discipline teams
5. Fundamentals of an effective group
6. The lifecycle of a team
7. Benefits of working with others
8. Virtual and distributed teams
9. Role of technology in collaboration

Topic 6

Communication skills for engineers

1. Understanding communication
2. Communication theories and models
3. Characteristics of communicators
4. Digital communications
5. Communication methods and roles
6. Verbal and written communication skills
7. Visual communications

Topic 7

Applying the engineering methods

1. Data, information, and knowledge
2. Identifying information needs
3. Idea Generation and Systems Thinking
4. Investigative questioning
5. Locating and retrieving information
6. Evaluating information and information sources

Topic 8

Engineering design process

1. Key ideas in the design process
2. Socio-ecological thinking
3. Whole system design goals
4. Generating alternative solutions
5. Lateral and parallel thinking
6. Six thinking hats
7. Transforming design through biomimetic thinking and design

Topic 9

Evaluating engineering solutions and decision making

1. Economical evaluation of solutions
2. Technical feasibility
3. Mathematical modelling in design
4. Engineering decision making
5. Team-based decision making
6. Decision support systems, tools, and techniques

Topic 10

Information management

1. Understanding authentic and reliable sources of information
2. Locating and utilizing information
3. Awareness of discipline-specific engineering standards
4. Document identification, tracking, and version control
5. Cyber security and data management

Topic 11

Communicating and writing information

1. Using the PCR model to create an effective communication
2. Developing a communication plan for an engineering project
3. Writing in the engineering workplace
4. Risk management documentation
5. Technical presentations
6. Drawings, plans, and sketches
7. Using virtual techniques to communicate the complex operations

Topic 12

Your engineering future

1. Engineering to meet future global challenges
2. Engineering and globalization
3. Futuristic engineering: emerging fields
4. Different types of organizations
5. Efficiency and respect in the workplace
6. Continuing professional development (CPD)

Software/Hardware Used

Software

• (Suggested) https://www.draw.io/ (for management drawings)
• (Suggested) Loom or Open Broadcaster Software (for homework presentation recordings)
• (Suggested) Microsoft Planner, Word, and PowerPoint online via office.com (student account login)

Hardware

• N/A

Unit Changes Based on Student Feedback