Sponsored editorial piece written by La Trobe University, Principal Partner of Engineers Australia, Victoria Division.
La Trobe University has partnered with The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering to drive professionalism in the Australian engineering sectors through integrating the Professional Performance approach into its undergraduate engineering curriculum.
In 2009, The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering (Warren Centre) launched the Professional Performance Innovation and Risk in Australian Engineering Practice(PPIR) report. A key element of the report was the establishment of a framework to define and drive professionalism amongst engineers.
Since then, the Warren Centre and its engineering industry partners have been working on promoting the PPIR philosophy, and developing engineer training and industry adoption programs associated with PPIR. In late 2015, the PPIR team began working with engineering educators to identify the need for, and the potential for application of, the Professional Performance approach in undergraduate engineering courses.
La Trobe University Lecturer and Industry Project Coordinator, Dr Eddie Custovic MIEAust said that“Professional Performance has been incorporated into our mandatory second year subject, Business Side of Engineering”.
“Educating the next generation of engineers must look at improving the performance of professional engineers and engineering teams,” Dr Custovic said.
“The content delivered by the Warren Centre taught my students how to address key issues within the engineering profession and management of risk and liability.”
A full one-week module, consisting of a one-hour online lecture, a one-hour live lecture and a two-hour workshop with assistance delivered, was developed by the PPIR team and delivered to students by The Warren Centre’s PPIR Advisory Board Member, John Nurse FIEAust in September 2016 at La Trobe’s Melbourne and Bendigo campuses.
Students were introduced to the philosophy and methodology of Professional Performance and provided with a series of case studies, all adapted to suit an undergraduate setting.
The lectures and workshops were well received by students.
La Trobe University engineering student, Jordan Sens StudIEAust said “the lecture and workshop were a fresh change of pace and are something I would encourage La Trobe to continue with to provide students with different perspectives on processes and problems.
“Overall, I found the week to be very insightful and engaging, and I consider the professional performance checklist to be a valuable skill I can benefit from,” Mr Sens said.
Another La Trobe University student, Hanya Sulaiman Al-Sadoon StudIEAust said they were very glad the topic was covered in the course.
“It is definitely a good analytical method to learn and apply in engineering projects,” Miss Al-Sadoon said.
“I know that in the future when I am involved in a real project, the PPIR tools will be very useful.”
La Trobe University is planning to further integrate the Professional Performance methodology with Dr Custovic confirming “[it will] form a key element of ongoing projects and team-based activities through the subsequent semesters of the undergraduate engineering courses”.
Image: Member of The Warren Centre’s PPIR Advisory Board, John Nurse FIEAust delivers one of the engaging workshops to La Trobe University students in Bendigo.