INGENIEUR
the IHL’s governance procedures. The Panel must
keep good time.
Industry Advisory Board/Panel
The programme would benefit from inputs
from industry leaders appointed as members
of the programme, specifically the Industry
Advisory Board/Panel (IAB/P), which should
meet at least twice a year, with properly kept
minutes of meeting (MOM). During accreditation
visits, IAB/P members should contribute their
considered views to the Panel. The presence of
External Examiners (one local, the other foreign)
for the sake of “Benchmarking” would lead to
incremental improvements to the programme.
It is a case of “cross fertilisation”- to produce a
better crop!
Bright graduates and sharp engineers –
who are they?
In the real world of the marketplace and
industry, Employers tend to engage and
retain engineers who score high in the KSA
domains instead of just high grades in
academic qualifications. KSA domains are:
“K” for Knowledge; “S” for Skills; and “A” is for
Attitude. Of the 3 domains, in my opinion as
a former employer, I consider attitude as the
most important of all.
A fresh graduate engineer employee would
have been grounded with the breadth and
depth of STEAM fundamentals and disciplines
so that he can be trained to acquire the relevant
skills for the job. But it also depends on the
graduate engineer having the right attitude,
such as: eagerness to learn, willingness to
follow instructions, inquisitiveness and being
prepared to ask for advice, and having a sense
of humility. The right attitude is more than just
having high levels of IQ and EQ.
There are two more essential elements
that go into creating a “good attitude”. CQ
for creativity (be innovative, etc.), and SQ
for spirituality (ethical, belief in sustainable
engineering, and having the attributes of an
“educated person”).
The “3Ds” challenges that constantly
confront engineers
In case of traditional engineering (other than
those conducted in clean rooms/labs), the 3Ds
are Dirty, Difficult, and Dangerous and for “clean
engineering”, the 3Ds are Demanding, Difficult,
and (still) Dangerous. It is the moral duty and
responsibility of engineers, in senior positions, to
put in place or design, Occupational Safety and
Health (OSHE)-centric work processes, under the
careful supervision of the engineering team to
minimise, or possibly eliminate the “3 Ds”.
Engineers with the right attitude will always
attempt to do a better job and make a difference
– they are prepared to carry out their duties
and responsibilities diligently/smartly. To put it
colloquially, an Engineer with the right attitude,
when given an assignment to solve a problem,
will not give “101 reasons why the job cannot be
done”, but will instead spend time seeking advice
where and when necessary; at least ask Mr.
Google to start off. Key to solving a given problem:
learn how to start!
Real professionalism which may be described
as the higher domain for innovation requires the
right attitude, knowledge and skills and higher
order of thinking skills (HOTS). Knowledge can
be imparted and acquired through teaching and
learning, while skills can be gained by training
but we cannot teach or train someone to have
the right attitude. We can however nurture new
employees to adopt the right attitude through
counselling and pastoral care, and later in the
formative stage of becoming an engineer capable
of independent practice via mentoring provided
by successful senior engineers selected from the
employer’s organisation, or from outside bodies
such as BEM/IEM/ACEM. This sort of Master/
Student relationship benefits both the graduate
engineer and mentor, because it is satisfying to be
of service to engineering and it is noble to pass on
the right experiences.
The beauty of the WA’s OBE approach is
that “no one is left behind” – even those from
disadvantaged schools with borderline scores,
students from rural communities, or “late
bloomers” in our societies. It does not matter
if one graduated from an ivy league university
or a community college; no one should be left
48 VOL 81 JANUARY-MARCH 2020