USQ Professional Skills Engineering Assignment 1: Competencies Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of professional skills in engineering, focusing on the competencies required by Engineers Australia, USQ graduate attributes, and the distinctions between hard and soft skills. The report examines the knowledge and skills base, engineering application ability, and professional and personal attributes essential for engineers. It also explores the qualities of a USQ graduate, Engineers Australia's generic attributes, and the importance of both hard and soft skills in the industry. Furthermore, the report delves into research on population and population growth, and its impact on engineering projects, including a discussion on team effectiveness in developing and sharing researched information. The report emphasizes the importance of ethical behavior, effective communication, and the ability to apply engineering principles to address complex challenges, such as those posed by population growth and resource management.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ENGINEERING
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PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ENGINEERING
Name
Institution Affiliation

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ENGINEERING 2
Professional Skills Engineering
Assignment 1: Portfolio 1: Reflection
1. Knowledge and Skills Base Competences
In Australia, as well as many other countries in the world, engineers are expected to
demonstrate high levels of competence before they are allowed to practice engineering. The
competencies they are expected to fulfill are outlined in the Engineer Australia- Chartered Status
Handbook (Canale, M, 2014). Professional engineers are expected to take responsibility for their
projects and programs (. In order to enable the engineers to bring together technical and non-
technical knowledge in the attempt to solve complex problems and manage risks, engineering
competence plays a critical role in the process. Knowledge and Skills Base competence consist
of, comprehensive, theory-based understanding of physical and natural disciplines related to the
engineering field, conceptual understanding information sciences and numerical skills which
reinforce the specific engineering discipline, in-depth understanding of specialist organs of the
engineering practice, knowledge of engineering contextual factors impacting design practice of
the discipline and perspicacity of information development and exploration guidelines within the
specific engineering field.
The first element of knowledge and skill base competence is comprehensive, theory-
based understanding of the underpinning physical and natural sciences and all the applicable
fundamentals in that specific engineering discipline (LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J, 2017).
For an engineer to indicate that he/she has this competence they have engaged with the specific
engineering discipline at a phenomenological level as well as apply engineering fundamentals

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and sciences to systematically investigate, analyze and innovate solutions to complex
engineering problems and other aspects of engineering.
The other element is In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge in
engineering. A competent engineer should adroitly apply advanced technical skills and
knowledge in at least one engineering specialist domain (.De Los Ríos-Carmen and
Lopez,. ,2015)A competent engineer should, therefore, identify one field of engineering and
specialize in it so that they can have a comprehensive understanding of all the principles
governing that specific discipline.
2. Engineering Application Ability Competence
Competent engineers should have the ability to apply all the technical and non-technical
knowledge as well as all the engineering principles applicable in the specific engineering
discipline (Saorín, J. L., & De La Torre-Cantero, J, 2017) . Engineering Application Ability has
two main elements namely application of established engineering methods in solving complex
problems and fluent application of engineering tools, techniques and resources.
An engineer can successfully demonstrate the application of established engineering
ability through various activities. The engineer should identify, characterize, predict
performance, determine and analyze causes and effects and apply simplifying assumptions in
developing sustainable conclusions (Takey, S. M., & de Carvalho, M. M., 2015). By diagnosing
and taking the suitable strategies with data and documented information the engineer will ensure
that all the project activities are based on fundamental engineering practices. The engineer
should research methods and research-based knowledge to investigate complex problems,
conceptualize all the alternative engineering approaches, and evaluate their potential outcomes in
problem solving.

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An engineer should have the competence to proficiently identify, select and apply the
components, materials, systems, resources and devices that are relevant to the specific
engineering discipline. The engineer should also demonstrate the ability to determine
engineering tool properties such as performance, safety working limits as well as failure modes
(Li, Z. H. U., Junhua, S. H. I., & Xiaozhou, L. I. A. N., 2017). The engineer should also design
and conduct experiments using the various appropriate tools and be able to analyze and interpret
the results using the fundamental engineering criteria. Planning and quantifying performance for
the full lifecycle of the project is also an ability that a qualified engineer should demonstrate as
they try to solve engineering problems.
3. Professional and Personal Attribute Competence
Professional and personal attribute competence is also a key element of any qualified
engineer in Australia (Carter, D. Alcott, B., & Lattuca, 2016). There are various elements of
professional and personal competence namely, ethical behavior and personal responsibility, in
effect written and oral communication in both formal and informal domain, innovative, creative
and proactive demeanor, professional management and use of information, effective team
contribution and leadership and finally orderly self-management and professional conduct
In order for an engineer to demonstrate personal accountability and ethical conduct, they
must indicate the commitment to uphold the Engineers Australia- Code of Ethics in all their
engineering projects (Lindberg, O., & Rantatalo, O., 2015). The engineer should observe of the
established engineering norms in the specific engineering discipline. He should also understand
the importance of certification and risk management mechanisms that are expected to be
observed. Accountability for other engineers and the safety of the environment is one of the
personal attributes a competent engineer should demonstrate in the process of solving any

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problem. He should also have and demonstrate knowledge of fundamental principles in rights of
property and protection.
A competent engineer in any engineering discipline in Australia should possess effective
written and oral communication skills in both formal and informal domain (Canale, M. (2014).
Effective communication is a critical tool for engineers to pass information about their project,
coordinating the various activities involved and promote good relationships with other team
members (Khairullina, E. R. & Masalimova, A. R, 2016). Good communication skills will also
boost the engineer's ability to acquire relevant information in the field about their project.
4. Qualities of a USQ Graduate
USQ policies have been established to provide guidelines on the development of curriculums
and facilitate proper learning and instill employability qualities and skills for bachelor degree
students. Every USQ graduate is expected to exhibit several qualities and meet certain standards
upon graduation (Kinash, S., & Dowling, D, 2015). The qualities of a USQ graduate consist of
discipline expertise, professionalism, global citizenship, scholarship and lifelong learning. The
graduates are trained to demonstrate and practice these qualities in various fields they trained in
including the various engineering disciplines.
In terms of professionalisms, the graduates should elaborately demonstrate the relevant
skills required for the students to participate in their chosen working environment. They should
observe the professional ethics governing their line of work (Gorodetskaya & Khramov, V. Y,
2015). Global citizenship requires the graduate to have the capability to connect the theory learnt
in the discipline and practice to promote the sustainability of economies, environments and
communities in a global point of view. Scholarship qualities require the graduate to have the urge

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and ability to make a scholarly contribution in their area of work and the society. The university
also expects that the graduates should pose lifelong autonomous learning skills upon graduation.
5. Engineers Australia's Generic Attribute of a Graduate
Engineering Australia is the national authority responsible for the accreditation of all
engineering programs in Australia. The authority provides guidelines for engineering educators
and curriculum developers to ensure the graduates have the required skills and knowledge for
them to practice engineering in Australia (Meenakshi, S., & Mohanty, S. (2015). The
accreditation criteria used by Engineers Australia are categorized into quality systems, the
academic program and the operating environment.
According to Engineers Australia, the generic attributes of an engineering student
include, underpinning knowledge of information systems, mathematics, physical sciences and
engineering fundamentals suitable to the learning discipline. Secondly, the ability to apply the
above to solve complex engineering and technology problems observation of all the engineering
codes and risk management systems included. A specialization in at least one engineering
discipline is one of the attributes. The other attribute is professional development such as
effective communication, leadership skills, strong team culture and proper information
management systems. Last but not least, application of engineering principles, ethics and
responsibilities of practicing engineering.
The Engineers Australia generic attributes of engineer graduates are mainly the qualities
that employers would desire to find in an engineering graduate in Australia. The attributes
concentrate enhancing competence in the various engineering disciplines in the country
(Thurner, Bottcher & Kamper, 2014). A graduate possessing these attributes will be competent

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enough to handle the complex engineering problems and promote the sustainability of
communities and the world at large.
6. Reflection on Researched Definitions of Hard and Soft Skills Desired by the Industry
The various skills possessed by graduates specifically engineering graduates can be
categorized into hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills refer to all the teachable skill that can also
be measured such as reading, typing and math while soft skills are not tangible and cannot be
quantified easily (Ramadi, E., & Nasr, K., 2016). Soft skills include how a graduate can get
along with others, etiquette and how they engage with other team members. There are
differences between these two categories of skills and it is a competent engineering graduate
should possess and have the ability to demonstrate them in their various projects.
For an engineering graduate to be good at hard skills they require IQ or smarts whereas
for soft skills all they require is EQ or let us say emotional intelligence. The hard skills can be
taught and learnt easily while the soft skills mainly depend on the personality of the individual
(Thomas & Day, 2014). Soft skills such as stress management, etiquette and self-confidence
depend on the emotional intelligence of the graduate. For hard skills, the rules stay constant even
if one moves from one company to another while soft skills can change depending on the people
we interact with and the company culture. For instance, the procedures for doing calculus would
not change if one moves from one company to another but the communication skills will have to
be adjusted to some extent depending on the new audience and existing communication
structures. Most of the soft skills cannot be learnt in school or from books but they are acquired
through experience and trial and error methods.
Both the hard skills and soft skills are equally important for graduate engineers. The hard
skills are an essential part of solving the complex engineering problems but the soft skills have to

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facilitate the problem-solving process (Holtkamp, Jokinen, & Pawlowski, 2015). Hard skills help
engineering graduates to learn and apply the fundamental engineering principles to solve
problems faced by the community and humanity at large. The engineering graduates are dealing
with human beings, therefore, soft skills play a role in how they relate to others and this
determines the success of their various projects.
7. Research on Population and Population Growth for Our Project
By the end of the 21st century, the population of the world is predicted to be about 9.5
billion and many engineers are concerned that we are heading inexorably to a point where the
earth natural resources will not be sufficient to sustain such a huge population. Population
growth increases the pressure on food production, energy supply, land use, the environment, the
climate and the infrastructure and this is a threat to the sustainability of humanity.
Many of these challenges can be overcome by successful application of existing
engineering proficiency all over the world. This is according to a report published by the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). The demand for water is expected to increase by
30 % by the year 2100. Augmented automation, mechanization, and application of innovations
can help remedy the situation. The project suggests building giant ponds to collect and hoard
rainwater to reload underground aquifers (Hurst, A., Jobidon, E., & Bedi, S, 2016). The planet is
covered with large water bodies and it would be ironical if water needs of the increased
population cannot be met (Chen, Sivakumar & Peart, 2016). The project suggests that engineers
should use developments in desalination technology to boost the utilization of the water covering
the earth surface. The technology can be used to refine the water and make it fit for human
consumption and that will make the population sustainable in terms of water needs.

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ENGINEERING 9
8. The effectiveness of Our Team in Developing and Sharing Researched Information for Our
Project
Population growth has been a key concern for engineers all over the world with the
rapidly increasing growth rates and it is therefore important to conduct thorough research on the
topic and share the information developed in the research. Teamwork is important since it brings
together a range of knowledge and skills for the common good of solving complex engineering
problems. The contribution of every team member is important in ensuring the project objectives
are met (Zamyatina & Mozgaleva, 2014). Our team was well coordinated in obtaining
information from various sources and good communication skills enabled an efficient sharing of
the information to all our team members. The project can only be a success with the collective
contribution of the team members and as it is required for engineering graduates to demonstrate a
strong team culture in their working environment.

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