Engineering professional practice
The Engineering accrediting body Engineers Australia, states that 'exposure to professional engineering practice is a key element in differentiating a professional engineering degree from an applied science degree' and requires engineering graduates to have exposure to professional practice.
Who is required to complete Engineering Professional Practice?
All UQ Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Master of Engineering and Master of Engineering students.
What am I required to complete to graduate?
- Complete 450 hours of professional practice approved by the Faculty, and;
- Satisfactorily complete five (5) reflections from your Engineering Professional Practice experiences, referring to the Engineers Australia competencies. See more information here: Reflection Assessment Writing guidelines;
The 450 hours of professional practice can be broken into two parts as outlined below:
450 hours of professional practice
Type A hours | Type B hours |
|---|---|
|
|
*you can claim all 450 hours (type A hours) in an engineering environment under the supervision of a Degree Qualified Engineer. 225 hours is the minimum amount of Type A hours you must attain. | Examples of what you can claim
And much more!! |
A minimum of 225 hours in an engineering environment under a degree qualified engineer to be claimed for Type A hours
Remaining hours can be made up of a range of allowable *A professional engineer is someone who is degree qualified in engineering. Supervisors that do not hold an engineering qualification but hold an equivalent or related qualification may be approved on a case-by-case basis by the Faculty. Email your request for approval to employability@eait.uq.edu.au
When completing hours in an engineering environment, students can undertake any type of engineering practice – i.e. the engineering work does not need to be in the same engineering discipline that you are studying. Engineering practice may be undertaken in Australia or overseas.
You cannot be supervised by a near relative or close associate as this would be a conflict of interest. Examples of near relatives are parents, partners and siblings. Examples of close associates are friends and neighbours.
Students who have undertaken industry placements or work experience as part of previous engineering degree or diploma studies may be able to claim these hours.
Students submitting official documentation in a language other than English to support an EPP claim in any category - need to submit the original document AND the English translated version (exact translation, not an extract). The translated document needs to be translated by a registered NAATI qualified translator and the translated version needs to have the NAATI stamp imprinted on the translated document. You can find a NAATI qualified translator here.
7. Submit reflections assessment
Submit your assessment via UQ Blackboard
Write your five (5) reflections in line with the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies as per the Reflection Assessment Writing guidelines; and,
Submit your reflections to Blackboard for marking. Refer to the Reflections Assessment Submission guide for instructions on downloading the EPP reflections template and submitting your reflections.
If you are having trouble downloading the template, we suggest trying to download the template on a Windows device as opposed to a Mac. Another option is to open the document in Google Docs or WordPad.
Please reach out to the EAIT Student Employability team if you have any issues downloading your reflections template.
Watch the video below on how to submit your assessment.
Students are reminded to familiarise themselves with PPL 3.60.04 Student Integrity and Misconduct and to ensure that all information submitted is accurate and all reflections are entirely the student’s own work, or sources are referenced appropriately.
EAIT Student Employability Team: Video 3: Submitting Reflections Assignment from UQ Communication & Arts on Vimeo.
Marking of reflections is managed by Schools; therefore, we are unable to advise when your assessment will be marked.
If you have submitted your assessment by the deadline, you can expect it to be marked with priority and in time for graduation checks. Time is allowed in the process to enable students to resubmit if needed to graduate on time.
If your assessment has been marked with a Pass, it will display on Blackboard. If your assessment has been marked with a Fail, you will need to re-write your reflections and re-submit until you receive a Pass. Our team will clear your attempt in Blackboard to enable you to resubmit.
A failure to reference the use of artificial intelligence (AI) may constitute misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct. This reflection task evaluates a student's ability, skills, and knowledge without the aid of AI. Students are advised that the use of AI technology to develop responses and reflections is strictly prohibited and failure to comply may constitute an investigation under the Student Academic Misconduct Policy.
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