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?

  1. Complete 450 hours of professional practice approved by the Faculty, and;
  2. 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:

Visit the activity table

450 hours of professional practice

Type A hours
Type B hours

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 professional practice activities.

*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

  • Up to 75 hours of paid work outside of an engineering environment may be claimed– i.e. working at Kmart or McDonalds. (Category 3)
  • Significant industry exposure through pre-approved UQ Courses (Category 5)
  • Up to 75 hours of tutoring at UQ may be claimed, including tutoring in a non-engineering course (category 4)
  • Up to 75 hours of engineering-related site visits may be claimed, approved site visits (category 6)
  • Up to 160 hours may be claimed through an approved study tour (category 9)

And much more!! 

Supervision Requirements: 

To claim Type A hours, you must be supervised by a professional engineer that 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. 

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 performing professional engineering services in Queensland as part of an internship or work experience must be directly supervised by a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) who takes full professional responsibility for the services as required under the Professional Engineers Act 2002. More information is available via the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland.
Students performing professional engineering services outside of Queensland should be aware of any similar Act or legislation. 

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 Policy. 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.