Engineering Professional Practice (EPP)

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.

At UQ, all engineering students are required to complete 430 hours of Engineering Professional Practice (EPP), made up of a variety of mandatory and optional components which includes a mandatory industry placement. The industry placement must take place in an engineering environment and be under the direct supervision of a degree-qualified engineer. Students must complete a minimum of 225 industry placement hours. 

How can industry support? 

You can play a key role by offering quality engineering work experience opportunities – providing a supervised, engineering environment that helps students gain valuable skills and meet their graduation requirements.

EPP placements are flexible and self-sourced by students. These experiences can be completed at any time during a student’s degree – most commonly over university breaks. Simply advertise your opportunity and liaise directly with the student on timing and expectations.  

What makes an EPP placement successful? 

The student must be supervised by a degree qualified engineer and working in an engineering environment. 
The host organisation provides a broad mix of activities and tasks as it provides students with a greater insight into the breadth of skills and work required in engineering. This can include office, site and field work, consulting and project work, customer relations, administrative tasks, networking events, and observe practices such as organisation team meetings, design of review meetings and tender selection. 

We recommend you work closely with the student to understand their assessment requirements and assist in aligning tasks to support these requirements. 

Download our EPP placement guide.