Review. NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) Henri ANGELINO National Institute of Informatics ABSTRACT

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1 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) Review Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan Henri ANGELINO National Institute of Informatics ABSTRACT Rapid technological development, internationalization of enterprises and globalization of world economy impose to Nations to "produce" the best graduates, especially in science, technology and in economics. In particular companies are more inclined to recruit the best engineers and/or scientists whatever their nationality. For different reasons various Japanese organizations have proposed the establishment of an Integrated System to support Professional Development of Engineers (PDE). This system will cover engineering education, training and practice, professional certification and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). One of the targets is to have a national and an international recognition of the professional competences of Japanese engineers. Another target is to promote CPD to maintain engineers professional qualification and/or to give them the opportunity of career development by adding competences in different fields. In order to establish such modifications it has been decided to study what others Nations are doing in these fields and to propose "the Japanese way" which must integrated the cultural aspect of Japanese Society. This paper analyzes the situation in three European Countries, France, Germany and United Kingdom, having strong influence in the world economy. It also analyzes the recent evolution linked to the Bologna Declaration. [Keywords] Engineering education, Accreditation, Bologna Declaration, Continuing education, Engineers continuing professional development. 1 INTRODUCTION During the last decades there have been rapid changes in the world in Technology and Society: the technical knowledge doubled between 1750 and 1900, then between 1900 and 1950, nowadays it double every 5 years and in 2020 it will double every 72 days [1]! In USA each Graduate has to re-start his/her studies to obtain 30 credits every 7 years in order to keep his knowledge up to date. [2].The modern society to achieve its goal and its way of life relies heavily on engineers as they are responsible for the quality and the safety of everyday products the society uses: water, electricity, transports, protection of environment, information and communication technologies, etc. Modern society needs engineers who are qualified to assume such a role and responsibility. In Japan there have been in recent years some technological failures which were important enough to make the Japan Federation of Engineering Societies (JFES), the Science Council of Japan (SCJ), the Japan Society for Engineering Education (JSEE), to launch a brain storming on how to verify the quality of the education of engineers, how they maintain their competences and how to reestablish the confidence of the public into them. The JFES, which represents 104 engineering societies and more than members, has been involved in the preparation of different proposals to establish the Integrated System to support Professional Development of Engineers (PDE). This system will cover engineering education, training and practice, professional certification and Continuing Professional Development (CPD). As a conclusion two concrete measures have been taken: - Creation in November 1999 of the Japan Accredita- 81

2 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan tion Board for Engineering Education (JABEE) which has started to make accreditations. - Creation of a Professional Certificate in the frame of the new "Professional Engineers Law" which came into effect in April 2001, nowadays there are approximately Professional Engineers. The next step will be the CPD. This paper presents the results of a study that was made at the request of JFES and concerns Germany, France and United Kingdom. It must be reminded that in Europe there are two systems to obtain the engineer title. There is the system developed by some Europeans countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, etc) where the State (University or other Higher Education organism) takes the responsibility of the engineering education and of delivering a degree which allows the engineers to work immediately in industry with full responsibility: not only the degree gives "credibility" to the academic studies but moreover it recognizes a "professional qualification". In these countries the Profession accept the "new graduate engineer" as a "real engineer" and is not delivering any title. There is the case, Italy, where a "central body- Order" has responsibilities by law over registration into the "Order" and permission to practice and where a new formal "academic examination" takes place just after the graduation from University but under the control of the "Order". On the other hand there is the UK system in which the State (University) takes care of the education of the engineers, awarding an academic degree, but it is the profession after some practice in industry followed by a new exam that gives the title of engineer- e.g. Chartered Engineer- which in some case is necessary to be allowed to sign official documents for presenting a project. In some European countries, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, etc. there are two engineering degrees corresponding to two different educations, one more applied, the other more theoretical and corresponding to different sort of activities in industry. This paper will describe the present situation but it must be reminded that the organization of Higher Education in Europe is under modification following the Bologna Declaration in 1999 which has been signed by the Ministers of Education of 29 European countries (see Appendix 1). This Declaration is a pledge by the 29 signatory countries to reform their structures of higher education in a convergent way. This Declaration is viewed within Europe as a key document that marks a turning point in the development of European higher education including of course engineering education. 2 Case of GERMANY 2.1 Engineering studies in Germany- recent developments-. Germany has a Federal organization with 16 States or Landers. The responsibility of Education is at the Lander level. There is at the Federal level the "Federal Framework Act for Higher Education-HGR" sort of guideline giving the framework of curricula for all the studies in Germany including engineering studies. The HGR applies to the 16 Landers. In order to achieve the necessary harmonization there is also for the exams a more specific guide line the "Rahmenprufungsordnung" which has been passed by the "Association of Universities and Other Higher Education Institutions-HRK" and by the "Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Landers"-KMK- (Fig.1). These framework and guideline guarantee a specific common content and the standards and mutual recognition in Germany of the studies. The total duration of general studies in Germany before joining University is 13 years, one year more that in the majority of the others European countries. At the end of theses studies the pupils present the Abitur. For pupils more interested in practical and technological studies they go to different colleges and they obtain what is called the UNIVERSITIES FEDERAL STATE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (BMBF) FACHHOCHSCHULEN CONFERENCE OF RECTORS OF HIGHER EDUCATION (HRK) Fig 1 16 MINISTERS ISTERS OF EDUCATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS OF THE LAENDERS CONFERENCE OF THE MINISTERS OF EDUCATION and CULTURE (KMK) FEDERAL ACCREDITATION COUNCIL 07 ACCREDITATION AGENCIES (ZeVA, FIBAA, ASII, ACBC, ACQUIN, AHPGS,AQAS) Organizational Structures of Higher Education in Germany and the accreditation scheme 82

3 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) Fachhochschule 8 semesters incl. 2 semesters in industry 9 Diplom. Ingenieur (FH) 8 3 months Diplom Arbeit Universitat 10 semesters Diplom. Ingenieur 10 3 months Diplom.Arbeit Fachhochschulreife after 12 years of studies. There are in Germany two possibilities to obtain an engineering degree [3,4], either joining a "classical" University or joining a Fachhochschule (FH) -University of Applied Sciences- (Fig.2). Normally the students joining University have obtained the Abitur but actually nowadays 85 % of the students entering Universities have the Abitur and among those joining FH around 50% hold the Abitur. At University the duration of studies is 10 semesters, 4 semesters of general scientific education and an exam "Vordiplom". It is compulsory to pass it to be allowed to continue for 6 8 VORDIPLOM FachHoschulreife/ Abitur Abitur/ FachHoschulreife Fig. 2 Basic structures for engineering education in Germany semesters of more general scientific education and specialization. The last semester is dedicated to a specific project (Diplom-Arbeit). There is no practice in industry except 6 to 8 weeks before joining the University. The duration of studies at FH tend to be 8 semesters, 4 semesters of general scientific and technological education, including one semester of practice in industry with the Vordiplom to pass followed by 4 semesters including again one semester of practice in industry and 3 months for the Diplom-Arbeit. The figures for the duration, either at University or FH, are nominal but actually it is much more, 30 to 50 % more. In recent years in Germany as in others countries there has been a decrease in the number of students starting engineering studies. In Germany this phenomena began in 1990 (Fig.3 and Fig.4) [3] and some Departments have been amalgamated with others. Nowadays [3] it seems that this phenomena has stopped and since 1997 the total number of new entrants has increased 45,122 in 1997, 47,092 in 1998 and 49,025 in 1999 (Fig 3). The repartition between University and FH is almost the same over the years with 55 % in FH and 45 % in University. The number of female students entering engineering studies is increasing and was 10,689 in 1999, 21.8 % of the total, the number of male been 38, Number of diploms New Entrants Total graduates Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Ing. FH NUMBER OF STUDENTS Total Universities FH Fig. 3 Evolution of total number of Engineering degrees in Germany and of students starting engineering studies in University and FH Fig. 4 Evolution of total number of students in Germany in Engineering in University and FH 83

4 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan As far as evaluation and accreditation of engineering education is concerned there is not a special system for the "classical engineering degrees" that already existed since many years [4,5]. In the traditional system a University which intends to open a new curriculum send the "Studium und Prufungsordnung" to the Lander which will "evaluate" it, just to check if it is in the frame of the guideline. The project will be accepted or not. This system is usually very long and lack of flexibility. It is still valid in the case of the "traditional curricula" [5]. In 1997 and 1998, German industry organizations and German engineering professional associations (VDIassociation of engineers and VDE-association of electrical engineers) issued declarations supporting the concept of the bachelor-masters-doctoral (BMD) system for universities. The years 1998 and 1999 saw several milestones in the changes in engineering education in Germany [5-8]. Under the pressure of the industry, the economical sector, various engineers associations, specially VDI, and the resolution of the HRK, the Federal Framework Act for Higher Education was amended on August As a result of this amendment the German higher education institutions were allowed to introduce "international degrees" of Bachelor/Bakkalaureus and Master/Magister. These included pilot projects, changes in the federal and in the local legislation, adoption of regulations for engineering program accreditation, and adoption of the structure of new bachelor and master programs: - Both the bachelor and master degrees must qualify for an engineering profession. - The duration of the bachelor's program can be 3-4 years. - The duration of the masters' program can be 1-2 years. - The total duration of the combined bachelor-master degrees program must not exceed 5 years. - The masters' degree from either a University or a FH satisfies one of the requirements for admission to a doctoral program. The doctoral programs are limited to the traditional universities. The mains reasons for the creation of these new degrees were: - Increase the diversity of the curricula, giving more flexibility for interdisciplinary education. - Secure the quality of the content curricula. - Promote the transparency of the contents of the curricula for the students. - Reduce the length of the studies. - Satisfy more the needs of industry and the economical sector. - Attract more foreign students as the credit system (like ECTS) is compulsory for the new degrees, that will allow the student to obtain one degree in Germany and to continue the studies for Master degree in another country and vice versa. In the case of engineering studies the general structure of these new degrees, the qualification levels and qualification profiles are shown on figure 5. There are two possible profiles, more theory or more application. It is important to notice that both University and FH can apply for delivering a degree in Bachelor and in Master. This point is very important for the FH that in the traditional system cannot deliver the "Diplom- Ingenieur". It seems natural that University will propose degrees in the more theory oriented profile and FH in the more application profile. Some FH which have a strong commitment in research activities with the "ad hoc" staff could succeed in having a Master degree accredited [7]. It is also important to notice that these new degrees fit perfectly with the Bologna declaration. Since that possibility has been offered approximately 900/1000 Bachelor and Master degrees have been proposed, one third in Engineering and Informatics, one third in Natural Sciences, the rest in other domains [6-8]. To ensure the quality of the new degrees the HRK submitted a resolution to the KMK that was adopted, on December 3, The KMK decided to found, for a transient period of SECOND CYCLE 2 or 1 years DIPL. ING DEGREE or MASTER OF MASTER OF ENGINEERING SCIENCE FIRST BACHELOR DIPL. ING. (FH) CYCLE 3 or 4 years OF DEGREE SCIENCE BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING more theory oriented more application oriented Fig. 5 Qualification levels and profiles of the Bachelor and Master degrees in Engineering and Natural Sciences 84

5 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) three years, the Federal Accreditation Council (FAC) administrated by an office affiliated to HRK. The annual budget allocated was 350,000 DM/year or 178,600 Euros/year for the personnel and running cost. 2.2 The Federal Accreditation Council (Akkreditierungsrat) The members of the Federal Accreditation Council (FAC), fourteen in total, are four scientists, four members of the professional sector including representative of Trade Unions, two Rectors (one from University, one from FH), two students, two delegates representing the Landers [6,7]. The FAC is designed to be an umbrella organization governing, coordinating and organizing accreditation procedures. The accreditation will be conducted by independent Agencies and the role of the FAC is to accredit Agencies, which then themselves accredit degree courses. The accreditation of degrees will be given by the Agencies under the seal of the FAC. The FAC will act as a coordinator and critical observer of the work carried out by the accreditation agencies and will also function as a central documentation office to guaranty transparency with respect to compatibility and equivalency of study programs. The first task of the FAC was to create dimensions of quality according to which the proposed study courses should be evaluated and to establish criteria for the Agencies. The main criteria that have been quoted are: - Standards in respect of the quality and international compatibility of the curriculum. - Professional qualification of future graduates. - Assessment of the foreseeable developments in potential fields of occupation. - Details of staff resources. - Availability of premises. - In the case of Master's degree, student must hold, as prerequisite for admission, a first recognized degree. At the end of the transient period an international committee has evaluated the FAC and has recommended its renewal. On May 24, 2002 the KMK decided the renewal with a budget of 250,000 Euro /year.the KMK also decided a new organizational status that will come into force on January 1, There will be 16 members who will be elected for 4 years: 4 representatives from universities, 4 from Landers, 4 from industry, 2 students and 2 international members. Organizationally the FAC will be now associated to the KMK. 2.3 The Accreditation Agencies (AA) General Presentation To be accredited an AA must apply to the FAC providing different information: objectives, status, procedure to implement accreditation, details of the executive management, staff, procedure for recruiting experts, detail of the methodology (peer review,..), implementation of the accreditation process, external transparency, detail of the quality assurance procedures within the agency, etc. They must be institutionally independent, have adequate staffing facility and funding infrastructure reliability. They must bring together national and international competence (experts, procedures,.. ). The FAC will decide to accredit an Agency on the basis of the written document, hearing the applicant and if necessary an on-site inspection. The FAC will decide whether the Agency is accredited, or conditionally accredited subject to certain conditions or whether the accreditation is denied. The accreditation can be revoked at any time. The application for the accreditation of a new degree must contain information on the following points: - Justification for the proposal (objectives, professional qualification, innovation, regional requirements, international cooperation,..). - Structure of the degree program and its quality and content standards. - Infrastructure (staff, equipment for teaching and research,...). - Quality assurance measures. - Academic cooperation (national, international, double diploma...). Accreditation Agencies have the following tasks: - To verify the assessment and determination of conformity with formulated basic standards as well as ensuring the quality of study programs. - To take into account educational and training functions as well as the efficiency of the curricular design of programs especially with respect to employability of graduates and foreseeable developments in potential fields of labor market. - To establish information to provide transparency on the range of studies offered by Higher Education Institutions. 85

6 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan - To observe basic standards in the implementation of accreditation procedures. The process for accreditation is the following: - Application of the University to an accredited Agency. - The accreditation commission of the Agency assembles a team of experts. - The University prepares the files. - The peer group evaluates the report. - The peer group visits the university. - The peer group writes a report which is transmitted to the University which can improve if necessary the project. - The final report is sent to the accreditation commission that will decide an accreditation under the Seal of the FAC, without restriction (6 years maximum) or a preliminary accreditation (3 years) or reject the project. The AA must inform without delay the FAC of their decision and must submit an annual report. Nowadays there are seven accredited agencies, some are "thematic", others cover all the fields, some benefit from the financial support from Landers, others not. The list includes in the field of Engineering and Natural Sciences : - ZeVA, which is the oldest one that existed before the new system was enforced and is supported by the Hanover Lander, it covers all the disciplines including social sciences. - ASII Accreditation Agency for Study Program in Engineering and Informatics. - A-CBC Accreditation Agency for Study Program in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering in University and University of Applied Sciences. - ACQUIN supported by the Landers from South Germany, Bayern, Thuringen, Bade-Wurtemberg, Saxen, and which covers all disciplines. - AQAS, which has been founded at the initiative of the Landers of Rheinland-Pfalz and Nordrhein-Westfalen and which covers all disciplines Accreditation Agency for Study Program in Engineering and Informatics - ASII - The Accreditation Agency for Study Program in Engineering and Informatics (ASII) was founded in Frankfurt on August 19, 1999 by VDI, the most important German Association of engineers, 126,000 members, with the collaboration of industrial federations, technical-scientific associations, representatives of the Technical Universities, in particular the former members of AVI -Accreditation Committee of German Technical Universities-, and of the Applied Sciences Universities FH [8] It was accredited by the FAC on June 5,2000. ASII accredits Bachelor and Master study programs mainly in engineering science and informatics (computer science) but also interdisciplinary combinations of these subjects with biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and economics. There are in the ASII four members groups (Fig. 6): - Technical and scientific associations and trade organizations, fifteen in total including VDI, VDL Federal Association for Agriculture, Food, Environment, etc. - Industrial Federations like IG Metall, VDA for cars manufacturing, Bitkom for informatics and telecommunications, ZVEI for electrical and electronics. - The coordination group of FH. - AVI, the Accreditation Committee of German Technical Universities. The annual fee for membership is 2,550 Euros. ASII (Fig.6) is directed by a Board that consists of Accreditation Committee AVI (University) General Assembly Coordination Group (FH) BOARD 8 Members Industrial Federations Each Member Group nominates 2 persons to the Board Technical Committees 1/3 each representatives from Universities, FH, Industry Fig.6 Accreditation Commission 1/3 each representatives from Universities, FH, Industry Tech. Scient. Associations and Trade Organizations Audit Team (1000 experts) ASII Organization Chart 86

7 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) height people, each member group appointing two persons for three years. The Board appoints an Accreditation Commission of twenty-two members including two international consultants and one student. The specialists, representatives of Technical Universities, FH and Industry are in equal proportion. The Accreditation Commission sets up Technical Committees for Mechanical Engineering/Process Engineering, Civil Engineering/Surveying, Electrical Engineering/Information Technology, Industrial Engineering, Informatics, Physics Technologies/Materials and Process Engineering, Information Management, Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences. Each Technical Committees include 1/3 of representatives of Universities, of FH and of Industry. They also include one student. When an Institution submits an application for accreditation, the Accreditation Commission appoints an Audit Team of 4-5 experts (auditors) selected among their pool of experts (1000 people). The auditors will: - Check the application. - Pay an on-site visit to the Institution. - Prepare a report based on the application documents and their on-site visit. The report is sent to the Institution that can make comments to avoid discrepancies or misunderstanding, then the final report is prepared and sent to the Accreditation Commission and to the corresponding Technical Committee. The Accreditation Commission will take the decision and inform the Institution. If one of the four groups of the Accreditation Commission is against the accreditation, the accreditation shall be denied. Accreditation can be granted for 4-5 years and re-accreditation can be granted for 6-8 years. The cost for an accreditation is 12,800 Euros and 10 members 20 members 07 members / group 100 experts ACCREDITATION COUNCIL BOARD OF THE AGENCY ACCREDITATION COMMISSION TECHNICAL COMMITTEES POOL OF EXTERNAL EXPERTS HEADQUARTERS STAFF officers Fig. 7 Organization Chart of the Agency A-CBC the accreditation process will take 3 to 4 months Accreditation Agency for Study Program in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Engineering in University and University of Applied Sciences A-CBC. This agency [9] was launched by the Assembly of Deans of Faculty of Chemistry. It is located in Frankfurt in the German Association of Research and Industrial Chemists that strongly helps it. The way A-CBC is organized and works (Fig 7) is very similar to ASII organization and methods. To perform the accreditation they use a questionnaire that is similar to ASII, 50 % is the same and the other 50% is specific. The Board of A-CBC includes ten people, the Accreditation Commission, twenty people. The pool of experts is composed of 100 people, 60 from higher education institutions and 40 from industry. In the "Audit Team" there are always seven experts with 4 professors, one person from industry, one from socio-economical sector and one student. In case the degree is presented by a University 3 professors are from Universities and one from FH, if a FH presents the degree 3 professors are from FH. The Audit Team prepares the report giving marks to the different topics: 300 points is the maximum points a project can receive. To be accredited 150 points minimum are necessary but for some topics there are minimum mark. The Audit Team reports to the Accreditation Commission. In case 2 members of the Accreditation Commission are against the accreditation the accreditation shall be denied. The A-CBC are prepared to extent their domain of competence and to change their name into Agency for Natural Sciences, Informatics and Mathematics (ANIM) Conclusion It seems that the new Bachelor degrees will fit the need of Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME) and part of the need of large enterprises and Master degrees will be convenient for large enterprises. Lastly new interdisciplinary degrees including part of management can be offered to engineers, subject which is almost absent in traditional curricula. Moreover these new degrees could be attractive for lifelong learning for engineers. The general impression is that in few years, 5-7 years, the new degrees will be the reference in Germany and that the "traditional Curricula" will certainly have to be accredited by the Agencies. 87

8 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan 2.4 Some aspects of engineer career development in industry In Germany the only title necessary to work industry as an engineer is the academic title "Diplom-Ingenieur" which is awarded by Universities or FH. After that no additional title is necessary, there is no Professional Certification (PC) and no organized Continuing Professional Development (CPD). VDI and the others engineering associations propose many seminars/ workshops/ courses for engineers either on technical aspects or in management aspects but it is on an individual registration base and there is no degree that can be awarded. In fact each large enterprise develops its own PC and its own CPD. That exist for instance in the chemical industry BASF [10] (103,273 employees of which 68,861 in Germany), in the mechanical industry MAN [11] (70,000 employees) and in the information and communication industry SIEMENS [12] (460,000 employees of which 185,700 in Germany). These companies recruit engineers graduate either from Technical University 50 % or from FH 50%, according to the position that is vacant. For their R&D Department they recruit mainly Ph. D graduate and sometime engineers graduate from Technical University. Their attitude concerning the new degrees, Bachelor and Master, is very clear: they will consider recruiting Bachelor for more applied activities and Master for positions where more theoretical and also skill and "technical nature" is needed. In the case of SIEMENS there are in Germany 50,700 graduates from Higher Education (28% of the total work force) and among them 85 % are engineers (50% FH), 50% are electrical engineers, 15% mechanical engineers, 10% Informatics. Due to the lack of engineers in Germany the three companies have recruited foreigners, especially for R&D activities (BASF 15 %, MAN 8-10 %.). There are many similarities in the way these companies [10-12] are taking care of the career development of their engineers. There is no formal "trainee" program but when the new engineer joins the company he will have a "mentor" or a "coach" who will help him in his work for a period of six months to two years or more, that will depend on each individual. At the same time and sometime for a longer period, 3-5 years (BASF), he will have to lesson to different seminars about the company itself, safety, marketing, organization of the work, management, how to work in team, etc. In all the companies the "internal CPD" is based essentially on annual individual interview between the engineer and his direct supervisor. The three companies have a specific Department for Continuing Education that organizes the seminars. The speakers are quite often from the company but this Department may have agreement with some Universities and invites University speakers on a regular base. In the three enterprises there is a special program for the engineers with "high potential". This special program is developed mainly inside the company with the participation when necessary of speakers outside the company. In the case of SIEMENS they select each year 100 engineers that they send to their "SIEMENS Graduate Program". In the case of BASF and SIEMENS there is the possibility for a researcher to be promoted without leaving the R&D activities and to reach a very high position in the company (Senior Vice-President or Scientific Director). 2.5 Conclusion In Germany until recently there was no accreditation, just a habilitation by the Lander. In anticipation to the "Bologna Declaration" the German Universities have launched new "international degrees" Bachelor and Master and a new system of accreditation has been enforced. The development is very impressive and certainly in a few years from now, 8-10 years, the new degrees will be the majority. This system offers many advantages on the international aspect either for exchange of undergraduates or for the professional activities. There is neither a formal Professional Certification with a title of Professional Engineer nor an organized Continuing Professional Development but each large enterprise has its own system to maintain and to increase the competence of its engineers. 3 CASE of FRANCE 3.1 Engineering Studies in France The total duration of general studies in France before joining Higher Education or University is 12 years. At the end of these studies there is a national examination and those who pass it obtain the "Baccalaureat" (Bac), which gives the students the right to go to University without any other examination. Over the years the number of pupils passing the "Bac" has regularly increased and more impor- 88

9 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) tant, the proportion of "Scientific" also (Fig.8) [13]. In case a candidate is interested in technological and engineering studies he must have obtained a scientific "Bac". The system for engineering is known as the "Grandes Ecoles" system: there is always a selection. This system, born at the end of the eighteenth century, was independent from traditional universities and responded to a precise need, that of training top industrial and administrative managers. Nowadays over 60% of the managing directors and chief executives of France's 100 largest firms hold degrees from these Schools. The title of engineer in France is obtained after 5 years of Higher Education in an engineering school that, in the majority of the cases is outside the University even if in recent years some Schools have started inside the university (Fig.9). The School has to be accredited by the "Commission des Titres d'ingenieur"- French Accreditation Board for Engineer Titles ( CTI) and the degree is "Ingenieur diplomé de.." ( Engineer Graduated from...) followed by the name of the School. Law protects the title. There is no Professional Engineer. Different systems to joint one of the engineering schools exist but all are very selective: the candidate must have obtained the "Bac" with major in sciences and honors and there is always a national competitive entrance examination. This entrance examination may take place just after the "Bac" on the base of the results obtained at the "Bac" plus an interview with a jury. It may also take place after two years of Higher Education in university. The other possibility, the oldest one, consists in a "heavy" training in mathematics and physics, in Special Classes, "Classes Preparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles" -CPEG-, during at least two years after the "Bac", to prepare first a written national competitive examination, then follow, for those who passed, by an oral examination to joint one of the engineering schools. If the student joins the School just after the "Bac", (e.g. Institut National des Sciences Appliquees- INSA-, Universite de Technologie de Compiegne -UTC) the two first years are led inside the School where he receives a general education mainly in natural sciences. After these two years he chooses a specialty and he will spend 3 years in a Department. In the case of CPGE system, the student who is accepted in an engineering school will spend 3 years in the School. In France industrial train- +9 After Bac rd cycle Professional Life Professional Life Doctorate Ph. D or Prof. Life Diplom. Ingenieur nd Cycle Magistere DESS DEA Maitrise MST/ MIAGE DRT IUP University Engineering Schools Engineering School Five Years Engineering School Professional Life Year 1 st Cycle DEUST DEUG 1 st year orientation CPGE IUT / BTS Fig 8 Evolution of the Number of Scientifics Baccalaureats and Engineering degrees (From CEFI) Life Sciences Maths, Physics Industrial Technology Total Engineering Degrees DESS:Diplome d Etudes Superieures Specialisees IUP:Institut Universitaire Professionnel DEA:Diplome d Etudes Approfondies IUT :Institut Universitaire de Technologie MST:Maitrise des Sciences et Techniques BTS: Brevet de Technicien Superieur DRT:Diplome de Recherche Technologique Fig. 9 Selection/ National Competitive Examination Technological and Engineering Education in France 89

10 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan ing or "internship" is compulsory during the engineering education, the last internship takes place during the final year and can represent up to 8 months, the total during the 3 last years is 6 to 12 months. The total number of students in engineering schools [14-16] (Fig. 10) has increased over the years between 1980/81 and 2000/2001 mainly because of the increase of students in engineering schools inside universities and in private engineering schools. The average increase was 4.8 % in engineering schools inside the universities, 4.3% in private engineering schools, 3.7 % in other Ministry of National Education (MEN) engineering schools and only 3.2 % in others Ministries engineering schools. Nowadays less than 50% of the new graduated have followed the CPGE system. There were 89,310 students registered in engineering schools in 2000/2001 and the number of female students was 23.1 %. In 2000 there was a small decrease of students entering engineering schools, 1.6 %. There is also a wide spread system in France of Continuing Education that covers all levels of education and allows progression in the rank of formal qualification and leading to the title of "engineer". The oldest system is the 100,000 "Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers- CNAM", but other possibilities for engineering degrees have been developed recently, beginning of the 90, with the support of industry: Nouvelles Formations d'ingenieurs-nfi- (New Engineering Formation) where periods in School alternate with periods of training in industry. The most famous is the "Institut des Techniques des Ingenieurs de l'industrie"- ITII- that nowadays graduate approximately 1100 engineers per year with the support of the Federation of Metallurgy [17,18]. Due to the alternately periods in School and in Industry the ITII are more of the "inductive education system" than of the "deductive education system". In 2000 [14,15] 28,730 engineers were graduated in France, 15,044 from MEN's schools, 4,132 from others Ministries'schools (Defense, Industry, Agriculture..), 6,333 from private schools. The majority of the rest have followed a special system of education either being already working in industry and promoted through lifelong learning (e.g. CNAM) or receiving academic education in NFI. On figure 11 the evolution of the flux of new Graduate engineers shows that there is a regular increase. In 2000 the number of female graduate was 5,600, they represented 22.8 % in 1999, they were only 3,000 in In France Graduates from a specific engineering school 90,000 80,000 70,000 60,000 Students 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10, / / / / / / / / /2001 Academic Years MEN/University Eng. Schools Others Ministries total MEN/Eng. SchoolsOutside Universities Private Eng. Schools Fig. 10 Evolution of the total numbers of Students in Engineering Schools (New Engineering Schools excluded # 5,895 in 2000/2001) Engineering Degree Curve showing 4.2 % increase Deviation to average increase Fig. 11 Evolution of the flux of new graduated Engineers( from CEFI) 90

11 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) normally register in the Association of that specific School which is sometime quite powerful in helping their members. Each Association is Member of the "Conseil National des Ingenieurs et Scientifiques de France" (CNISF- National Council of Engineers and Scientists of France). In its last study concerning the engineers' salaries and positions, CNISF [19] mentioned that on December 2000 they were 493,300 engineers registered in various Associations, and among them 34,000 were working abroad, 6.9 % of the total. The engineers working abroad were mainly in USA, 16.3 %, UK 11.8%, Germany 10.7 %, only 1.8 % in Japan. Among the total number of engineers, 96,000 have worked abroad. The proportion of female is increasing, their represents 16% of CNISF members. It must be quoted that 5.5% of the 28,400 engineers who answered have received their degree through lifelong learning. Due to the Bologna Declaration and the "implementation" of the "3-5-8 system" some changes are underway and universities are adapting their curricula. It is sure that for the engineering schools recruiting after "Classes Preparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles"- CPGE-, there are difficulties to adapt their curricula as the students are not inside the School during the two first years. In the case of some engineering schools, e.g. INSA or UTC, as they have the students during the 5 years it is easier to manage and for instance starting in October 2002, INSA Toulouse [20] will have that system running. On the other hand the MEN is implementing a new degree, the "Mastaire", which will be prepared between the 3rd and the 5th year and will need 120 ECTS, 30 per "semester" [16]. The project has been approved by the "Conseil National de l'enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche"-CNESR-, February 5, The MEN is now trying to obtain the degree to be called "Master". 3.2 The Accreditation system: the "Commission des Titres d'ingenieur"- French Accreditation Board for Engineer Titles- (CTI) The accreditation system exists since 1934 and it was the law of July 10, 1934 that created the accreditation organism called the "Commission des Titres d'ingenieur" (CTI). The CTI has 32 members. Its composition (Fig. 12) includes representatives of the different sectors concerned with the formation of engineers, MEN but also others Ministries where engineering schools exist (Defense, Industry, Agriculture...), representatives of professional activities and representatives of Engineers Associations and Trade Unions. There is parity between the numbers of representatives in charge of education of engineers and the representatives of employees of the industrial sector, including Trade Unions and Engineers Associations [20-22]. The members are appointed for 4 years term and can be renewed ounce. The CTI is an official commission, autonomous, but financially supported by the MEN. The budget [16] includes a direct financial support, around 45,800 Euros per year, and the MEN pay all the expenses of the auditors for travels and lodging: in total that represents around 153,000 Euros per year. Recently, according to the strategy proposed by the CTI itself to the MEN, the CTI received the new mission of a systematic assessment of all engineering curricula on a six years basis: the accreditation is now limited in time. As a consequence the La Commission des Titres d Ingenieur d (CTI) Accreditation Board of Engineer Titles Law July 1934 Main Characteristic : Parity between Education and Industry representatives Total 32 members Academics from Representatives of Ministry of Education Industry Employers Representatives of Representatives of Others Ministries and Eng. Associations Private Eng. Schools and Trade Unions Plus 32 experts Missions Accreditation of New Eng. Curricula Assess periodically existing Curricula ( 6 years basis) Participate in any prospective work about engineering education Fig.12 Presentation of CTI ( from ref 21) 91

12 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan "work" increased and 32 experts have been appointed but they are not "full" members of the CTI. They will take part in the assessment visits but not on the final decision of accreditation. The aim of the CTI is to assess curricula - not to assess Institution as a whole: - Assess periodically existing engineering curricula; this assessment is now on a six years basis. - Assess curricula, whenever requested, awarded by foreign institutions and recognize to their degrees equivalence as regards French standards. - Take part to any prospective work about engineering education and future evolutions. The criteria used by evaluators are made public through a publication of CTI named "References and Orientations" so that any Institution is aware of the requirements. The criteria used by CTI are: - General presentation of the project. - Pedagogic project. - Human resources and scientific environment. - Finance, equipment and premises. The accreditation process comprises the following steps: - The School prepares the documents and sends them to the CTI. - An audit team is designed (there are minimum 2 members one from education one from industry, quite often there are 3 members). - The audit team makes an on site visit. - The audit team prepares a report that is presented for discussion to the CTI in full session. - After discussion the CTI votes to take a decision. If the Institution is a public one the report is transmitted to the appropriate Ministry, the CTI is thus consultative but since its creation, the Ministry has decided according to the suggestions of the CTI. In case the Institution is private then the decision of the CTI is directly applicable. Nowadays the accreditation is given for 6 years maximum, 129 among 168-audit in recent years. Some accreditation are given for 3 years with improvement to be done (29/168). In case there are important problems the accreditation is given for 1 or 2 years (10/168). Nowadays four foreign Institutions have been accredited by the CTI: in Switzerland Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, of Zurich, in Germany, Karslruhe University in Chemical Engineering and in Bulgaria the Francophone Engineering School of Sofia. Some discussions are going on with Vietnamese Institutions. 3.3 Some aspects of engineer career development in industry The title of "Ingenieur Diplomé de..." is a professional title and like in Germany there is no other professional title. The exercise of an engineering profession is neither controlled nor regulated by French laws. Only the title of "Ingenieur diplomé de..." is controlled and protected by law but the usual naming of "engineer" is not. There is no Professional Certification (PC) and no organized Continuing Professional Development (CPD) but, in France, there is a law that obliges, since 1993, the enterprises to spend at least 1.5 % of their payroll for Continuing Education of their personnel, not only for engineers. They can deduce the amount from the benefits. Actually the enterprises spend more [23], it was 3.22 % in average in There are some differences according to the size of the enterprises, 4.22% for enterprises with more than 2,000 employees and much less for SME, only 1.84 % for less than 19 employees up to 2.99 % for enterprises employing between 250 and 499 people. If the enterprise is IT or R&D oriented it is also much more: e.g. BULL [24], 5 to 6 %, STMicroelectronics [25], 6 % trip expenses non included, Rhodia R&D 6.7%. The total amount which was spent in 1999 by the enterprises was around 7 billions euros. In fact CPD is mandatory for engineers to maintaining their technical competences and it is not necessary to oblige engineers to do Continuing Education [26]. Almost all the main engineering schools or National Polytechnic Institutes have developed their own Center for lifelong learning (See for Instance INP Grenoble, INP Nancy, INP Toulouse) [27].According to F. Tailly [22], Xavier Karcher, the President of CNISF, always tells to Directors of Engineering Schools " teach your students how to learn and develop their modesty so they will know they have to learn more". In general the large enterprises have their own Center and the "CPD" is intra-enterprise: BULL Center in Paris, Motorola European School, France Electricity/Gas Authority-EDF/GDF-,etc. Quite often the Center has agreement(s) with University(ies) sometimes not, like the European Space Company Astrium because of confidentiality. The Centers are sometimes called "University" 92

13 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) (e.g ST University in Aix en Provence, Thomson University,..). The " trainee or coach system" in French enterprises seems less developed than in Germany, certainly because each graduated has already been in industry for minimum 6 months. In the case of engineers with "high potential" it is like in Germany, the enterprise (BULL, ST Microelectronics, enterprises members of IUMM,...) will ask them to follow special training in management, communication...they have also to take some position abroad, in average spend 3 years out of 10 years abroad. Some tentative have been made to use Distance Learning or "elearning" but some users said [26] it is expensive for the company which has to buy the ready made modules or to ask for special production. In the case of ready-made modules the engineer has to receive the permission to buy them. Moreover tutoring is compulsory at least ounce per month plus telephone contacts: "on line provide you information but not formation, formation needs personal contacts" [26]. 3.4 Conclusion In France the undergraduate in an engineering school has to do "internship" for minimum 6 months in industry and quite often 8 to 9 months. The title of "Ingenieur Diplomé de...", followed with the name of the School, is a "professional" title that allows to work directly in Industry and to register in an Engineering Association. Like in Germany there is no other professional title or Professional Certification. The CNISF in February 1998 decided to create the "Repertoire Francais des Ingenieurs" (Directory of the French Engineers) in order to give an unique reference concerning the qualifications of an engineer gained through academic education and/or professional practice: all the engineers graduate from an engineering school accredited by the CTI are entitled to be on that Directory. For others engineers they must be sponsored by two members and their demand are sent to one of the referenced CNISF's Association that will investigate the demand and decide or not to transmit it to the "National Admission Committee". There are 18 members in the National Admission Committee, 6 represent engineers and scientists, 6 engineering schools, 6 employers bodies. An agreement [42] has been signed on December 18, 2000 between, CNISF, the Engineering Council in UK and the ALBO in Italy: all the registered on the French "Directory" are considered as Chartered Engineer in UK and can work as engineers in Italy There is also an agreement between the Canadian Association of Engineers and CTI- CNISF: a Professional Engineer from Canada can be on the CNISF Register and a French "Ingenieur Diplomé de.." is considered as a Professional Engineer in Canada. Furthermore some discussion is in progress with Germany. There is no Continuing Professional Development but it is up to each engineer to maintain and develop his competences. There is a Law that obliges the enterprises to spend minimum 1.5 % of their annual payroll for Continuing Education of their employees but in fact they spend in average 3.22 %. In that frame many large enterprises have developed their own "Formation Center" that they call sometime "University" to give "CPD" to their employees. Quite often they have an agreement with Higher Education Institutions. 4 Case of UNITED KINGDOM 4.1 Engineering studies and professional title in UK The situation in UK is totally different from Germany and France: there is an "Academic degree" given by an University and a "Professional Title", given by the Engineering Council ( Eng.C.): the Academic degree is not sufficient to sign any "official document", as for Civil Engineering to answer a call for tender. The Engineering Council [28] was established in November 1981, "for the advancement of education and the promotion of the science and practice of engineering, including relevant technology, to the public benefit and thereby to promote industry and commerce in the UK". Actually the Eng.C sub-contracts the Accreditation to different professional bodies, the "Nominated Bodies" which are authorized to nominate individuals who have satisfied registration criteria for entry the Engineering Council's Register. There are three grades of engineers in the Eng.C Register: Chartered Engineer (C.Eng), Incorporated Engineers (I.Eng) and Engineering Technician ( Eng.Tech). The Accreditation system works in three steps: - In the first step the Eng.C evaluates the demand of a Body to be accredited and will decide to give, or not, the Certificate of Nomination and Licensing, detailing 93

14 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan entry on the Eng.C list of nominated and Licensed Bodies. The evaluations concern each section of the Register, C.Eng, I.Eng, and Eng.Tech. The certification as a Nominated or Licensed Body is for maximum 5 years. The Institution can be "accredited" for less than 5 years in some domains or totally denied in some. Nowadays there are 36 "Nominated Body" licensed for 5 years and 3 are under investigation for administrative reasons [28]. - The second step is the Accreditation by a Nominated Body of the Curriculum proposed by a University. The 36 Nominated Bodies correspond to different fields: Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), of Civil Engineers (ICE), of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).., The Institute of Acoustics, The Institute of Physics, etc. - The final step will be the "accreditation" of the individual by a Nominated Body to be on the Register of the Eng.C. In UK, except Scotland, the pupils joint the Higher Education system after 13 years of previous studies. Formerly in case he wanted to study Engineering, he had to register for a Bachelor Degree. After receiving his Academic degree with Honors he had to do "Structured Training" while already working and then a "Responsible Experience". In total normally that included more academic learning and professional activities for 2 plus to 2 years. After that he could apply to the registration on the Register of the Engineering Council. He must first become members of an Engineering Institution recognized by the Engineering Council. To apply he must follow the rules defined in the "Standards and Routes to Registration-SARTOR-" which is published by the Eng.C with the agreement of the Institutions. This "pathway" has been changed some years after the Polytechnic Institutions have been transformed into Universities (1992). Under the "pressure" of the Royal Academy of Engineering [29] and of the Engineering Council it has been decided to change the rules for registration. After acceptation by the various Nominated Bodies, the new "SARTOR " [30] has been published. This edition announces raised standards for registration as, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, and Engineering Technician. For instance it is now compulsory for Chartered Engineers to have succeeded as the educational base in a four years' academic program study instead of three. The requirement can be met by a 4-year accredited M.Eng degree or equally by a 3-year accredited B.Eng (Hons) degree plus a "Matching Section"(Fig.13). All these degrees must have been obtained in an "accredited" curriculum in university. To be accredited by an Institution there are rules for the students intake: for a Master program minimum 80 % of the intake must have obtained 24 points UCAS (A= 10 points, B= 8 points, C= 6 points...), for a Bachelor program it is 18 points UCAS. Moreover to be accepted as a student in a Civil engineering program en "A" level in mathematics is compulsory. In his application for registration in an Institution the candidate has to provide evidence of: - A satisfactory Educational Base - preferably by means of an accredited course. - Initial Professional Development (IPD) - preferably by means of an accredited program involving the building of competence and professional breadth inclusive of the business aspects of engineering -. - A Professional Review (PR), an assessment of competence and commitment. The competence achieved through IPD is demonstrated and assessed in a more stringent Professional Review process, the final step Final Test of Competence and Commitment Educational Base Entry Standards Figure 13 Continuing Professional Development Professional Review with Interview Initial Professional Development Accredited M.Eng degree Course 4 years Specified entry requirement for 80% of intake 24 UCAS Final Stage Registration Chartered Engineer (C.Eng) Professional Review with Interview Initial Professional Development Matching Section (Further Learning) Interim Registration Accredited B.Eng (Hons) degree course 3 years Exemplifying Specified entry requirement for 80% of intake 18 UCAS Benchmark Routes for Chartered Engineer From SARTOR 1997, 94

15 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) before registration. The assessment will be based on evidence of professional competence set against agreed criteria for the type of work. This will require a written report from the candidate and an in-depth interview by two suitably qualified Chartered or Incorporated Engineers, for C.Eng or I.Eng candidates. The Professional Review will require the candidate to demonstrate a commitment to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and to the Code of Conduct and relevant Codes of Practice. SARTOR 1997, made significant changes, which have been put into force in 1999, to the requirements for Professional Development: - The integrated process of Initial Professional Development (IPD) has replaced the former separate stages of training and responsible experience. - Activities with minimum time periods have been changed into the achievement of outputs defined by competence and commitment statements. - Responsibility has been placed on individual engineers to provide evidence of their competence, and of their commitment to professional conduct and continuous improvement. - CPD, as evidence of commitment, has become a clear obligation through a CPD Code of Practice. In the frame of SARTOR it is explained that Professional Development is seen now as a continuous process of learning and improvement. Early in an engineer's career the development is focused on the need to acquire competence and commitment, in particular to qualify as a professional. After this the focus changes to enhancing competence and acquiring relevant other competences in response to job demands and personal aspirations, using learning to open up opportunities for career advancement and business success. 4.2 The accreditation system of engineering curriculum The following description [31] corresponds to the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE); it is practically the same for the others Institutions [32,33]. At the reception of the demand the Institution appoints a panel of 5/6 members including representatives of Industry, of Academia and one "official" representative of the IEE. The panel will pay an on site visit. The "panel" first meet half day with all the documents to establish a "short list audit/questionnaire" that is given to the Staff of the Department. Next day there is a meeting between the "panel" and the Staff to discuss the "short list questionnaire". After that meeting the "panel" will interview students and visit the facilities. At the end of the visit the "panel" meet again to prepare the "audit report". The report is very structured with 10 sub-compartments with grades from 1 to maximum 4 according to the recommendations of the National Agency for Quality in Higher Education (Quality Assurance Agency-QAA). If there are only "4 mark", the course will be accredited for 5 years. If there is any "3 mark" the accreditation will be given for 3 years and the Department has to prepare an Action Plan to be produced in 90 days. If there is any "2 mark" the requirements are more stringent and normally a new visit will take place in the next 6 months. The accreditation could be given for 1 or 2 years. Quite often the IEE works together with the IMechE and the on site visit takes place with representatives of IMechE [31]. The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has an "Accreditation Joint Board of Moderators" together with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers- CIBSE- and the Institution of Structural Engineers [33]. This Board includes 45 members, 50 % from Academia, and 50 % from Industry, 5 members represent the CIBSE, the others are shared between the two others Institutions. To accredit a course the normal cycle of visit on site is 5 years but in the case of a new curriculum the visit will take place at the first graduation. The panel report to the Accreditation Joint Board. The number of enrolment for B.Eng in civil engineering has dropped by half in recent years but has increased for M.Eng. 4.3 Engineers in UK In UK, as in France and Germany, there has been an important increase of the pupils joining Higher Education in the last decade, from 158,791 in 1990, to 281,809, rising from 19.0 % to 38 % of the 18 years old population in At the same time, after a strong increase in the numbers of students interested in engineering [34], there was a sharp decrease. Graduate "input" in engineering and technology disciplines went up by 63 % from 1988, about 13,640 to 21,315 in 1993 (fig. 14), then started to decrease sharply reaching around 16,000 in 1999 and 15,452 in 95

16 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan In 1988 engineering new applicants represented 11.4 % of the total new applicants, 9.3 % in 1993 only 5.7 % in 1999 and 5.2 % in At the same time the number of new applicants in Computing increased very much, 4,170 in 1988, 3.5 % of the total new applicants, 8,842 in 1993, 3.8 % of total new applicants, 16,227 in 1999, 5.9 % of total new applicants and 20,335 in 2001, 6.8 % of total new applicants. The proportion of female students in Computing increased regularly from 13.3 % in 1988 to 17.5 % in 1993 and 18.4 % in 2001 (fig. 15), and actual numbers also increased. In engineering the female students proportion also increased but very little, from 11.3 % in 1988 to % in 1993 and to 14.9 % in 2001(fig 16) but in fact the actual number stay almost the same. The detail of the evolution of applications to the main engineering disciplines is shown on fig. 17. After the peak in 1993 for almost all the disciplines, there is a decrease in particular for Electrical/Electronics from 4,500 in 1993 to 2,606 in 1995 and then remain stable. The decrease for Civil Engineering has been less dramatic from 3,155 to 2,438 in 1995 but there is still a decrease after that to reach 1,682 in 1999 and 1,623 in In General Engineering it was almost the same from 3,462 in 1993 to 1,955 in The decrease has been less important in Mechanical Engineering from 3,829 in 1993 to 2,985 in 2001 but the tendency is still to a decrease. It is the same in Chemical Engineering were there has been a first decrease from 1993 to 1995 then a small increase and again a decrease which seems to continue. This phenomena did not exist for Aeronautical Engineering and to a less extend for Production and Manufacturing Engineering, As a result of the decrease in enrolments the number of Graduates in Engineering has decreased [35] since 1996/1997 (fig 18) from 18,763 to 18,349 in 1998/1999 and followed by a 25,000 Number of accepted applicants 20,000 15,000 10,000 5, Women Men 40,000 Fig.15 Home acceptance in Computing Degree 35,000 (from ref 34) 30,000 25,000 25,000 20,000 Numbers Applicants 20,000 15,000 10,000 Engineers Computing Total Number of accepted applicants 15,000 10,000 5,000 5, Academic Years academic Years Women Men Fig 14 Number of Applicants in Engineering and Computing (ref 34) Fig. 16 Home Acceptance to Engineering Courses (from ref 34) 96

17 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1, Fig General Engineering Civil Engineering Mechanical Engineering Aeronautical Engineering Electrical/Electronic Engineering Production/Manufacturing Engineering Chemical Engineering Applicants to the main Engineering disciplines (ref 34) sharp decrease to 17,090 in 1999/2000. The percentage of undergraduates on Sandwich courses (system which was promoted mainly by the former Polytechnics) has been stable over these 4 years at between 17.1 and 18.1 percent of the total. These overall figures hide rather large variations between disciplines, e.g. less than 10 % in Electrical Engineering (that corresponds to fig.17 evolution of registration), to over an increase of 20 percent in Aeronautical Engineering. According to the Engineering Council there are around 420,000 Graduate engineers at work in UK but only less than 47 % are Registered Engineers. At December 2000 the composition of the Register was: C.Eng 195,103, I.Eng 48,799 and Eng.Tech 13,266. Almost 70% of the C.Eng registrants are members of the three largest Institutions: Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Over 40% of I.Eng registrants are members of the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) recently formed by amalgamation of 21 others. Of the total of registrants, some are living overseas 19 % of the C.Eng, 10 % of the others categories. Some 10,000 newly qualified engineers are added to the Register each year. The number of women registered has increased since 1984 from 478 to 5,728, in registered, but the total figures are still very low: they are 2.8% of the C.Eng, 1 % of the I.Eng and 1.1 % of the Eng.Tech. The number of female in the various Institutions or at the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) are quite small [36] : at the level of Fellow they are 1.18 % in the RAE, 0.39 % in ICE, 0.44 % in IEE, 0.46 % in IMechE, 1.15 % in IchemE and around 5% in Computer Society. According to "Engineers for Britain" [34] quoting a study done by the Institution for Employment Research there was in 1997 an estimated population in UK manufacturing of 43,000 individual top executives. Of these, around 24% hold a degree or professional qualification in science, engineering or technology. The Engineering Council and the RAE up-dated the "FTSE" 100 top executive study in 2000, and found that 16 of the top executives of the FTSE 100 companies, including the new "dot com" companies, were engineers. The distribution in the various sector of economy of registered engineers with the Eng. C, clearly demonstrates the influence of the engineering profession on all aspects of UK daily life, and, indeed, its importance in the development of UK future (fig 19): 47% are employed in the production industries of which 38% are in manufacturing, 8.5% are in construction and almost all the Number of Graduates 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Fig / / / /00 Academic Years General Eng Civil Eng. Mechanical Eng Aeronautical Eng Electrical/Electronic Eng Production Eng Chemical Eng Others Eng Total number of Graduates in Engineering and Technology domains (ref 35) 97

18 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan Education & Health Financial & Business Wholesale & Retail Utilities Mining Public Sector Transport & Communication Construction Manufacturing Other Fig.19 Employment of Registered Engineers by Industrial Sector in 2001 in percentage (ref 33) remainder are employed in the service sector. Also in 2000, of the 112 Institutions of Higher Education in the UK, 50 had Vice-Chancellors or Principals with engineering or scientific qualifications, 16 of the 50 were professional engineers, representing 14% of the total. Nevertheless the problem of recruiting the best students in engineering, of keeping them working in technical fields (and not finance...) -30 % in average of the graduates engineers joints different fields-, and having young motivated staff in University was so important that the RAE decided to launch the BEST program [36]. BEST stands for "Better Engineering Students Today - Building Enterprise Success Tomorrow". The RAE created also some special Engineering Teaching Fellowships like the Exxon-Mobil one to encourage able young lecturers in chemical, petroleum or mechanical engineering to stay in the education sector in the early years of their career. 4.4 Implementation of "The Engineering and Technology Board (ETB)" A study published by the Eng. C [37] pointed out that the "wider engineering and technology community" includes large numbers of highly skilled people who, for a variety of reasons, work outside the organized network of the established engineering institutions. A substantial number of people practice engineering but are not perceived as engineers, and many people are commonly termed engineers but are not professional engineers and therefore not registered with the Engineering Council [37]. "The Universe of Engineering", a report published by the Royal academy of Engineering [38] defines the categories of people populating the "universe of engineering" or the "wider engineering and technology community": - Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians registered with the Engineering Council (approximately ). - Engineers who are members of Engineering Institutions; this is a broader group than those who are registered with the Eng C (approximately ). - Those practicing engineering calling themselves engineers, who are not members of an Engineering Institution. - Those who practice engineering in pursuit of another profession who do not consider themselves, or perhaps do not wish to be identified as engineers. Those mentioned in 3 and 4 add up to approximately 1.4 million. In December 2000 Sir Robert Hawley, Chairman of the Engineering Council presented to the Minister for Science and Innovation, a report entitled "Making the Best of Valuable Talent" [39]. The messages from this report were unequivocal. The profession defined as the Engineering Council and the nominated and associated professional engineering Institutions recognized by the Privy Council, does not serve economic needs adequately. Already the existing engineering profession does not adequately cater for a large proportion of engineering and technological skills. The Malpas Report [38] identifies more than 1.4 million people working in engineering occupations who are not part of the Profession, this contrasts with the 600,000 who are. The need for more multi-disciplinary skills is not yet adequately met. These problems are not unique to the UK. They exist in many other developed countries, where efforts are also being made to tackle them. Research conducted by The Royal Academy of Engineering on behalf of the Hawley Group set out to define "who today's engineers and technologists are and where they work". The 98

19 NII Journal No. 6 (2003.3) report estimates that there are at least two million highly skilled people employed in engineering or technological businesses, and in huge number of companies that now depend on technology. The sectors range from construction, through high-tech areas, to the music and entertainment industry. It became clear that a new structure, completely different from the Engineering Council and the Engineering Institutions, was required to meet the needs of the technology market place. On 14 February 2001, the creation of the Engineering and Technology Board -ETB- was announced, with overwhelming support from business industry, academia and the UK Government. An important part of the unified ETB will be a New Regulatory Board (NRB), or "Engineering Council (UK)". NRB will be responsible for setting and maintaining professional standards, in cooperation with the Institutions that seek to be able to register members as professional engineers. The Board of ETB needs to be representative of, panel chairmen who are experts in their fields, and of individuals from the wider engineering and technology community including representation from business and financial activities. ETB will take over and expand the role of the present Engineering Council, which has only dealt with issues relating to the engineering profession. High on the ETB's list of priorities will be tackling concerns about future skills shortages, promoting the importance and attractiveness of engineering and technology based careers, and championing the needs of the rapidly growing technology sector. The Engineering and Technology Board created on 1 January 2002 became operational in March, having secure the financial support of 1 millions UK pounds for the next three years. 4.5 The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Registration with the Engineering Council and membership of a professional engineering Institution places obligations on members to maintain and develop professional competence. A Code of Practice identifies explicit CPD standards that should be achieved. The emphasis is on an individual taking his own responsibility for the most appropriate development at different stages of a career. CPD should be guided by a Development Action Plan and recorded in a professional development record. There is an obligation placed through the CPD code on individuals to plan and record their CPD, to produce evidence of CPD achievement and to support the learning of others. There is concern that CPD could become yet another layer of bureaucratic qualification and cannot hope to keep up with the rate of changing knowledge. Most people said that a key feature of the knowledge-based economy is the speed with which knowledge grows and changes. CPD is the only effective way of ensuring engineers and technologists keep up with such rapid change - and can demonstrate that they are doing so. CPD should not become a constraint on companies for which flexibility and speed are vital. However this is a question of how, not whether, it is introduced. It was stressed that CPD should facilitate cross-disciplinary development. It must encompass non engineering skills, such as business management, basic finance, marketing and communications. These are vital if engineers and technologists are to contribute more effectively in the business environment. Society sets increasingly high priority on safety, risk management and on sustainability. Mistake by engineers, or failure to follow their advice, can have catastrophic consequences. The way to address this problem is again through CPD, so that employers will at least be aware whether an engineer has appropriate up-to-date knowledge in a given field. It is said that CPD cannot be specified to a "fixed" amount, but relevant benchmarks such as Occupational Standards can be valuable for defining needs and achievements. The Eng. C has asked each Institution to have a sampling to check that their members are doing CPD "properly". Moreover there is area where CPD is compulsory because "certification" of competence is required, e.g. nuclear safety, aircraft maintenance,.. and certification is valid for a time limit, 3 years. In such a case the Eng. C gives a seal "licensed engineering practitioner". 4.6 The Engineering Institutions and CPD The three mains Engineering Institutions, Electrical, (IEE, 140,0000 members), Mechanical (IMechE, 85,000 members including 40,000 C.Eng), Civil (ICE, 77,000 members, 44,000 C.Eng), have some common points and in particular the fact that the Structured Professional Development is based on three pillars: planning, focusing and 99

20 Engineering Education and Professional Development in Germany, France and United Kingdom-Examples for Establishing Continuing Professional Development of Engineers in Japan recording and support for CPD. The IEE, the IMechE and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) have signed on June 2000 an agreement incorporating the "Professional Development Partnership- (PDP)". The three Institutions agreed to work together to promote a common policy on professional development matter to members, employers and others. The Royal Aeronautical Society and the Institute of Physics, have joined recently the PDP which in total represent around 300,000 members: the PDP partners have the same framework for the CPD. Sir Michael Moore [32,40], Director General of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, confirmed the obligation for their members to carry out CPD, its personal nature and the rejection of a prescriptive approach or the use of hours or points to assess CPD. It recommends as best practice the use of the professional development cycle (Fig 20). 4.7 Conclusion In conclusion to the way CPD is implemented nowadays by the Institutions the following mains point must be reminded: - Each Institution provide its members with relevant documents concerning CPD; for instance in the frame of PDP, the partners provide them a " Members guide Understand the CPD Concept & Process Identify your career goals Determine the skills you need IMechE CPD Publications Ad hoc Career Advice Enhanced range of publication (all media, incl. Web, CD-ROM, etc Career development & assessment advice+ mentor support Generic &industry specific advice on competences & qualifications Plan to Achieve Advice on courses Enhanced advice on courses & providers Act & record activities Review your progress The process Conferences, seminars, workshops, etc Professional Development Record (PDR) Current IMechE Support PDR + Competence profiling, etc Mentor support New CPD Model Fig 20 Professional Development Cycle Adding value to CPD (from ref 40) to CDP" (Reach New Heights), "Plan focus & record your learning", a model of "Development Action Plan". Most Professional Bodies provide general advice on how to carry out CPD in hard copy and electronic form. - CPD is mandatory but it is impossible to define precisely what every engineer has to do. - The CPD process is very personal; it is geared to the individual's personal, professional and career aspirations and is driven by personal goals and objectives. It is self-owned, self- managed and to some extent, selfassessed. - Neither of the leading Engineering Institutions any longer requires members to record CPD in terms of points or hours. The former was simply a record of attendance and not a measure of competence. - The Institution has a supporting role but is not testing the competences of the engineer and it is the employer making the "quality control". - Every large Company (British Telecom, British Aerospace, Ford, British Petroleum, British Gas, Rolls- Royce, etc) has some agreement with well-known Universities to develop Continuing Education for their engineers. - It is very difficult for engineers in Small and Medium Size Enterprises to participate in Continuing Education because of lack of personnel in the enterprise and not because of lack of money. - Continuing Education (CPD) represents between 3 days /year (IEE) to 5 days /year (ICE) and the Eng. C estimates that it is 35 hours/years in average. - It is sure that "one size fits all" is not valid for CPD and that on the contrary it is "tailored program" which is the rule which give many opportunities to Higher Institutions to develop specific programs in their fields of competences. 5 GENERAL CONCLUSION There is an urgent need for modernization and internationalization of engineering education. Rapid technological development together with economic globalization tends to increase the gap between the needs of the industrial world and the "product" of engineering education. Industry is faced to more and more rapid changes due to deregulation, world competition and new technologies 100