ENGINEERING PRACTISE &

PROFESSIONALISM

Ir Dr Zainal Fitri B Zainal Abidin

Sept 2014
 INTRODUCTION TO
ENGINEERING, ITS
DISCIPLINES, SOCIETIES AND
CAREERS
 CONTENT

 What is Engineering
 Engineering Disciplines
 Engineering Careers
 What is Engineering

Engineering means :
•“A subject that reflects our understanding of things

around us”
•“The application of scientific principles to provides
goods to satisfy human needs”
•“Creating, designing, testing and improving systems”
•“The application of the simplest and least costly
method to solving problem”
•A profession by which you utilise mathematical,
scientific and physical knowledge for the betterment of
humankind”
 What is Engineering

The Accreditation Board for Engineering defines

engineering: “the profession in which a knowledge of
the mathematical and natural sciences gained by
study, experience, and practice is applied with
judgment to develop ways to utilize, economically, the
materials and forces of nature for the benefit of
mankind.”
Engineering Discipline - Traditional
 Engineering Discipline - Today
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Industrial Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Ocean / marine engineering
• Naval architecture
• Biomedical Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Aerospace Engineering
• Nuclear Engineering
• Mining & Petroleum
Engineering
• Agriculture & biosystems
Engineering
 Engineering Career -Mechanical
Engineering
• It involves anything mechanical
– one of the most diverse of all
engineering disciplines.
• Almost all industry use mechanical
engineering which mechanical engineer
having a role in maintenance, research,
testing, design technical sales and
purchasing and production.
• Industry involvement : all manufacturing company, automotive
industry, instrumentation, aviation industry, oil and gas.
 Engineering Career - Civil & Structural
Engineering
• It involves the design of
construction from infrastructure
(road, bridges, railways, tunnels) to
water supply, sewerage system
and building.
• Uses technology to solve problem involving pollution,
infrastructure, traffic and energy needs.
• Example: construction industry is the largest
industry`in Malaysia include building like Petronas
Twin Tower building to power stations
 Engineering Career -Aeronautical

 It is about design, development,

manufacture and maintenance of
new materials and technologies
for aircraft.

• Aeronautical engineers use knowledge of

electrical systems, material, propulsion and
especially aerodynamics to design from
wings to cockpit controls and to create the
safest and most efficient aircraft
 Engineering Career -Electrical
Engineering
• Electrical engineering is all about
electricity – its about generating
electricity and harnessing its power.
• Electrical engineering works with forms
of electrical charge and its behavior.
This includes electrons, magnetic fields
and electric fields.
• Another segment from this engineering is electronic
engineering (works with low power system like
electrical consumer goods – computers,
communications etc)
 Engineering Career - Mechatronics
Engineering
• Mechatronics is the combination of
Mechanical engineering, Electronic
engineering, Computer engineering,
Control engineering, and Systems
Design engineering in order to design,
and manufacture useful products.
• Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary engineering
system design emerging variant of this field is bio
mechatronics, whose purpose is to integrate
mechanical parts with a human being, usually in the
form of removable gadgets such as an
exoskeleton . Another emerging variant is
Electronical or electronics design centric ECAD/
MCAD co-design
 Engineering Career-Maritime
Engineering
• Maritime engineering work is about
shipbuilding and maintenance
(design, construction and repair ship
systems and machinery), Service at
sea (maintain and operate ships and
system at sea) and offshore oil and
gas industry (oil operation working at
deeper water)
• It is associated with ocean engineering (oil & gas and other
ways for extracting resources in deep sea), marine
engineering( ships & maintenance) and naval architecture
(ship design,construction)
 Engineering Career -Manufacturing
Engineering

• It is an industry that takes raw

materials and basic components
and turns them into products.

• Manufacturing engineer will involves using

new technology involving designs and
robotics, design & maintaining production
system, prod methods costing, quality,
material handling and logistics
 Engineering Career - Chemical
Engineering

• Chemical engineering combine

chemistry with other knowledge
of sciences with engineering.
• The work involves creating models of chemical
processes with computer , design & testing industrial
plants for environment safety, managing and leading
range of experts involving industrial chemical
operations.
• May also be an environmental engineer as well
 Engineering Functions

The focus of an engineer’s work

typically falls into one or more of the
following areas:
l Research - explore, discover and
apply new principles
l Development - transform ideas or
concepts into production processes
l Design - link the generation of ideas
and the production
Engineering Functions

l Management - optimize the use of

resources (equipment, labor,
finances)
l Education - teach engineering
principles in university and
industrial settings
l Consulting - provide specialized
engineering services the clients.
May work alone or in partnership
other engineers.
Engineering Functions

l Production and testing - manufacture

and assemble components or
products
l Sales - market engineering products
l Operations - maintain equipment and
facilities
l Construction - prior to construction
organizes bids, during construction
supervises certain components of
process
 Career Paths for Engineers
There are at least seven career
options for graduating
engineering students:
1) Corporate ladder
2) Independent entrepreneur
3) Military or government
4) Engineering and social
service aboard
5) Professor
6) Graduate work outside
engineering
7) A mix of first six options
 Who employs engineers?
Percentages of Employed Engineers by Major Fields and Sector of
Employment (Based on 1988 data from Wright)
 Engineering contribution to
the society

• Engineering has contributed to the success of

other industries e.g in IT
• Engineering has contributed a lot to Malaysian
economy. E.g more than 50 000 Malaysians are
working in automotive industry alone.
• Engineers are the key to solve problem. Clean
water, pollution, power, heat are the results from
engineering for a quality life.
 What Makes A Good
Engineer
• Active in extra curricular activities
• Good interpersonal skills
• Having good attitude towards engineering and
able to handle intense situations
 The Reality - Today
• Malaysian Realities today :
– Competition for getting a top job is intense.
– Generally, Universities under IPTA are 17 and IPTS
are about 70 Universities

• What Do employers look for :

– Good academic records
– Evidence of participation in extra curricular
– Good communication skills
– Personality
– Standing of Universities from which they graduated
THE END