Jump to content
  • entry
    1
  • comment
    1
  • views
    23,479

Registration of Engineers

Cesar A Gonzalez

Entry posted by Cesar A Gonzalez ·

3,754 views

 Share

The news about the possibility for Engineers to be registered to provide engineering services made me think about IoT domain. I encourage reading the consultation paper here

The proposed eligibility requirements are the likes of the Queensland Board (BPEQ).

  • Qualifications
  • Experience

Make sense: A Degree should tell that someone is capable. The experience should be backed by a degree. This is Status Quo,  Steve Jobs would have a different opinion 

Ok,, back to the subject, the schemes also proposes to register engineers against Industry verticals or Field of Engineering or (maybe both?).

The proposed industry sectors are:

  • ·         Mining
  • ·         Utilities
  • ·         Construction
  • ·         Transport
  • ·         Consulting and professional services.

The industry vertical scheme proposal got me thinking, IoT is about open platforms, open standard that will enable connectivity of Things that weren’t connected before. What should be the Industry sector for an IoT engineer? Maybe it is too early to say or the industry has not been created. Today an IoT engineer is comprised of various specialities engineers in enabling technologies (access, networks, security, DevOps, etc) and industry domain engineers; Civil, Mining engineers and others.

So, should an IoT Design for Agriculture be performed by an Agriculture engineer with major in IoT? It is clearer the Internet of Things is a field demanding new skills.

Is the registration consultation developed based on scalability of the field of engineering? The Internet of Things promises an Industryless architecture comprising several technologies enabling different systems to talk each other and provide data or insight like never before.

I am positive of the registration, I support it and also I think will lift the standards of the engineering practice for Victoria and Australia (Queensland is way ahead). But we need to think if the scheme proposed is suitable for today scene.  

I encourage reading section 5. Definition of regulated engineering work based on QLD's Professional Engineers Act 2002. Does this definition needs to be updated or is suit for purpose? Do we need to think about an evolution of the field as inter-domain engineering?   

All the information provided is my personal opinion only, the links, information and data is provided on as-is basis. I can be reached by using the Message feature provided by the community platform or by writing to cesar . iec @ gmail

 Share

1 Comment

Recommended Comments

Geoff Sizer

Initiatives to mandate the registration of engineers, particularly those working in safety-critical areas, have the potential to significantly benefit society by raising the bar on professional standards and capability.  Of course, a common-sense approach will be required to avoid stifling innovation with excessive red tape.

How does this relate to IoT?  IoT is really a term which recognizes the convergence of Internet connectivity, Cloud computing, mobile device applications and  low power wireless networking, with low cost embedded microcontrollers and sensors.  It represents a collection of skill sets, rather than one unique skill.

Which engineers are affected?  Just about every electronics engineer and software engineer will be touched in some way by the IoT, as system designers, developers, deplorers  and maintainers.  Most other engineers re likely to become IoT users.

So the IoT brings together a whole range of contemporary engineering skills and disciplines and throws some newly-evolving ones into the mix, eg Cloud computing, Big Data analytics and mobile devices as user-interface portals.  The IoT already touched many mission-critical and safety-critical systems, and with time society will become increasingly reliant upon them – think IoT to enhance power systems reliability; autonomous vehicles; mobile device apps for medical equipment and infrastructure control.  All faced with major treats such as Internet security, availability and reliability.

Will this lead to the “Registered  IoT Engineer”?  Maybe, at least a the systems level.  Our universities would be well served by addressing the issue of undergraduate training to equip graduates with  top-to-bottom IoT engineering skills.  And Govt regulators should think about what society’s increasing dependence on the IoT means as a catalyst for registration.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
×
  • Create New...