The University of Canterbury Centre for Continuing Education gains IPENZ CPD Provider Endorsement

The University of Canterbury Centre for Continuing Education has recently gained IPENZ endorsement as a continuing professional development provider for engineers and technologists. This process involves three courses gaining positive evaluations from IPENZ members who have attended the courses. A free place is provided for an IPENZ member on each course who then provides an independent evaluation of the course to IPENZ National Office. The three courses evaluated were:

• Management Skills for Technical People, evaluated by Mike Southby

• Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, evaluated by Brendan Bisley

• Visual Basic Course, evaluated by Hamish McKenzie

Brief evaluations on the latter two courses are printed below.

Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering

I am employed by the Christchurch City Council as a project manager. I have been with the Council since completing an engineering degree in 1992.

I attended the Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering course to increase my knowledge base in this area as my current position involves exposure to traffic engineering problems and solutions. I hoped it would also serve as a useful refresher for the traffic engineering papers I completed as part of the degree.

The five day course covered a broad range of subjects from statistical analysis to traffic modelling and local area traffic management. The course notes were very thorough and comprehensive, but the lectures only scraped the surface of the subject. To get the full benefit it would be necessary to read the lecture notes provided. The lecture provided the fundamental concepts while the notes provided more detail and also gave a list of very suitable references to seek additional information. In the future I can see the notes providing a very useful reference when various situations are encountered.

The three presenters were very knowledgeable in their various subjects and provided a good contrast of presentation and expertise. I also felt that it was valuable to have Wolf Hamburger, from Berkeley, to add an international view of traffic engineering.

I felt the course achieved the objective of explaining and expounding the "fundamentals" of traffic engineering while giving enough information for a participant to feel confident about discussing concepts with a client or colleague later. It will not provide enough depth for an engineer to become an expert but does provide an excellent base level of information for further study or investigation.

The course would be valuable for anyone with an interest in this field of engineering or anyone that needs to understand what drives traffic engineering designs and projects.

Brendan Bisley, G.IPENZ, Christchurch City Council

Visual Basic Course

I am a structural engineer and have been working for Holmes Consulting Group for just over three years. I completed a BE (Civil) degree at the University of Canterbury in 1995. I chose to attend the Visual Basic course to gain a greater understanding of some of the Excel spreadsheets developed by my colleagues. I also wanted to be able to write my own programs for spreadsheets that I have developed. I found the course extremely useful in providing a starting point for Visual Basic applications and would highly recommend this course to others. It was also enjoyable meeting people from other engineering and scientific disciplines. I would like to thank IPENZ for the opportunity to attend such an informative and worthwhile course.

Hamish McKenzie, G.IPENZ

Holmes Consulting Group, Christchurch

For information on courses provided by the University of Canterbury Centre for Continuing Education visit their website on www.cont.canterbury.ac.nz

Replacement Qualifications for the New Zealand Certificate in Engineering (NZCE) nearing completion

Nearly four years ago The New Zealand Qualifications Authority began a process to develop a replacement qualification for the NZ Certificate in Engineering qualification which was, at the time, regarded by education providers and industry as out of date in terms of curriculum content.

After what Virginia Burton, IPENZ Manager Qualifications, saw as being "a long drawn-out process", the development of the new qualifications for technician engineers is nearing completion. Polytechnics, interested in delivering diplomas for technician engineers, have formed three consortiums - civil, mechanical and electrotech - to ensure the rational use of resources in the development of curriculum and assessment tools. Diplomas in civil, mechanical and electrotech are planned to be offered by polytechnics in the year 2000.

"IPENZ members have had direct input into the development of the diplomas" said Virginia Burton "hence IPENZ is assured that the new qualifications will be appropriate in terms of content and standard and will be nationally delivered." For further information contact IPENZ National Office vburton@ipenz.org.nz

National Diploma in Engineering (Mechanical)

The National Diploma in Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) (Level 6) is now registered on the National Qualifications Framework. The NDE effectively replaces the following NZCE programmes:

NZCE (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning)

NZCE (Mechanical)

NZCE (Power and Plant)

Technician’s Certificate (Mechanical).

The diploma is a unit standards based programme of 240 credits, 178 of which are compulsory. The diploma will be delivered by providers commencing in the year 2000.

Individuals working toward completion of the academic requirements for the award of the NZCE or a Technician’s Certificate will not be required to transfer to the National Diploma in Engineering (Mechanical Engineering).

The final date for the award of NZCE will be 31 December 2008.

There are a number of transitional arrangements available including for those with incomplete NZCEs wishing to transfer to the NDE.

For further information contact Carl Davies, Engineering Manager, NZ Engineering, Food & Manufacturing Industry Training Organisation c.davies@eito.org.nz

National Diploma in Engineering (Electrotech)

A new Electrotechnology NDE is expected to be registered on National Qualifications Framework shortly. A revised draft of the qualification was distributed for comment to industry and training providers in early December, and the Electrotech Industry Training Organisation expects that the diploma will be delivered from 2000 onwards.

The proposed qualification structure embraces these imperatives:

• The NDE is obtainable from a two-year, full-time programme and is a Level 6 Diploma
• The NDE uses the best features of the still popular NZCE
• The NDE produces technicians immediately employable in a variety of roles
• The NDE accommodates the new discipline of computer engineering
• The possible Electrotechnology NDE options are:

electrical engineering

industrial measurement and control

electronic engineering

telecommunications

computer engineering.

The final date for the issue of New Zealand Certificates in Engineering will be 31 December 2008.

"Students caught in the transition will be catered for and will not be disadvantaged," assures ETITO Training Standards Manager Wolfgang Marshall. More information on the new NDE can be obtained by contacting Wolfgang Marshall wolfgangm@etito.co.nz or Marilyn Brady, ETITO Chief Executive marilynb@etito.co.nz

New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Civil)
The NZ Diploma in Engineering (Civil) is expected to be registered on the National Qualifications Framework later this year. This qualification will not be a unit standard based qualification although the Design & Construction Consultants ITO (DCCITO) and the NZ Contractors’ ITO have given approval for the qualification to be developed and delivered by the polytechnic sector in consultation with these two ITOs.