The Making of an Expert Engineer

This book sets out the principles of engineering practice, knowledge that has come to light through more than a decade of research by the author and his students studying engineers at work. Until now, this knowledge has been almost entirely unwritten, passed on invisibly from one generation of engineers to the next, what engineers refer to asexpe

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements List of tables List of figures Preface: Engineering practice has been invisible 1 Why engineer? Technical expertise An indicator of engineering practice Discovering expert engineers Prior learning Ideas from economics 2 What type of engineer? Choosing a discipline 3 Flying start, no wings, wrong direction Avoiding a hard landing Reworking our notions of engineering Reworking notions of design Engineering - a wonderful career 4 Becoming an expert What we know about expertise Becoming an expert engineer Role model: C. Y. O'Connor 5 What engineers know Definitions Technical knowledge in the workplace 6 Three neglected skills: Listening, seeing and reading Prior knowledge and perception Perception skill 1: Listening Perception skill 2: Reading Perception skill 3: Seeing and creativity 7 Collaboration in engineering Collaboration genres Combined performances Some necessary communication concepts Collaboration - summary 8 Informal teaching: More than an interpreter Theory and concepts Discovery and teaching Collaborative discovery performances Teaching performances Mastery Summary 9 Technical coordination: Informal leadership Willing and conscientious collaboration Technical coordination performance attributes Self-assessment 10 Managing a project Working with uncertainty Planning, organising and approval Monitoring progress Completing the project 11 Understanding investment decisions Finance Costs and expenses 12 Negotiating sustainability Sustainability issues are difficult for engineers Predicting the future Preparing to negotiate Working face to face towards an agreement Framing the agreement Summary 13 Great expectations Development and the third world Dimensions of difference in engineering practice Discovering expert engineers Mobile telecommunications - a new start? Engineering opportunities Lessons for engineers Low-income country issues - job seeking 14 Seeking work Looking for work Hidden job market Building your network of contacts Preparing your CV and Resume Prepare before visiting a company Homework 15 Conclusion Learning from this book Further research studies On gender in engineering and why we do engineering The challenge ahead - regaining respect for engineering Continuing the conversation Guide to online appendices References Keyword Index Index of People and Organisations

About the Author :
Professor James Trevelyan is a Winthrop Professor in the Mechanical and Chemical Engineering School at The University of Western Australia. His main area of research is on engineering practice, and he teaches design, sustainability, engineering practice and project management. He is well known internationally for pioneering research that resulted in sheep shearing robots (1975-1993). He and his students produced the first industrial robot that can be remotely operated via the internet in 1994. The robot has been controlled by a conservatively estimated 500,000 people in dozens of countries. He was presented with the 1993 Engelberger Science and Technology Award in Tokyo in recognition of his work, and has twice been presented with the Japan Industrial Robot Association award for best papers at ISIR conferences. These are the leading international awards for robotics research. His teaching has also been well recognised: he was presented with the ASME Award for Mechanical and Mechatronics Teaching at the 2003 AAEE Conference in Melbourne. He has earned four distinguished teaching awards at UWA, and received a further best paper award at the 2004 International Conference on Engineering Education Research conference in the Czech Republic. From 1996 till 2002 he researched landmine clearance methods and his web site is an internationally respected reference point for information on landmines. He was awarded with honorary membership of the Society of Counter Ordnance Technology in 2002 for his efforts, and was also elected a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia. His most recent work is research on engineering practice that aims to understand how engineering work is actually performed, an aspect of engineering that has not been researched before. This work is helping to explain why engineering and process-oriented companies can typically lose 30% of their turnover from engineering, maintenance and operation mistakes. It also helps to explain why engineering services in the developed world seem to cost much more than they should, often much more than in industrialised countries, and is a significant factor inhibiting poverty reduction. Professor Trevelyan is working on education programs that could help overcome shortcomings in engineering training programmes in developing countries. Professor Trevelyan's web page is: http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/ and this has a large amount of supplementary information on his research and teaching.