Seminar on Professional Engineering Qualifications and Further Studies

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Seminar on Professional Engineering
Qualifications and Further Studies

• Ir. Dr. Peter P.K. Chiu

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Topics

• Overview of academic, professional and vocational
  qualifications
• Top-up degree program
• Engineering Council Exam
• Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and its
  Membership Discussion

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Name card

• Ir. Dr. Chan Tai ManBSc, BSc(Eng), MPhil, PhD
  CEng, FBCS, MIEE, MHKIE, MCSE 

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Academic Qualifications

• degree an award given by a university to one
  who has passed an examination.
• Higher Diploma, Diploma, etc
• Associate degree

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What is a university?

•  University is a legally controlled title in
  the UK only institutions with a Royal Charter
  or some other legal authority can call themselves
  a university.
• Similarly, university is also a legally
  controlled title in HK only institutions with
  an ordinance can call themselves a university.

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Example

• The University of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Ordinance Chapter 1053.

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Professional Qualification

• Profession - paid occupation, especially one that
  requires advanced education and training
• License to practise
• Examples
• Medical Practitioner,
• Barrister, Solicitor,
• Architect
• Certified Accountant,
• Engineer (Ir. title, as Registered Professional
  Engineer)

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Vocational Qualification

• qualified for a certain kind of work especially
  social or religion.
• Examples
• MCSE - Microsoft Certified System Engineer
• CCNA - Cisco Certified Networking Associate
• C G Qualifications, LCGI, GCGI
• Classes A, B and C licenses for electrical
  installation

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Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor Degree
• a first university degree
• The courses last 3 or 4 years.
• Academic achievement is measured not only through
  the students continuous performance, at
  tutorials, work groups and practical, and in
  essays and projects.

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• Examples
• BSc Bachelor of Science
• BSc(Eng) Bachelor of Science in Engineering
• BEng Bachelor of Engineering

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Classification

• First class Honours
• Second Class Honours Upper Division
• Second Class Honours Lower Division
• Third Class Honours
• Pass

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• Masters Degree
• a second university degree
• It follows successful completion of a good first
  degree, i.e. first or second class honours
• It can be a taught (MSc or MEng) or a research
  degree (MPhil) and is generally a combination of
  both.
• This requires an original inquiry to be
  undertaken according to an established
  methodology and after due evaluation of the
  literature in the field.

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• Examples
• MPhil Master or Philosophy
• MSc Master of Science
• MEng Master of Engineering

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• Doctorate
• the highest university degree
• The Doctorate normally requires at least three
  years full-time original research after
  completing a good first degree
• at a higher education institution under the
  supervision of a senior academic.

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• PhD Doctor of Philosophy
• It is a research degree with few if any, taught
  components.
• EngD Doctor of Engineering
• It is a research degree with more emphasis on
  innovation and application rather than
  originality and taught components.

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• Types of BEng or MEng courses for Higher Diploma
  holders
• Full-time Courses
• first year or second year entry to PolyU and
  CityU
• Part-time Courses
• PolyU and CityU courses for HD holders.
• Distance-learning/Open U courses

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• Check whether they are accredited.
• Academic Accreditation vs
• Professional Accreditation

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Accreditation

• Most of the Engineering Degree Courses in Hong
  Kong have been accredited by HKIE
• Registered is not same as accredited

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The Non-local Higher and Professional Education
(Regulation) Ordinance (Cap. 493)

• The major criteria include
• In the case of a course leading to the award of
  non-local higher academic qualification, the
  course must be offered by a recognised
  institution and is itself recognised by its home
  country as being of a comparable standard to a
  similar course operated by the institution in the
  home country

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• As for a course leading to the award of non-local
  professional qualification, it must be recognised
  by the relevant professional body in the home
  country.

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Associate Degree
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Advance standing

• Note that the information provided may be subject
  to approval and/or change.
• All information is only applied to relevant
  courses.
• Students should enquire the respective university
  for further details.

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• University of Hong Kong
• BEng in Computer Engineering
• BEng in Electronic Com. Eng.
• BEng in Electrical Electronic Eng
• BEng in Information Eng
• Admit with exemption (up t0 60 credit units)
• Student may complete the program in 2 yr.

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• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• BEng (Hons) in Information Engineering
• Admit with exemption
• Hong Kong University of Science Technology
• BEng programmes
• Admit with exemption (average mark gt 65)

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• City University of Hong Kong
• BEng (Hons) in Electronic and
• Communication EngineeringBEng (Hons) in
  Information Engineering
• Direct entry into 2nd year
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• BEng (Hons) in Electronic and Information
  Engineering
• Subject-by- subject exemption

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• Queen Mary College, London University, U.K.
• BEng in Computer Engineering
• Direct entry into 2nd year
• Oxford Brookes University, U.K.
• BEng Electronic Engineering
• BSc Telecommunicatons
• Direct entry into 3rd year
• University of Leeds, U.K.
• BEng Electronic Communication Engineering
• Direct entry into 3rd year

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• Queens University, Belfast, U.K.
• BEng in Electrical Electronic Eng.
• BEng in Electronic Software Eng
• Direct entry into 2nd year
• Heriot Watt University, U.K.
• BEng Electronic Engineering
• Direct entry into 3rd year
• University of Teesside, U.K.
• BEng in Electrical Electronic Eng.
• Direct entry into 2nd year

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• University of Reading, U.K.
• BEng in Electronic Engineering
• Direct entry into 2nd year
• University of Southampton, U.K.
• BEng in Electronic Engineering
• Direct entry into 2nd year
• University of Warwick, U.K.
• BEng in Electronic Communication Engineering
• BEng in Electronic Engineering
• Direct entry into 2nd year

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• Monash University, Australia
• Bachelor in Information Technology
• Direct entry into 2nd year
• University of South Australia, Australia
• Bachelor of Engineering (Electronic
  Microengineering)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Telecommunications)
• Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and
  Mechatronic Engineering)
• Direct entry into 3rd year

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• RMIT University Australia
• Bachelor of Electronic Engineering
• Direct entry into 3rd year
• Deakin University, Australia
• Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics
• Bachelor of engineering in Computer Systems
  Engineering
• Bachelor of Engineering in Robotics
• Direct entry into 3rd year
• Griffin University, Australia
• Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic Engineering
• Direct entry into 3rd year

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• Tricks of the Prospectus Trade (from The Times
  Good University Guide 2003, Times Books)

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• Trick
• "Our procedures for ensuring our courses are
  carefully designed, well taught, relevant to
  employment and backed up by research, are
  nationally recognised as being of the highest
  standard and quality."

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• Truth
• Read the sentence carefully it is the procedures
  that they claim to be of the highest standard and
  quality, not the courses themselves. The claim
  about procedures may well be true, but you are
  probably more interested to know that this
  university failed to make the top 60 for teaching
  quality in the 2002 League Table.

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• Trick
• "The University is well known for its strong
  track-record for graduate employment -
  consistently among the highest in the country."

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• Truth
• This is a big claim, but the university did not
  make the top 60 for graduate destinations in the
  2002 League Table.

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• Trick
• "The University is one of the UK's leading
  research universities with a reputation
  nationally and internationally for high quality
  teaching and research."

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• Truth
• The research record is impressive, but in the
  2003 Table over 30 other universities were more
  impressive. And while the quality of teaching may
  have an international reputation, in the 2003
  Table over 30 universities scored higher.

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• Truth
• "Alongside teaching, research of the highest
  level is carried out in our six academic
  faculties and additional research centres."

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• Truth
• In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise none of
  this university's research was given the top
  rating of 5 and only two out of 23 submissions
  were given the next to top rating of 5. Over 50
  universities scored higher in the 2003 table.

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Some advices

• Ranking (as stated in the Times Good University
  Guide)
• Teaching Assessment (TQA)
• Research Assessment (RAE)
• Entry standards
• Student-staff Ratio
• Library/Computing spending
• Facilities spending
• Firsts and Upper Seconds
• Graduate destinations
• Efficiency

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• Note that ranking may change from year to year.
• Ranking depends on subject.
• The detailed criteria should be studied.

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Top ten (2009)

• Oxford
• Cambridge
• Imperial College
• London School of Economics
• St Andrews
• Warwick
• University College London
• Durham
• York
• Bristol

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• Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
• http//www.hkie.org.hk/
• Education and Manpower Bureau,
• Hong Kong SAR Government
• http//www.postsec.edu.hk/eng/index.asp
• http//www.ncr.edu.hk/eng/index.asp

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• United Kingdom
• The Times Good University Guide
• http//www.timesonline.co.uk/
• Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
• http//www.qaa.org.uk/
• Research Assessment Exercise (Higher Education
  and Research Opportunities in United Kingdom)
• http//www.hero.ac.uk/
• Scholarships
• Alistair Harvey Foundation Scholarship
• British Council Scholarships

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• Australia
• The Good Universities Guide
• www.thegoodguides.com.au

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• Canada
• The Maclean's Guide to Canadian Universities
• www.macleans.ca
• USA
• US News World Report
• www.usnews.com