How to get Professional Engineering (PEng or Ir) title through IEM corporate membership route

*The referenced facts are correct as per the year 2020*

Introduction

Being able to include a title in front of one’s name is one of the many things Malaysians in general aspire to have. Datuk, Datuk Seri and the myriads of honorary titles bestowed upon remarkable individuals in celebration of their achievements carry significant meanings which spells a sort of respectable image to the bearer of the title. While the path to achieve the level of recognition needed to obtain these honorary titles can sometimes seem obscure, maybe even muddled with politics, the route to professional titles are quite the opposite. What are professional titles? In short, professional titles are granted to individuals working in a particular sector to establish his or her professional role within a professional society. To obtain one means to go through several validation processes and fulfill necessary requirements.

In Malaysia, professional engineer (Ir or Peng) title is a well-known title to signify the professional status of an engineer. Any engineer in Malaysia that carries this title is licensed to practice engineering in Malaysia after satisfying every requirement made by law [1]. By obtaining this title, an engineer will be able to reap benefits such as being able to legally consult engineering practices as well as sign or seal documents that are related to engineering. Having an Ir title also opens doors for career advancements especially one that requires specific level of knowledge regarding any particular are of engineering.

There are several paths a graduate engineer can take in order for him or her to obtain the status of a professional engineer. This essay will focus on obtaining the title using the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) corporate membership route [2].

Academic requirements

Every aspiring professional require sufficient education on his or her chosen professional area before taking on related jobs. An engineering student will have several options to fulfill the academic requirements outlined by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM).

The first one will be the most common path, which is to first obtain an engineering degree accredited (officially recognized) by BEM from any higher educational institution. To further understand what kind of engineering degrees that are accepted by BEM, one must refer to the Washington Accord which was originally signed in 1989 [3]. This accord has been signed by representative bodies from multiple countries that are tasked with the responsibility to accredit tertiary-level engineering qualifications within their own area of authority. By signing this accord, participative bodies agree to a mutually set of benchmarks which will be used to standardize tertiary-level engineering in each participative country. Standardization of education will enable maximum mobility for engineers who wish to work in countries that signed the accord without the hassle of recognition processes. There are currently 21 countries signed to the accord, where the list of countries and their respective bodies are listed as below [4]:

1. Korea - Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea (ABEEK) (2007)

2. Russia - Association for Engineering Education of Russia (AEER) (2012)

3. Malaysia - Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) (2009)

4. China - China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) (2016)

5. South Africa - Engineering Council South Africa (ECSA) (1999)

6. New Zealand - Engineering New Zealand (EngNZ) (1989)

7. Australia - Engineers Australia (EA) (1989)

8. Canada - Engineers Canada (EC) (1989)

9. Ireland - Engineers Ireland (EI) (1989)

10. Hong Kong China - The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) (1995)

11. Chinese Taipei - Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan (IEET) (2007)

12. Singapore - Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES) (2006)

13. Sri Lanka - Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) (2014)

14. Japan - JABEE (2005)

15. India - National Board of Accreditation (NBA) (2014)

16. United States - Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) (1989)

17. Turkey - Association for Evaluation and Accreditation of Engineering Programs (MÜDEK) (2011)

18. United Kingdom - Engineering Council United Kingdom (ECUK) (1989)

19. Costa Rica - Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos de Costa Rica (CFIA) (2020)

By graduating from any universities from these countries, graduates will be granted qualifications that are officially recognized by BEM. It is important to note that within Malaysia itself, not all engineering degrees offered in tertiary-level institutions are automatically recognized. BEM has a delegated body called Engineering Accreditation Council Malaysia (EAC) which is the only body authorized to accredit engineering programs offered in Malaysia. A list of local universities has been provided in the official website of EAC to help guide students in knowing what institutions offer accredited engineering courses [5]. Problem may arise when aspiring students enroll into unrecognized engineering degrees, though this does not spell a dead end. If, by any chance, a student graduated from an unaccredited engineering program, he or she can still proceed with the next alternative, which is to either take an IEM/BEM graduate exam part II and III, or enroll in a recognized tertiary-level education institution and perform a recognized coursework Masters program in engineering [2]. Going through this route will take a much longer time considering a typical Masters program takes about one to two years [6]. Because of this, as a precautionary, it is vital for prospective students to do thorough checking on status of accreditation before enrolling in any engineering programs.

Graduate registration

While it is sufficient enough for an engineering graduate to work in any engineering related field without any affiliations, without proper registration with BEM, every hour of work will not be counted into professional work experience. Without recognized work experience, despite years of practice in the engineering field, a graduate engineer will not be able to appeal for any Ir title. Thus, it is very important to register with professional bodies as soon as possible. Every graduate engineer in Malaysia is advised to register with BEM by applying for Graduate Engineers Registration under Registration of Engineers Act (REA) 1967 (Amendment 2015). Required items for registration include a non-refundable processing fee of RM 50.00, a copy of Bachelor Engineering Degree, full academic transcript, academic qualifications, branch of engineering, copy of identity card/permanent resident/passport and a passport sized photograph [7].

For the purpose of obtaining Peng through MIEM route, one must of course register with IEM itself. Requirements for an IEM graduate membership includes being not less than 18 years old of age and graduated with an accredited engineering degree or any equivalent qualification that is approved by IEM council [8]. The procedures to registration are as follows [8]:

1.      Submit application form IEM

2.   Degree certificates and academic transcripts (Certificates in foreign language must be attached with translation from University Registrar/ Embassy Officials)

3.      Evidence of studies if information is not available in the form of certificates

4.      Perform online application

To again stress on avoiding complications that might arise from not registering with official bodies, students are advised to immediately seek registration upon graduation. Several institutions such as UNITEN provide the luxury of automatically registering their students for BEM. However, to be safe, students must check if this feature is offered by their respective institution.

 

Training

Every aspiring professional engineer is subject to mandatory professional training for a minimum of three years after graduation [2]. The training must include work experience that is relevant with the engineering course that the graduate use to apply for P.Eng status. Through the MIEM route, a registered graduate engineer can opt to work under an organization without any Professional Engineer.  Taking on training with this route falls under the guided training category as graduates will be assigned with a mentor that works in the same engineering discipline. Assigned mentor can be chosen by the graduate engineer himself/herself or through suggestion by IEM [1]. After mentor selection process, a meeting will be set up between the mentor and prospective mentee for acquaintance purposes as well as setting up baseline assessments [9]. If an agreement to work together are made between the assigned mentor and prospective mentee, the mentor will have to prepare a training plan for his or her mentee. This training plan will then require endorsement by IEM before proceeding with training commencement. After the training plan has been approved by IEM, the mentee will be given a Log Book for the purpose of recording training activities. The mentee is expected to update his or her logbook every three months until the completion of training. It is advised for the mentee to consult his or her mentor for Log Book review to ensure content validity and obtain verification of activities done. The Log Book will also need to be submitted to the Honorary Secretary of IEM for endorsement once per year. Other important points to take include the usual necessary items such as writing each and every activity performed in a chronological order as well as include write-ups on on-site activities, design drawings, and other matters that are deemed to be relevant with the mentee’s professional area [9]. Graduates can also choose to attend relevant courses to gain supplementary knowledge that will be beneficial for their professional developments [9].

Before proceeding with this training phase, graduate engineers must be prepared to face several potential problems. One of them is the problem of selecting mentors, where sometimes graduate engineers face the issue of not knowing who to choose or who to be assigned to. To solve this, graduates can take the initiative to reconnect with their own lecturers and ask for recommendations. Graduates can also participate in engineering related programs or events listed in IEM event calendar which is provided the official website of IEM [10]. By joining these events, graduates will be able to connect with seasoned professionals who are eligible to be mentors. It is also very important to make sure that the chosen mentor is currently working in the same sector as the mentee. All of these potential problems can only be tackled early on by proactive actions. 

Assessment

After completing training for a minimum of three years, the mentee will be issued with an official announcement by IEM and will be allowed to attend a professional interview with IEM. Passing the professional interview will grant graduate engineers the key to obtaining a corporate membership for IEM (MIEM). Upon receiving MIEM, the candidate can then send an application to be registered as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng) under BEM along with the logbook endorsed by IEM as a proof of professional capability.

The only obstacle left here would be the daunting aspect of the professional interview itself. However, candidates who opt for this path should not be worried as they can actually obtain a sample set of interview questions from 2011 that is provided by IEM in their official website [11]. Also since this is one of the most popular path to obtain P.Eng, candidates can prepare for the interview by utilizing a lot of references and guidance provided online as well as from the professional work environment itself.

Conclusion

Obtaining Professional Engineer title through IEM corporate membership route certainly is not as simple as one thought. Still, it is one of the most popular way and thus provides the advantage of being predictable. Graduates need to always be aware of requirements posed by legal bodies before attempting to start the journey of being a professional engineer. \

Reference

[1]

Universiti Tenaga Nasional, "Route to Become A Professional Engineer (P.Eng)," 2014.

[2]

The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, "Route to MIEM and professional engineer status," 2007.

[3]

International Engineering Alliance, "Accords - Washington Accords," 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.ieagreements.org/accords/washington/. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[4]

International Engineering Alliances, "Washington Accord - Signatories," 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.ieagreements.org/accords/washington/signatories/. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[5]

Engineering Accredited Council (Malaysia), "EAC - List of Accredited Engineering Programme (Malaysia)," EAC, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://www.eac.org.my/web/list_accredited.html. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[6]

E. McCammon, "GRE Prep Online Guides and Tips - How Many Years Is a Master’s Degree? How Long Does It Take?," PrepScholar - GREPrep, 8 2 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.prepscholar.com/gre/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-a-masters-degree/#:~:text=Common%20lengths%20are%202%20semesters,although%20there%20are%20other%20configurations.. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[7]

"Boards of Engineers Malaysia -Guidelines for the application for registration as graduate engineer," 13 11 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.bem.org.my/documents/20181/53256/Graduate-Engineer-Guidelines.pdf/. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[8]

"The Institution of Engineering Malaysia - Application - Graduate," [Online]. Available: https://www.myiem.org.my/content/graduate-640.aspx. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[9]

The Institutions of Engineers, Malaysia, "The Institutions of Engineers, Malaysia - Training," [Online]. Available: file:///C:/Users/E/Downloads/D__internet_myiemorgmy_Intranet_assets_doc_alldoc_document_8749_IEM%20Log%20Book%20Guidelines.pdf. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[10]

The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, "The Institution of Engineers Malaysia - IEM events," 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.myiem.org.my/events/main.aspx. [Accessed 29 10 2020].

[11]

Institute of Engineers Malaysia, "Institute of Engineers Malaysia - Professional Interview," 1 1 2011. [Online]. Available: file:///C:/Users/E/Downloads/D__internet_myiemorgmy_Intranet_assets_doc_alldoc_document_13317_Regulations%20on%20Professional%20Conduct-%20English1.pdf. [Accessed 29 10 2020].