Information for students

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology was formed on 1 July 2008 as a result of the Academic Structures Review undertaken in 2007. The review recognised the disciplines of engineering and information technology as a critical element of the UTS academic profile. The review's recommendation to amalgamate the former faculties of engineering and information technology was endorsed by the UTS Council in August 2007. Amalgamation of these two critical disciplines provides an organisational context to strengthen research capability and output and identify synergies in teaching and learning to enhance student study options for high-level, professionally-recognised courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

UTS: Engineering courses are administered by the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. The Faculty structure comprises three portfolio areas in Teaching and Learning; Research and Development; and International and Enterprise Development, each led by an Associate Dean. Five schools house the academic sub-disciplines of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology:

• School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• School of Computing and Communications
• School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems
• School of Software
• School of Systems, Management and Leadership.

Location, contacts and inquiries

The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology is located at City campus, Broadway, in Buildings 1, 2 and 10. Key staff are:

Dean

Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning): UTS: Engineering

Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning): UTS: Information Technology

Associate Dean (Research and Development)

Associate Dean (International and Enterprise Development)

Head, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Head, School of Computing and Communications

Head, School of Electrical, Mechanical and Mechatronic Systems

Head, School of Software

Head, School of Systems, Management and Leadership

Faculty Manager

Engineering and Information Technology Outreach Office

The Engineering and IT Outreach Office deals with all prospective student inquiries and is located at CB02.4.16. This connects with Building 1 at City campus, Broadway.

The office is generally open from 9am–5pm Monday to Friday

Postal address

UTS Student Centres

All inquiries from currently enrolled UTS students are handled by the five UTS Student Centres located across the Broadway, Haymarket and Kuring-gai campuses.

Students enrolled in UTS: Engineering degrees (undergraduate and postgraduate) are advised to direct all their course-related inquiries to:

Key student liaison staff

The staff below are the key liaison staff for engineering and information technology students requiring specialist or academic advice to manage their enrolment and student candidature. All students are to direct all initial inquiries to the UTS Student Centre where their inquiry will be processed and forwarded to the key contact staff below only if the matter cannot be resolved by Student Centre staff. An appointment with these staff is based on referral from the UTS Student Centres or within staff consultation times.

Director, Undergraduate Programs: UTS: Engineering

Director, Postgraduate Coursework Programs: UTS: Engineering

Director, Undergraduate Programs: UTS: Information Technology

Director, Postgraduate Coursework Programs: UTS: Information Technology

Manager, Academic Programs Office

Manager, International and Enterprise Development

Faculty contacts and areas of interest

A comprehensive list of UTS: Engineering academic staff and their research areas is available from:

www.eng.uts.edu.au/research/staff_research.htm

Additional English language and mathematics requirements

UTS: Engineering requires commencing students to undertake English language and mathematics readiness surveys so that the most effective study patterns can be advised. UTS: Engineering reserves the right, when appropriate, to require students who are identified as needing additional support to undertake preparatory English language and/or mathematics courses prior to progressing further in the course, or to restrict the level of advanced standing awarded where this is indicated as appropriate by these readiness surveys.

UTS: Engineering clubs and societies

UTS: Engineering has an active student society — the Engineering Society of UTS — with over 500 members. The Engineering Society supports both a social calendar as well as various professional events and was awarded the UTS Union Club of the Year in 2004.

Further information is available from:

UTS: Engineering facilities

UTS: Engineering has a strong commitment to providing an effective and supportive learning environment for UTS: Engineering students. Engineering students have access to both University computing laboratories as well as a number of UTS: Engineering computing laboratories adapted for specific courses. The Learning and Design Centres are located at CB01.25.15 and CB02.6.39. They provide access to tutors for individual and small group support, reference material, and software and hardware resources, on a drop-in basis, and are open for extended hours. The Remote Laboratory is an exciting new facility, one of the first of its kind in the world. It is designed to enable students to conduct experiments at anytime, from anywhere in the world.

Professional bodies in engineering

Engineers Australia

Engineers Australia is the principal professional body and learned society for engineers in Australia. Its membership covers all branches of engineering, with specialist colleges catering for the main fields of practice. Its headquarters is located in Canberra, with operating divisions in capital cities and regional centres. The local division, which covers UTS, is the Sydney Division. It runs an annual program of lectures, seminars and professional activities, with particular events for young engineers. The division's office is located in Chatswood and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 9410 5600.

Corporate membership of Engineers Australia (in the grades of Member or Fellow) confers the status of Chartered Engineer and provides a listing in the National Professional Engineers Register (NPER-3). Students enrolled in courses leading to the Bachelor of Engineering degree may join Engineers Australia as Student members and, upon graduation, become eligible for Graduate membership. To attain the corporate grade of Member, certain professional competencies must be gained and demonstrated, normally in employment after graduation. For the industrial experience gained during their degree, UTS graduates may expect to receive credit towards this requirement, although some further experience is normally needed.

Engineers Australia assesses degree courses conducted by Australian universities to determine whether they meet the educational requirements for membership. Accreditation of engineering courses and subjects is carried out every five years. Full details of all accredited programs are available through Engineers Australia.

Engineers Australia also manages the NPER-3, which is the only Australian register of practising professional engineers with legal recognition. A candidate for NPER-3 registration must have completed an accredited undergraduate engineering course, have practised as an engineer and be able to demonstrate competency against Engineers Australia's competency standards. Registration recognises the member's professional competence and commitment to ethical practice. It may be cited in relation to quality assurance systems and, particularly in NSW, it can provide legally established professional limitation of liability. Professional engineers normally join NPER-3 concurrently with their recognition as a Chartered Member of the Institution (CPEng).

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA) provides advice and assistance on employment-related matters for professional engineers, scientists and managers. Student members receive the publication The Student Update three times a year, which gives practical insight into the workplace and employment issues that affect them as professional engineers. For information and student membership application forms contact APESMA on telephone +61 2 9263 6500.

Other bodies

There are a number of other national and regional associations representing particular branches of engineering. UTS: Engineering staff with interests in the field concerned are often active in these bodies and able to provide information.

Women in Engineering program

While Australian women engineers continue to make an outstanding contribution to the profession and practice of engineering here and across the world, their representation in the field continues to be low. Women's rate of participation in engineering courses nationally is now at 15 per cent. The Women in Engineering initiative was established at UTS to attract more women to its undergraduate program by communicating a broader concept of engineering and linking it with everyday applications and the interests of women. This led to the development of curriculum resources on teaching technology to females and a creative climate in UTS: Engineering for developing new curricula.

The program has strongly influenced the philosophy of engineering at UTS and has been a catalyst for many innovations in the Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice curriculum. The program inaugurated the Annual Australasian Women in Engineering Forum, and contributed to the groundbreaking National Review of Engineering Education, which strongly emphasised the need for culture change.

Women in Engineering at UTS now uses a range of activities to communicate with schools and engage the interests and capabilities of young women, including the annual Hands on Day and the Sydney Women in Engineering and Information Technology (SWIEIT) Speakers Program, which is jointly sponsored by UTS, IBM and CISCO. It has attracted Women in Engineering Scholarships for first-year and senior undergraduates from professional organisations in the construction and business sectors, including the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and Zonta. It is also active in the annual International Institute of Women in Engineering (IIWE) in Paris, in which staff and students work on an intensive summer program of international engineering practice.

As well as outreach and scholarships, the Women in Engineering program has a calendar of meetings and guest speakers and mentoring for first years by senior students and alumni in the profession and industry. In 2006, UTS: Engineering celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Women in Engineering program, the longest-serving initiative of its kind in Australia. In 2007, a UTS civil and environmental engineering alumnus, Jacinta Holmick, was named Young Engineer of the Year by Engineers Australia.

UTS: Engineering strongly welcomes female students and invites their contribution to ensuring an inclusive teaching and learning environment. Through the subjects which accompany industrial internship, all students can share their insights into workplace cultures in engineering. UTS: Engineering also supports broader cultural and equity initiatives which better enable women graduates to fulfil their potential as future engineering and managers, and as future researchers and academic leaders.

Practice-based engineering education

What does it mean?

Practice-based engineering education requires students to experience the reality of engineering from an early stage in their professional formation — through internship. It actively relates this experience to their developing understanding of engineering theory, analysis and laboratory work, and to studies in other disciplines, and it promotes critical and creative thinking based on knowledge gained outside as well as within the University. This interaction requires that most academic staff have significant experience of engineering practice and keep it constantly refreshed. Educational programs in which students or a majority of staff do not have current experience cannot validly be called practice-based.

Practice-based education is more than practice and more than education. A university education should impart a thorough grasp of fundamental principles, a respect for knowledge, a capacity for critical inquiry and lateral thinking, a fluency in communication, a pride in excellence and an eagerness to contribute to shaping the future. Practice-based engineering education claims that these attributes can be more effective when they have been developed in contact with the human and technical challenge of real engineering situations.

Engineering education at UTS

In Australia, the basic qualification for professional engineering is the Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree. At most universities, the BE occupies four years of full-time academic study. At UTS, as well as completing the academic program, all undergraduate engineering students must gain substantial approved engineering experience in industry or in other authentic professional settings. This experience must be distributed over the period of the course and must meet standards of quality and relevance. This experience is recognised in the award of a Diploma in Engineering Practice (DipEngPrac). The combined BE DipEngPrac degree takes five years to complete.

Graduates of most university engineering courses need up to two years' experience in industry, after graduation, before they are able to assume real responsibility. UTS: Engineering graduates have already gained much of this experience together with a real understanding of the interrelations between theory and practice, technology and human factors. They are equipped to undertake professional responsibility much sooner than graduates of other courses at other universities — often upon graduating.

The combination of formal academic learning in the University and experiential learning in the workplace is called cooperative education. UTS: Engineering courses have embodied this principle for over 30 years. The courses are highly regarded in industry and, according to many reports and surveys, the graduates enjoy the highest employment rate of any engineering degree courses in Australia. Cooperative education is also well known and highly regarded in other countries, particularly in North America. UTS is a member of the World Council for Cooperative Education.

The UTS BE DipEngPrac extends the concept of practice-based engineering education into one of total professional formation and leads to the combined award of Bachelor of Engineering Diploma in Engineering Practice (C10061). Students' perception of the value of the periods spent employed in industry — the internships — is illustrated by the very high percentage of students who choose to continue to mix work and study even after completing the formal internship requirements.

Other UTS: Engineering courses, undergraduate and postgraduate, are also designed to interact strongly with industry, though the work-experience requirements are mostly less structured than those of the BE DipEngPrac. In all programs, the majority of students already have significant industrial experience or are gaining it concurrently. UTS: Engineering has policies for maximising opportunity for its academic staff to maintain first-hand experience in industry and engages many practising engineers as adjunct teaching staff. It also strongly encourages collaborative research and consultancy with industry and many of its research students are industry based. The predominant culture, therefore, is strongly practice oriented and this also benefits the relatively small number of students who do not yet have engineering work experience.

In all of its activities, UTS: Engineering seeks to promote a better understanding of the role of engineering in society and to promote and support service to the community through other channels as well as industry.

Continuing professional education

Practising engineers wishing to undertake continuing professional education may, if class sizes permit, enrol into single subjects. All enrolments in this non-award basis incur full-cost recovery fees. Their successful completion creates the possibility of advanced standing credit under existing University policies, should candidates decide to enrol in a course.

Further information is available at:

In addition, in-house short courses, seminars, workshops and other professional development programs are offered from time to time, frequently in response to corporate invitations or opportunities arising from visits by international experts.

Engineers and others requiring further information on continuing professional opportunities through UTS: Engineering should contact the Engineering and IT Outreach Office.