Tag Archives: QUALITY OF ENGINEERING PRODUCTS

Recommended Actions for a Young Engineer-1 by Engr. John Cee Onwualu

HUNGER FOR KNOWLEDGE
This is one of the greatest steps to make you succeed as a professional engineer. As an Engineer, you must have that strong desire and willingness to learn new technical skills and apply the scientific and mathematical principles acquired during your engineering education.

This will enable you to create engineering designs in accordance with the code of practice and standards governing the engineering profession, which products will meet all safety and structural requirements for the comfort of mankind.

HUMILITY AND SINCERITY
Humility and Sincerity are parts of the challenges that shape a successful engineering career. A young Engineer desirous of growth in his or her career must follow the superiors with humility and sincerity coupled with a strong desire to learn.

These are the stimuli that your superiors want to see in you. It will motivate them to teach you the basic technical steps in your engineering field which most often defer in arrangements from textbook methods. This is where you learn how to correlate the academic work taught in engineering schools with what is practiced in the real world of work.

COURAGE AND INTEGRITY
Courage and Integrity are part of the challenges for a successful engineering career. You must be courageous and honest enough to approach senior partners/mentors in your profession to guide you through some of the basic steps needed in your early design works. Their technical review inputs on your work will make you a better Engineer.

Do not assume you know it, because many of our engineering personnel today lack that quality training and mentorship they should have obtained at their formative stage. You must eliminate fear from your mind when making decisions on design problems. Be courageous enough to take calculated risks and make decisions based on available information. It is important to note that to be a good engineer requires you to exhibit a character of courage and integrity, just as the habit of cleanliness is to the Surgeons in the operating theatre.

IMPROVING PROFESSIONAL EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY OF ENGINEERING PRODUCTS

To further improve professional efficiency and quality of engineering products, Government Agencies authorised with the approving powers can also play the role of external reviewers of technical documents seeking approval.

This will force engineering professionals to conduct their work diligently in accordance with professional codes and ethics, and produce quality jobs that will not be subjected to an embarrassing rejection by the approving authorities. It will also discourage quacks from the profession and reduce the incessant cases of infrastructural failures that are recorded almost on a yearly basis in our Country.


It is encouraging to note that some States in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, like Lagos, Federal Capital Territory – Abuja, and Rivers have been implementing external review checks on Technical Documents submitted for approval. It will be in the interest of our developing economy if other States in the Federation emulate the earlier mentioned States in this practice.

This can be achieved through the recruitment of professional Engineers to manage these external review functions in the various Establishments vested with such powers. The essence of this is to ensure that set standards and recommended codes of practice are followed in the design and execution of engineering projects.

Most of these practising States require in addition to the calculation sheets and drawings submitted for approval, a letter of undertaking, passport photograph, and a photocopy of the COREN certificate of the designer to accompany these design documents. This alone portrays that enormous responsibility is rested on the Engineer, and demands that confidence, courage, and good quality product delivery for the safe use of the structure for clients and the public is not negotiable.