Keeping with the times

In Malaysia and countries around the world, universities offering civil engineering undergraduate degree programmes are, more often than not, accredited by international accreditation bodies.

According to Prof Khu Soon-Thiam, head of civil engineering and deputy head of advanced engineering platform at Monash University Malaysia, “Such accreditation is necessary to ensure that the engineering programme remains relevant to the needs of the industry and that graduates have the necessary skills required by said industry.”

Assoc Prof Mohd Nasir Hussin, dean of Faculty of Engineering, Science and Technology at Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur (IUKL), agrees with this sentiment.

“Fresh graduates must take the initiative to obtain professional certifications to compete in the national and international job markets. For practising civil engineers, it is encouraged to upgrade their knowledge in line with current demand by updating themselves on the latest technology in the industry.

“Professional recognition, such as by the Board of Engineers Malaysia and Institute of Engineers Malaysia, are necessary to building ethics and professionalism in our civil engineers.”

Sharpening the skill sets

Both professors also note that fresh civil engineer graduates may be lacking in some aspects of their knowledge. In the case of skill sets, Prof Nasir says, “Most fresh graduates cannot produce good engineering drawings. Therefore, I encourage them to take appropriate short courses on design drawings.”

Prof Khu sees a need for civil engineering students to better understand the overall civil engineering industry.

“They may not be as well versed in design codes and practices because of a lack of practice rather than lack of knowledge. One of the areas where many of our graduates still lag behind is the broad awareness of how civil engineering interacts with other engineering fields in practice.

“They must be equipped with the necessary communication skills (such as presentation and sketching) and fundamental technical skills (such as knowing how their design impacts other projects) in order to work more effectively within a major construction project,” he says.