New exam for engineers

Tuesday December 12, 2006

PETALING JAYA: Graduate engineers will soon find it tougher to call themselves professional engineers and to carry the Ir title before their name.

The bar for the profession will be raised come 2008 with the introduction of an additional competency examination.

Citing greater competition with the advance of globalisation, Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) vice-president Prof Dr Ruslan Hassan said it was about time the bar was raised and better engineers were produced.

“The additional examination will cover competency in the practice as well as in the laws of the land,” he said.

The current system allows for graduate engineers with at least three years' working experience to sit for a single examination called the Professional Assessment Examination (PAE).

Upon passing this exam, the engineer would be considered a professional and would earn the right to use the Ir title.

However, come Jan 1, 2008, candidates who want to sit for the PAE will also have to sit for the competency examination. Engineers who fail the competency examination would not be considered professionals.

There are currently 65,000 graduate engineers and about 12,500 professional engineers in Malaysia.

In addition, Deputy Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed said that the Board of Engineers Malaysia (LJM) has decided that the PAE would be conducted solely by IEM on behalf of the board from Jan 1, 2007.

“All engineers who intend to sit for the PAE are advised to contact IEM,” he said, after officiating a business integrity management seminar organised by LJM and the Association of Consultant Engineers Malaysia.

In his speech, Mohd Zin called on all stakeholders of construction projects to eliminate corruption by enforcing the existing code of ethics to safeguard the profession's good name.

“We need to emphasise self-regulation to ensure ethical practices and quality work are consistently carried out.”

The Star Online