Future skill sets for the municipal engineer

Cooper, Martin W.; Ashurst, Jeff

doi:10.1680/muen.2011.164.4.241

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…The real skill of the municipal engineer is to liaise between the many groups both within and around a council to identify, quantify and qualify the key pieces of information in order to advise on the range of options available and the best value solution (Cooper and Ashurst, 2011). Without this, decisions Infrastructure is lavished with outstanding design with highquality materials Visibility Figure 1.…”

Section: Whole-life Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Briefing: More for less

Jenkinson¹,

Thomson²,

Morris³

2014

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal E

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This briefing paper is about delivering 'more for less' within the public sector. A crude cost-cutting approach is rejected and instead it is recommended that councils and their professional advisors develop a deep understanding of what is required for people to live civilised lives. It is argued that only when these questions are properly understood can the issue of affordability be addressed. In order to achieve this, the engineer needs to do many things: keep up to date with technological developments; collaborate with others to ensure that materials and processes are widely available and economically produced; and ensure that all procurement decisions are made with regard to the wholelife cost of the project. In order to develop this approach the Municipal Engineering Expert Panel has published case studies on the Institution of Civil Engineers website and provided links to other websites where best practice is available. In addition they are seeking data about the public perception of the quality of local infrastructure and the boundaries between which economic activity is encouraged and those places that people avoid visiting. By understanding this relationship, the engineer can make better recommendations about the investment required to make a project both a success and affordable.

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Section: Whole-life Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Briefing: More for less

Jenkinson¹,

Thomson²,

Morris³

2014

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal E

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“…Some may argue that this is a social issue, not our business. However this overlooks a key responsibility of the municipal engineer to understand and address the needs of the citizen in the public realm (Cooper and Ashurst, 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

Editorial: Diversity and inclusion

Jenkinson¹

2012

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal E

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“…Taking a slightly different non-technical subject, Cooper and Ashurst (2011) note that the municipal engineer has developed from a person used to designing works into someone who has to produce contract documentation for procuring design servicesa difficult transition. In addition to the well recognised design skills, a municipal engineer needs to have excellent awareness of law and public administration, financial knowledge and, very importantly, negotiation skills.…”

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confidence: 99%

Editorial

Parkin¹

2011

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Municipal E

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Predicting the future is never easy. While a trend may be discernable, past performance, as the financial analysts say, is no guarantee of future results. This is, of course, pleasing, because there are many negative trends which we need to correct, such as our seeming inability to wean ourselves off non-sustainable sources of food, energy and materials. Thankfully, it is in our human nature to be inventive, and new discoveries, and the creation of new tools and processes, frequently allows us to solve some of the problems we face. Of course technology has also made us richer in terms of material wealth and spare time, and this creates its own problems of ever increasing consumption.A critical question that we have to answer as a profession concerns our readiness and ability to solve problems in a timely fashion as they become apparent to us. On the one hand, a ready-made answer to the question of skills needs to solve future problems revolves around a need for basic understanding of engineering science and an ability to engage in the design process, which takes an open-ended problem and creatively provides a range of solutions, with each in its own way nearing the optimum. The authors of the papers presented in this themed issue on the future skills needs for municipal engineers, however, have gone well beyond this obvious understanding and propose a range of interesting theses concerning the range of skills they perceive are required.In the first paper Bather (2011) presents some interesting findings from a survey of full-and part-time undergraduate civil engineering students which affirms a model of learning where universities and industry need to partner closely in order to ensure that essential theory and current practice are introduced to developing engineers in appropriate measures. The findings suggest that students, perhaps more than their more senior work colleagues, understand the need for continuous learning and development. Interestingly, Bather hints that perhaps more effort should be expended by the institutions on promoting and accrediting continuous professional development as opposed to the accreditation of degrees.

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Future skill sets for the municipal engineer

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

Briefing: More for less

Briefing: More for less

Editorial: Diversity and inclusion

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