Professional Experience MMMB

All undergraduate degrees offered by the School of Civil, Mining, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CMEA) and the School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering (MMMB) are accredited by Engineers Australia. In accordance with accreditation requirements, Engineers Australia requires students to have significant exposure to professional engineering practice throughout their degree.

It is a compulsory requirement that all students enrolled in any of the undergraduate degrees (including single or combined degrees) offered by the Schools must complete at least twelve weeks of approved professional experience.

You are not eligible to graduate unless the professional experience requirement has been satisfactorily met.

It your responsibility to negotiate and organise your own professional experience placement. Placements cannot commence without approval from the discipline co-ordinator using online forms in EIS PEXs

You need to enroll in ENGG454 via SOLS for either Spring, Autumn or Annual session. Approvals and placements cannot be given or started without enrollment in ENGG454.

It is recommended that you undertake your 12 week placement during the Summer session following successful completion of your prescribed third-year program. However any time throughout the year is acceptable if an opportunity arises and you can still complete your other subjects.

If you cannot undertake a consecutive 12-week placement program a number of shorter periods may be considered as acceptable. Please seek approval from your discipline coordinator.

If you have missed the deadline to enroll according to the published Key Dates you will need to get approval from the Head of Students in your School by completing a subject addition form.

If you do not complete your placement or submit your report by the end of the enrolled session, a grade of IPC (In Progress Coursework) will be incurred until the subject is completed and the required report is submitted and marked as satisfactory. All "Satisfactory" grades will be enacted on the same day that results are released each session. You will not be required to re-enroll in ENGG454. Access to EIS PEXs and the Moodle site will remain for the duration until you are awarded a Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory grade.

The subject ENGG454 Professional Experience is a zero (0) credit point subject. Zero credit point subjects DO NOT incur any HECS fees as they have no EFTSL value. For further details on fees please refer to the University Fees and Assistance information for current students.

EIS PEXs (Engineering and Information Science Professional Experience System) is a web based system that manages student placements. Students have access through a link in the Moodle site after enrolling in ENGG454 and log on using their UOW username and password.

EIS PEXs uses online forms and workflows to automate the exchange of information from students, discipline coordinators, and organisation mentors. A detailed description of the processes involved is available in the subject guidelines.

Enrolling in ENGG454 prior to seeking a placement will give you access to a Moodle site which has valuable information from Careers on how to find and approach organisations. You should also keep an eye out on your UOW email as opportunities are often emailed to eligible students.

The following are suggestions to start looking for a potential organisation:

• Moodle site
  • Section Internship Opportunities – a database of organisations that contact the university directly with targeted positions.
  • Section Explore your options – link to UOW Student job board and other external websites
• Contact your local Councils, engineering companies and other organisations directly
  • see Moodle section – Prepare your application
• If unsuccessful, speak with your Discipline coordinator, contact details available on the Moodle site

All placements MUST be approved through the online forms in EIS PEXs before you can commence your placement. There are seven key steps to complete that are detailed in the initial Welcome to ENGG454 email once a student enrolls:

1. Complete mandatory EEO module
2. Nominate paid or unpaid placement
3. Complete application form for paid or unpaid placement
4. Discipline coordinator approves
5. Organisation mentor approves
6. Placement is approved in EIS PEXs by faculty Admin Staff
7. Confirmation letter sent to Organisation mentor.

For an unpaid placement, UOW will provide insurance to students to cover them against liability and personal accident. The placement has to be approved by UOW Financial services and the certificate of Insurance issued.

In the subject guidelines section titled Report a list is provided of all the information to be included. A marking guide for the report is available.

Reports are due on the Friday of Week 5 of either Autumn or Spring session, check the Moodle submission link for the exact date.

Reports can be submitted after the due date, up to week 13 of the session but will be flagged as a late submission. Reports cannot be submitted after the cut-off date of week 13, and you must apply for an extension by contacting your discipline coordinators. Extension of the submission date will be given only under exceptional circumstances, provided consent of the coordinator has been granted prior to the required submission date.

The following grades can be awarded, and students must check on the Moodle submission link for grades and feedback:

• Satisfactory
• Unsatisfactory – Resubmit. The student is asked to amend the report and resubmit, or add an additional report
• Unsatisfactory – Repeat The student is asked to repeat the professional experience for 12 weeks or less

Read the subject Guidelines link.

The guides can change slightly from year to year if workflow or forms change in EIS PEXs. Please refer to the guide for the year in which to are enrolled in ENGG454.

1. 2020 Subject Guidelines
2. 2021 Subject Guidelines
3. 2022 Subject Guidelines

Help with enrolling in ENGG454 subject

Please contact Student Central.

Help with EIS PEXs System

Use the Support Request form in EIS PEXs, located on the Form tab of EIS PEXs.

Help with aspects of professional experience

Contact your Discipline Coordinator (contact details on the Moodle home page).

Your Discipline Coordinator can answer questions such as:

• can I do a split placement
• is this type of work activity suitable for my professional experience
• ssues with submitting final report or granting extensions
• grading of final report