ENGINEERING COUNCIL REGISTRATION
The Institute of Acoustics is one of several professional
bodies licensed by the Engineering Council to register suitably
qualified and experienced members as professional engineers.
How do I become registered as an Engineer?
To become a CEng, IEng or EngTech you need to demonstrate
you have appropriate competence and commitment. These are
demonstrated by
Your academic qualifications;
Your experience and training,;
By an assessment, the Professional Review, which may involve
your writing a dissertation, attending an interview or sitting
an examination; and
the achievement and self-esteem of meeting UK and international
standards for knowledge and experience.
registration as a professional gives you an edge when
seeking employment
Maintaining registration will ensure that you are exposed
to new developments in your profession, and provide numerous
opportunities to benefit from these.
Benefits to your employer include:
Assurance of knowing that their engineers have received
education and training that has enabled them to gain the
recognition of their peers as meeting UK and international
standards for knowledge and experience.
Verification of employee credentials, and their commitment
to continuing professional education established.
Employees are governed by a professional code of conduct,
and receive reminders and assistance in determining their
obligations under this.
Evidence of employing registered engineers is necessary
to the award of contracts in the UK and overseas.
What if I don't have a recognised qualification?
Candidates proceed via the "Standard" or "Non-Standard"
routes, depending on whether they hold accredited engineering
degrees. Candidates who do not have these exemplifying qualifications
may demonstrate that they have acquired the same level of
knowledge and understanding by other ways, including writing
a technical report, taking Engineering Council examinations,
following an assessed work-based learning programme or taking
a further academic course specified by the Institute.
What help will the IOA give me?
Because of the nature of the acoustical engineering profession,
the Institute recognises that many of its members seeking
CEng or IEng registration will need guidance and assistance
in developing the evidence to demonstrate that they satisfy
both the educational and the professional development requirements.
Members seeking advice should contact the Institute at acousticsengineering@ioa.org.uk.
Members seeking to achieve registration are given personal
advice and support through the process. Interviews are now
carried out under the Engineering Council UK-SPEC procedures,
which require more work by candidates in preparation, but
also make the process more straightforward by setting very
clear criteria for the assessment of professional experience.
http://www.engc.org.uk/ukspec/default.aspx
provides further details and a downloadable PDF file for professional
engineer requirements.
Who is already registered?
Some 350 Institute members hold Engineering Council registration
as Chartered or Incorporated Engineers, of which more than
120 have gained registration through the Institute since it
was first licensed by the Engineering Council in 1989. The
other 200 plus members, who mostly achieved registration before
the Institute's licence was granted, hold their CEng or IEng
status through other professional engineering institutions.
Acoustical engineers work in fields as diverse as acoustic
material manufacturing, acoustic signature recognition and
reduction, active noise and vibration control, aerospace engineering,
architectural acoustical design, enclosure and sound attenuator
design, measurement and analysis instrumentation, piezoelectric
transducer design, sonar systems, speech recognition, telephone
handset design, vehicle noise control and vibration isolation.
Many of the successful Institute of Acoustics registrants
are graduates of one of the acoustical engineering degree
courses at ISVR or Salford University. Others hold engineering
degrees in related disciplines or physics degrees, while a
few have gained registration through the Mature Candidate
Route. (now part of the "Non-Standard Route").
The Engineering Council and the Engineering and Technology
Board
The Engineering Council has recently undergone a re-organisation
into the Engineering and Technology Board, www.etechb.co.uk/
aimed at extending its sphere of influence to encompass the
million or so professional people who work in technological
fields such as biotechnology, communications, finance and
leisure, but who have not regarded themselves primarily as
engineers, and EC-UK www.engc.org.uk
, which is the regulatory body for the engineering profession.
It is felt that acoustics is a field of engineering and technology
which will see increasing demand, with potential in several
diverse areas of acoustical engineering.
