Role Description for Engineering Associate
To assess your qualification as an Engineering Associates you need to have a two-year Advanced Diploma or the Associate Degree in an Engineering discipline.
Engineering Associates have a wide range of functions within engineering enterprises and engineering teams.
• Feasibility investigation, scoping, establishing criteria/ performance measures, assessing and reporting technical and procedural options
• design and development; component, resources and materials sourcing and procurement
• Construction, prototyping, manufacture, testing, installation, commissioning, service provision and decommissioning; tools, plant, equipment and facilities acquisition
• management, maintenance, calibration and upgrades; operations management
• procedures documentation, presentation and reporting
• maintenance systems design and management
• project and facility management
• quality assurance, costing and budget management; and document control
It is required from the Engineering Associates to be familiar with standards and codes of practice, and to become an expert in their interpretation and application to a wide variety of situations. Many engineering associates develop very extensive experience of practical installations, and may well be more knowledgeable than Professional Engineers or Engineering Technologists on detailed aspects of plant and equipment that can contribute very greatly to safety, cost or effectiveness in operation.
Engineering Associates may have high levels of expertise in aspects of design and development processes. Some of the common areas of their expertise are;
• Use of advanced software’s to perform detailed design of structures, mechanical components, and systems
• Manufacturing or process plant
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Information and communications systems, etc.
• Construction of experimental or prototype equipment
Experienced Engineering Associate who operate in these areas often develop detailed practical knowledge and experience complementing the broader or more theoretical knowledge of others.
Engineering Associates need a good grounding in engineering science and the principles underlying their field of expertise, to ensure that their knowledge and skills are portable across different applications and situations within the broad field of practice. Equipment, vendor or context-specific training in a particular job are not sufficient to guarantee generic competency. Given a good knowledge base, however, Engineering Associates may build further on this through high levels of training, in particular, contexts and in relation to particular equipment.
Engineering Associates are competent enough to equip them to certify the quality of engineering work and the condition of equipment and systems in defined circumstances, laid down in recognized standards and codes of practice.
Engineering Associates may lead or manage teams appropriate to these activities. Some may establish their own companies or may move into senior management roles in engineering and related enterprises, employing Professional Engineers, Engineering Technologists, and other specialists where appropriate. In Australia, the term ‘para-professional’ is frequently used to describe the Engineering Associate occupation.