Professional Ethics, Competence and Commercial Awareness - 2021 entry

The PECCA module builds on skills and knowledge acquired during the initial 3 years of the Renewable Energy Degree at the University of Exeter (MEng students) or via an initial undergraduate degree +/- workplace experience (MSc students).

 

It reflects upon the attributes of professionalism, ethical practice, responsibilities to society and develops an understanding of business from several key perspectives.

  

Health and Safety is addressed through a study of the mechanisms by which major failures usually occur.

  

The purpose and benefit of professional bodies, the autonomy for a profession and a right to self-regulation are examined.

Students will be given a basic grasp of accounting, particularly with respect to using accounts as a tool for measuring and improving the financial health of a business. The investor’s perspective is also addressed through a study of key investment ratios and discussion on the nature and workings of the stock market.  The principles of English contract law are introduced, with practical guidance on legal issues likely to affect construction contracts in the renewable energy industry.

 

The skills obtained by students during this module are widely applicable and easily transferred to a wide range of industries and situations.  Learning is based on seminar sessions with topics generally being discussed as a group.  Students are encouraged to engage in further self-study with direction to appropriate resources and/or key words.

 

Today’s energy professionals demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to society, to their profession, and to the environment. These principles are embedded in professional codes of conduct and mechanisms for self-regulation. Professional competence integrates knowledge, understanding, skills and values and is accrued through professional development. This module encourages understanding of these ideas and their need. 

Central to the practice of engineering is an overarching requirement for Health and Safety – mechanism by which safety and failure issues arise need to be understood, so that they can be mitigated and controlled right from the initial design stage, and then monitored, audited and re-controlled through the whole life of a project. 

 

In addition, the module aims to develop understanding of business practice and business governance, as it is through successful business that the engineering industry and profession advances.

The module focuses on the development of skills that are deemed engineering discipline specific under the UK Engineering Council’s UK-SPEC (UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence) documentation. This material has not been covered elsewhere in the M-level curriculum. A study of professionalism within the syllabus of UK university engineering degrees is highly recommended by the Engineering Council, the Royal Academy of Engineering and all engineering professional bodies.

 

The module encourages students to conduct reflective self-assessment of their professional development, close to the time of their graduation. It sets a benchmark onto which a career-long continuing professional development (CPD) plan can be formulated.

- profession and professionalism

- the professional body

- engineering regulation

- ethical practice

- professional registration CEng

 

On successfully completing the module, you will be able to …

 

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge:

1 Demonstrate a membership of an appropriate engineering professional body eg EI, IET, IMechE, CIBSE.

2 Explain the meaning and concept of Profession and Professionalism.

3 Justify, within an arena of engineering, what constitutes sound ethical practice, and the ability to appraise ethical and professional case studies.

4 Recommend mechanisms for engineering governance.

5 Discuss, within engineering, risk assessment and its application to the issues of health and safety.

6 Demonstrate an awareness of the frameworks and legal requirements governing engineering activities, including; personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.

7 Understand, within engineering industries, basic legal mechanisms and contractual agreements. Appreciate the nature of intellectual property.

8 Identify the requirement for engineering activity to promote sustainable development.

9 Demonstrate and manage cost drivers and commercial risks. Show how to create motivation and incentive.

 

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:

10 Assess values and benefit of engineering professional accreditation CEng, IEng, EngTech.

11 Understand the UK governance of engineering. Engineering Council, Royal Academy of Engineering, Professional Bodies alongside a degree of international comparison.

12 Recognise and prioritise, for all engineering, the centrality of health and safety.

13 Understand, within engineering, management and business practices; the limitations, and how they are applied appropriately. 

14 Appreciate codes of practice and industry standards.

15 Implement ideas to form a justified and rigorous solution.

16 Assess the practical limitations of such solutions.

17 Compare and contrast to competing ideas.

18 Link technical and research findings to actual applied practice.

 

Personal and Key Transferable/ Employment Skills and Knowledge:

19 Learn independently and cooperatively.

20 Communicate ideas effectively by written and oral means.

21 Review and appraise academic and research literature.

22 Analyze data. 

 

- An introduction to the module. Explaining its purpose, structure and aims.

- Setting-out tasks to be achieved within the module – including the formative and summative assignments.

- Lecture materials, discussions and debates relating to the aspects of engineering professionalism.

- The levels of professional engineering registration.

- The UK-SPEC The UK Standard for professional Engineering Competence

- The ethical framework for sound practice.

- A review of both large and small ethical engineering dilemmas – and how these may be examined and learnt from.

- Student-led mini conference of one or more ethical dilemmas.

- Lecture materials, discussions and debate relating to the aspects of engineering and industrial health and safety.

- Mechanisms to appraise risk.

- Mitigating and monitoring ongoing risk.

- Employer’s liability and professional indemnity, health and safety at work, identifying and communicating examples of good practice.

- methodical approaches to risk identification and assessment, mitigating risk to health, safety, society or the environment.

- Lecture materials, discussions and debate relating to aspects of industrial, business and commercial practice.

- Mechanisms to establish and maintain a successful business.

 

- motivation theories, working in groups and teams;

- leadership, the organisational environment;

- the UK legal system, sources of law;

- starting a new business – corporations memorandum and articles;

- contract law, tender processes;

- principles of financial accounting, maintaining accounts;

- income statement, position statement;

- cash flow, statement measuring profitability and efficiency;

- what intellectual property is; and securing intellectual property;

- market analysis, assessing competition;

- branding and marketing, securing the supply chain;

- standard costing systems business planning;

- sources of funding, investment pitches;

 

As above; 1 piece of written portfolio coursework 30% and/or one 2-hour examination 70%

 

Exeter Learning Environment (ELE) – module CSMM401 Professional Ethics, Competence and Commercial Awareness (PECCA) web-page.

 

Lecture materials – notes and pre-recorded mini-lectures.

Links to chosen texts, journal articles, web pages, expert institutions, media programmes and videos to support and extensively explore the subject material.

Details of the course assignments, tasks and assessments.