fse-the graduates perspective

7/29/2019 FSE-The Graduates Perspective

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fse-the-graduates-perspective 1/17

International Conference on Building Fire Safety F i r e

S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h e

G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

Fire Safety Engineering – the Graduates’ Perspective

• Chris Gildersleeve – Arup Fire, Brisbane

• Andrew Coles - Arup Fire, San Francisco

• Bevan Jones – Holmes Fire & Safety, Sydney

20-21 November 2003

Gardens Point Campus

QUT Brisbane




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

Introduction

• Fire safety engineering in building design hasincreased since 1997

• Globally fire safety engineering is gainingmomentum

• Consultancies have responded well to thedemand

• Graduate engineers now make up a significantproportion of the industry

• Fire graduates face different challenges totraditional engineering disciplines

• Survey of 34 young engineers from Australia,UK, New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong andSingapore




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e Sample Group Locations

A u s t r

a l i a

H o n g K o

n g N Z

S i n g a p o r e

U K U S

0

2

4

6

8

10

12




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e What is your greatest

motivating influence?

Working on

challenging

projects with a

good group of

people “

“




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e How challenging do you find your role?

I believe that fireengineering provides achallenging career whencompared to other engineering disciplines,as young fire engineersare exposed to relativelycomplex issues early intheir career

“

“




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e How high is the level of responsibility

on projects given to you?

As young fire engineers I

believe the level of

responsibility that we are given

is much greater than that of

our equals in other engineering

professions.

“ “


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fse-the-graduates-perspective 7/17International Conference on Building Fire Safety F

i r e

S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

I believe the masters course in which I

undertook was geared towards the practicalside of fire engineering as a professional withmost of the design tools and literature thosethat are used everyday in commercial fireengineering.

To what extent has your academic studyequipped you for the job?

“

“


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/fse-the-graduates-perspective 8/17International Conference on Building Fire Safety F

i r e

S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

“

“

What type of skills do you most wish you haddeveloped further during your academic training?

a ) L e

a d e r s

h i p a n d t e a

m s k i l l s

b ) C o m

m e r c i

a l a n

d b u s i n e

s s . . .

c ) P l a n

n i n g a n d

d e c i s i o

n m a k

i n g

d ) T e

c h n i c a

l s k i l l s

e ) C l i e n

t o r i e n

t a t i o n

a n d m a

r k . . .

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Given that youngfire engineers areexposed to thecommercial arena at

a relatively earlystage in their career,development of goodcommercial skills aswell as a strong

business andmanagement senseis essential.




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

a ) S

i g n i f i c a n t l y g r e a

t e r t h a

n I e x

p e c t e d

b ) S o m

e w h a

t g r e a t e r

t h a n I e x

p e c t e d

c ) A s

I e x p

e c t e d

d ) S o m

e w h a

t l e s s t

h a n I

e x p e

c t e d

e ) S i g n i f i c a

n t l y l e s

s t h a

n e x p

e c t e d

Very stressful at times, butvery rewarding. I love workingas a fire protection engineer.

“

“

How would you describe your dailyworkload?




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e How effective is the professional training

and development provided to you ?

As much as youmight believe youknow everything,listen to experiencedengineers – they havealready made themistake you are aboutto make.

“

“




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

There are notenough oldies tomentor in this

industry

To what extent are you provided with a mentor to provide professional guidance?

“ “




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

What priority are you placing on gainingprofessional qualification?

Not consideredcritical at themoment by approvalauthorities.

“ “




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

To what extent is the fire engineeringprofession meeting client needs?

In myexperienceperformance

based fireengineering isable to saveclients asignificant amount

of money and alsoachieve their design vision.

“

“




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h

e G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e To what extent is the fire engineering

profession meeting community needs?I think that fire

engineering is meetingcommunity needsalthough they don’t fullyappreciate it, the airyoffices that they work in,the atriums etc thathave been madepossible by fireengineering. I think thatgood architecture canenhance people’sstandard of living.

“

“




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h e

G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

To what extent will the fire engineering professionprovide you with a fulfilling long term career path?

Fire Engineeringis in its infancy andwill only grow inscope and

complexityespecially as suchmore disciplinessuch as SecurityEngineeringdevelop under itswing.

“

“




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h e

G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

Conclusions(Positive)

Its new and excitingTechnically challengingPolitically challengingPlenty of responsibility

Get to solve realproblemsSense of achievement

Wide range of projectsOpportunities to travel

Able to influencedesigns

Doing innovative workUseful service to thecommunityBringing lateral thinkingto the design process




S a

f e t y E n g

i n e e r i n g

– t h e

G r a

d u a

t e s ’

P e r s p e c

t i v e

Conclusions(negative)

Work / life balanceInsufficient structured training anddevelopmentToo few mentorsClients not involving fire engineeringearly in projectsLittle recognition of fire engineering inthe communityCareer paths undefined

fse-the graduates perspective

Documents