Graduates: do we expect too much?

摘要

Madam, I write in support of Gavin Lander's article on the above subject (tce 854, August 2012). Since returning to industry after 18 years in academia, I know that it is essential that both small and large industries provide more support to engineering graduates in acquiring the relevant competencies and skills. These could be through transfer of knowledge from experienced engineers (eg on-the-job training), attending formal courses/training programmes and encouraging the graduates to be more proactive in joining professional engineering institutions and organisations. IChemE does this through various member benefits and a wide range of resources such as the Knovel library for e-books and working towards Chartered status (see the editorial to the July issue of tce by IChemE's CEO David Brown on 'The mark of the professional'). Companies urgently need to take stock and take tremendous strides in furthering the competencies/skills of their graduates, and assisting them to take responsible posts as these are the future leaders in their organisations. This is important now in view of the fact that many experienced engineers around the world are nearing retirement after an illustrious career in their professions.