Defining the Australian mechanical engineer

The attribute focus in engineering education now adopted by the engineering education accrediting bodies of the US, UK and Australia is based on meeting the assumed needs of professional practice. It is associated with an increasing expectation by employers of work-ready graduates rather than relying on subsequent work-based learning and experience to develop many of the essential professional practice attributes. Yet the scope of the mechanical engineering profession is broad and views of practitioners contributing to debate on attribute requirements are largely influenced by their own often unique professional formation.

In addition, the formative development of the profession in Australia has been significantly influenced by 19th and 20th century UK and US practices, although historically the industrial profile of Australia has been strikingly different. An analysis of current industry distribution of Australian, UK and US mechanical engineers presented in this paper shows continuing, although less marked, differences.

To develop a clearer perception of the profession in Australia, its educational formation, and operational environment, this paper provides a concise study of the formative development of the profession, and presents a breakdown of the industry sectors in which they are currently employed. The effects of momentous global changes in engineering employment and formation over recent decades are also discussed.

Recent changes in engineering employment have included major structural changes to organisations, accelerating technical and educational developments and mounting societal expectations making it imperative that attributes be attuned to the new engineering paradigm as increasing demands are placed on our graduates.

This paper provides an essential foundation for ongoing debate and analysis of attribute needs related to this broadly based engineering discipline. Although presented from an Australian perspective, many issues discussed are applicable worldwide.

A Euro-American-Australian study of the mechanical engineering profession as a foundation for the study of mechanical engineering attributes

The increasing attribute focus in the formation (engineering education, training, work-based learning and experience) of engineers now being adopted by engineering education accrediting bodies is based on meeting the perceived needs of professional practice. Related to this is an increasing expectation of new graduates being work-ready rather than relying on work-based learning and experience to develop many of the essential professional practice attributes.

The scope of the mechanical engineering profession is broad and practitioners contributing to debate on attribute requirements have their own individual views of the nature of the profession, largely influenced by their own professional formation. As a foundation for detailed study on attribute requirements for effective Australian professional mechanical engineers, in this paper we provide a concise study of the development of the established scope of practice and knowledge base of the profession over the last two centuries. Formation practices in Europe and the United States played significant roles in the 19th century.

We conclude with a discussion on the impact of the considerable changes currently affecting mechanical engineering practice in the UK, US and Australia, including organisational, technical and societal expectations, industry profile, and educational factors.

Case study research into Australian mechanical engineer attributes

The 1996 Johnson report on Australian engineering education recommended the development of a limited number of broadly defined attributes in engineering graduates as well as a broader based engineering
education. Within a year the Institution of Engineers, Australia responded by switching the focus of its engineering course accreditation to graduate attribute outcomes. It was to be the role of engineering school advisory panels to give greater definition to those attributes, but the scope of engineering is broad and the views of advisory panel members are largely influenced by their own often unique professional formation.
This paper presents a single discipline case study approach to identify the relative significance of a wide range of attributes required for the most common mechanical engineering roles in those industries that employ the greatest number of Australian mechanical engineers. Six industries were
identified that between them employ more than half of all Australian mechanical engineers, and most frequent or generic mechanical
engineering roles within those industries were studied.
Key findings of this research are then reviewed in the context of changing global engineering environment and educational practices.

Modern enhancements in teaching design theories to mechanical engineering students

This paper describes the application of computer aided design (CAD) in teaching advanced design methodologies to fourth-year undergraduate students majoring in mechanical engineering. This involves modern enhancements in teaching strategies for subjects such as design-for-X (DFx) and failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) concepts, which are traditionally categorised as advanced design methodologies. The main subsets of DFx including design-for-assembly (DFA), design-for-disassembly (DFD), design-for-manufacturing (DFM), design-for-environment (DFE) and design-for-recyclability (DFR) were covered by studying various engineering and consumer products. The unit was designed as a combination of practical hands-on workshop-based classes along with a software-based evaluation of different products. In addition to CAD, finite element modelling techniques were utilised to enhance the students’ understanding of design faults and failures. The inquiry into teaching practice and design of this fourth-year unit was carried out during past two years and it revealed some interesting outcomes from our teaching practice in terms of students’ learning experiences. Finally, the paper discusses some critical factors in the context of teaching advanced design methodologies to the undergraduates in mechanical engineering and even manufacturing engineering.

Engineering Distance Education at Deakin University Australia

Increasing numbers of engineering departments are interested in offering their programs by distanceeducation. These schools grabble with several difficulties and issues associated with distance education:course structure, communication with students, delivery of course material, delivery of exams,accreditation, equity between on-campus and off-campus students, and especially the delivery ofpractical training.In the early 1990’s, Deakin University faced these same problems when it commenced teachingundergraduate engineering by distance education. It now offers a full Bachelor of Engineering degreein both on-campus and off-campus mode, with majors that include civil, mechanical,electrical/electronics, and mechatronics. Student cohorts are approximately 72% on-campus, 28% offcampus.Accredited by Engineers Australia and part of the Washington Accord, Deakin has adapted toadvances in communications technology and changes in education design. The future direction of theSchool includes an emphasis on design-oriented, project-based learning and “flipping the classroom”.As a result, differences between the more traditional off-campus and on-campus cohorts are becomingincreasingly blurred.

Public acceptance of carbon dioxide capture and storage in a proposed demonstration area

With the rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, low-emission technologies with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) provide one option for transforming the global energy infrastructure into a more environmentally, climate sustainable system. However, like many technology innovations, there is a social risk to the acceptance of CCS. This article presents the findings of an engagement process using facilitated workshops conducted in two communities in rural Queensland, Australia, where a demonstration project for IGCC with CCS has been announced. The findings demonstrate that workshop participants were concerned about climate change and wanted leadership from government and industry to address the issue. After the workshops, participants reported increased knowledge and more positive attitudes towards CCS, expressing support for the demonstration project to continue in their local area. The process developed is one that could be utilized around the world to successfully engage communities on the low carbon emission technology options.

Graduate Attribute Mapping With the Extended CDIO Framework

The CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate) Initiative has been globally recognised as an enabler for engineering education reform. With the CDIO process, the CDIO Standards and the CDIO Syllabus, many scholarly contributions have been made around cultural change, curriculum reform and learning environments. In the Australasian region, reform is gaining significant momentum within the engineering education community, the profession, and higher education institutions. This paper presents the CDIO Syllabus cast into the Australian context by mapping it to the Engineers Australia Graduate Attributes, the Washington Accord Graduate Attributes and the Queensland University of Technology Graduate Capabilities. Furthermore, in recognition that many secondary schools and technical training institutions offer introductory engineering technology subjects, this paper presents an extended self-rating framework suited for recognising developing levels of proficiency at a preparatory level. A demonstrator mapping tool has been created to demonstrate the application of this extended graduate attribute mapping framework as a precursor to an integrated curriculum information model.

Correlating vehicle forces and track profile

A research project was conducted at Queensland University of Technology on the relationship between the forces at the wheel-rail interface in track and the rate of degradation of track. Data for the study was obtained from an instrumented vehicle which ran repeatedly over a section of Queensland Rail's track in Central Queensland over a 6-month period. The wheel-rail forces had to be correlated with the elements of roughness in the test track profile, which were measured with a variety of equipment. At low frequencies, there was strong correlation between forces and profile, as expected, but diminishing correlation as frequencies increased.

Advanced Gen-1, 2 and 3 biofuels research in Australia - Fuelling advanced biofuels training for international scientists

Flinders University and Queensland University of Technology, biofuels research interests cover a broad range of activities. Both institutions are seeking to overcome the twin evils of "peak oil" (Hubbert 1949 & 1956) and "global warming" (IPPC 2007, Stern 2006, Alison 2010), through development of Generation 1, 2 and 3 (Gen-1, 2 & 3) biofuels (Clarke 2008, Clarke 2010). This includes development of parallel Chemical Biorefinery, value-added, co-product chemical technologies, which can underpin the commercial viability of the biofuel industry. Whilst there is a focused effort to develop Gen-2 & 3 biofuels, thus avoiding the socially unacceptable use of food based Gen-1 biofuels, it must also be recognized that as yet, no country in the world has produced sustainable Gen-2 & 3 biofuel on a commercial basis. For example, in 2008 the United States used 38 billion litres (3.5% of total fuel use) of Gen-1 biofuel; in 2009/2010 this will be 47.5 billion litres (4.5% of fuel use) and in 2018 this has been estimated to rise to 96 billion litres (9% of total US fuel use). Brazil in 2008 produced 24.5 billion litres of ethanol, representing 37.3% of the world’s ethanol use for fuel and Europe, in 2008, produced 11.7 billion litres of biofuel (primarily as biodiesel). Compare this to Australia’s miserly biofuel production in 2008/2009 of 180 million litres of ethanol and 75 million litres of biodiesel, which is 0.4% of our fuel consumption! (Clarke, Graiver and Habibie 2010) To assist in the development of better biofuels technologies in the Asian developing regions the Australian Government recently awarded the Materials & BioEnergy Group from Flinders University, in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology, an Australian Leadership Award (ALA) Biofuel Fellowship program to train scientists from Indonesia and India about all facets of advanced biofuel technology.

Diesel engine condition monitoring and simulated diesel knock

This paper discusses diesel engine condition monitoring (CM) using acoustic emissions (AE) as well as some of the commonly encountered diesel engine problems. Also discussed are some of the underlying combustion related faults and the methods used in past studies to simulate diesel engine faults. The initial test involved an experimental simulation of two common combustion related diesel engine faults, namely diesel knock and misfire. These simulated faults represent the first step towards a comprehensive investigation and analysis into the characteristics of acoustic emission signals arising from combustion related diesel engine faults. Data corresponding to different engine running conditions was captured using in-cylinder pressure, vibration and acoustic emission transducers along with both crank angle encoder and top-dead centre (TDC) signals. Using these signals, it was possible to characterise the effect of different combustion conditions and hence, various diesel engine in-cylinder pressure profiles.

Advanced mathematical modelling and experimental investigation of new torque arms for shaft-mounted drives

Shaft-mounted gearboxes are widely used in industry. The torque arm that holds the reactive torque on the housing of the gearbox, if properly positioned creates the reactive force that lifts the gearbox and unloads the bearings of the output shaft. The shortcoming of these torque arms is that if the gearbox is reversed the direction of the reactive force on the torque arm changes to opposite and added to the weight of the gearbox overloads the bearings shortening their operating life. In this paper, a new patented design of torque arms that develop a controlled lifting force and counteract the weight of the gearbox regardless of the direction of the output shaft rotation is described. Several mathematical models of the conventional and new torque arms were developed and verified experimentally on a specially built test rig that enables modelling of the radial compliance of the gearbox bearings and elastic elements of the torque arms. Comparison showed a good agreement between theoretical and experimental results.