Positioning Philippine Engineering Education for Global Engineering Practice

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing discussions on how to enhance the prospects for Philippine engineers to provide professional engineering services in the global marketplace. The enterprise of producing goods—ranging from research and development, product design, and manufacturing, to sales, maintenance, and disposal—has been a global operation for decades. In recent years, this has also been true for information technology systems and software systems. The United States and other countries are beginning to outsource engineering services that are tightly specified. These services are typically close to manufacturing and involve minimal professional engineering. While this type of service could create a new market for Philippine engineering services, the sector of professional engineering that demands a high level of creativity could offer a greater economic return for the Philippines. This latter category of professional engineering will require quality assurance that aligns with the capabilities expected of creative professional engineers. This paper focuses on the quality assurance process for engineering education, designed to achieve the levels of competency required for engineers to succeed in the international marketplace. Quality assurance for the competencies of engineers practicing globally necessitates quality assurance in engineering education, which must meet standards equivalent to those established in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. Although each country has its own system for accrediting engineering programs at degree-granting institutions of higher learning, there is a need to compare these systems. Some countries have mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) that establish substantial equivalency between their engineering education accreditation systems and the engineering programs they accredit. These MRAs are effectively de facto standards. The Philippines, however, is not a signatory to any MRA, which places it at a substantial disadvantage.