a reflective discussion

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March 21, 2017

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PDP AssessmentIn order to progress in your career as a practicing professional engineer it is important to
maintain a record of your developing professional experience that is both reflective (i.e.
self-critical) and objective. In addition, professional engineers are often required to
perform quality assurance, adhere to standards and regulations, validate and authorise
test results and calculations and accept liability for their decisions. They can also be called
up as expert witnesses in court, or in the worst case as a defendant if something went
wrong with a system they have authorised or approved. Adherence to intellectual property
rights (IPR) and the avoidance of plagiarism are also important aspects of professionalism
– copying and/or illicit collusion can seriously undermine the profession as a whole.
The objective of this assessment is to instill and develop the key skills of:
 Assured professionalism (taking responsibility for decisions and acceptance to
change)
 Trustworthiness (being realistic in promises for deliverables, specifications,
costings, etc.)
 Proven competency (recognition of risk and confidence in dealing with situations)
 Up-to-date knowledge (knowing when and where to apply solutions to particular
problems)
1. Tasks
The assessment is divided into two tasks:
1. Using a case study discuss reflectively a situation in which the issues of assured
professionalism, trustworthiness, adherence to standards and regulations, etc. are
raised (e.g. failure of an engineering system and the issues of professionalism
surrounding that). Wherever possible, include examples of where your own
particular knowledge and experience (academic and/or industrial) relates to the
case study chosen.
2. Discuss the impact of plagiarism on engineering professionalism through the use
of a case study (this can be the same study as selected for the previous part of the
assessment). The discussion could cover such issues as the consequences of
‘misusing’ IP/patent information in the design of an engineered system, or the
implications of plagiarised data and/or information on the performance of a system.
2
2. Requirements
a) The PDP submission should be limited to a maximum of five A4 pages for Part 1
and five A4 pages for Part 2. It must also be written in the first person. Writing
in the first person will give you practice in relating your particular experiences/views
with the case studies, which is a skill you will need when preparing a submission
for registration as a professional engineer.
b) Submit your assessment as a PDF file with the title format given below:
(surname)_(forename)_PDP Assessment_(submission date)
For example,
Smith_Fred_PDP Assessment_01 April 2016
Please ensure that you include a front sheet to your submission containing the
following information:
 Course code (B59DE-DF)
 Course Title (Design and Manufacture 3/Design and Manufacture 4
 Your name
 Your degree programme (e.g. BEng Mechanical Engineering)
 Your Person ID
 Your Username
 Your Campus Location (i.e. Edinburgh or Dubai or Malaysia)
c) Each part of the assessment is weighted equally.
d) Assessments must be submitted through the appropriate portal under the
Assessment tab on the VISION site for B59DF Design and Manufacture 4. The
portals will be available after 17.00 on Monday of Week 12 of Semester 2 and the
deadline for submissions is 23.59 on the Friday of Week 14 (both Edinburgh
Campus time). Marks will be deducted for any late submission in accordance
with EPS late marking policy.

a reflective discussion