Hi Hou,

I think the answer is probably that the IET is a suitable institution, but it is a lot more tricky if you want to know which one is actually best. The IET probably have more experience with modelling and simulation but the Civils more experience with the built environment, so you have to make a choice as to which is the most suitable.

If you are already leaning towards the IET then that may be the answer.

Best wishes with whichever you choose,

Alasdair

Hi Alasdair,

Thanks for the advice. I agree with you that will be very tricky on what category I choose as my job required me to apply both civil engineering knowledge and digital skills (e.g. scripting, simulation, etc.). One of the examples is that required me to develop a script for obtaining a result and then propose a suitable solution based on civil engineering knowledge for that result. I was originally planning for ICE but after these years of experience, I would say IET will be a better choice for me. 

However, I am preparing the application on career manager and searching for a PRA (hopefully I can get one who has similar background) to ask for advice. 

Many thanks,

Hou

Hi Hou,

If you are wanting a PRA who has a similar background (which is quite understandable and I would endorse) then I should warn you that the on-line 'find a PRA' tool tends to work by geographical area and I am not sure you can select fields of expertise. Your best bet may be to contact the RSSU (Registration and Standards Support Unit) directly and ask for their help in matching you with a PRA with the right expertise (the RSSU email is available on the website, probably even on the Find a PRA page).

Best wishes,

Alasdair

Hi Alasdair,

Thanks for the useful suggestion! 

Best,

Hou

Hou,

I have been looking around to see if there is anyone in the IET who might be able to give you further advice on suitability to register through the IET? I include the following link that may lead you to a contact:

https://www.theiet.org/impact-society/

If you scroll down there are numerous links available, including Built Environment that take you to actual contacts you could put your enquiry to.

In addition, if you do decide to register through the IET, it is possible to transfer your registration and membership to the ICE later; but I would try and contact someone at the ICE to confirm that is possible?

Hi,

Thanks for the advice and it is great to take the contact to have further advice on it. Also, it would be a great motivation for me if the IET membership could be transferred to ICE as I mainly worked on digitalisation projects for the built environment and now I have been involved in some climate projects which required me to utilise both knowledge of digital and civil engineering to provide suggestion and thus I treat IET as my short term goal and ICE as my long term goal to make more contribution to the built environment.

Best,

Hou

The one comment I would add here is that the Engineering Council does expect a certain amount of rigour when assessing an application to transfer a professional registration from one institution to another. This is not a simple tick box exercise.

One thing to do might be to look at your peers who work in similar domains and see what registrations they have (although, easier said then done if you turn out to be the only one with a registration!).

As yet another option to throw into the mix; modelling and simulation and digital twins are also areas that Systems Engineering gets involved in.  INCOSE UK also offers professional registration.  There may be yet other options that I am not aware of.

I would definitely recommend talking to the professional registration departments for all institutions you may be interested in and seeking the advice of a mentor.

Al the best,

Mark

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the advice, my colleague and team leader are registered through IET but they are more on the E&M side. So that I was wondering if IET is suitable for me although my academic background is civil engineering.

Best,

Hou

Hou,

One consideration here who will be reviewing your application - the volunteers from the institutions.

If the information that you intend to use in your competency statements is likely to be very civil engineering biased, then it could be better to look at ICE.  If you are going to use examples and terminology that you are confident an IET volunteer will have enough background to assess, then IET will be OK.

What you don't want to do is write the competencies at such a high level (but accessible to all) that it's not possible to confirm you have indeed met the competence.

So, it comes down to you and what you intend to use as evidence.  But I'd strongly encourage talking to mentors from both institutions to see what they think before you make your final decision.

To complicate things a little, as far as I'm aware, the process between the IET and ICE are different in the way that your information is collated and presented for review (despite the fact they both meet the Engineering Councils requirements). This is probably a minor issue - once you have the information, its not too difficult to transfer it between different formats.

Regards,

Mark

Mark,

Thanks. I believe IET assessor would have the capability to evaluate my application as some of my colleagues have used those experiences to apply.

I am wondering the hard skills that I gained in the traditional civil engineering industry may not be 100% applicable (not sure as I would like to apply for built environment with specialisation in modelling/ simulation and engineering management), but the soft skills that I gained could still be used for the application, say to fulfil competence C and D?

Best,

Hou