Maintaining engineering expertise – Infrastructure Magazine
Continuing professional development is an important aspect of any engineer’s career, and working with the right providers for this development is critical.
Over the past 25 years, the focus on training and professional development has skyrocketed in all fields, including engineering.
The Engineering Training Institute Australia (ETIA) was first established in 1998, formerly known as Cement & Concrete Services.
When ETIA/CCS first commenced face-to-face training workshops for engineers, there was no formal process or CPD system in the marketplace that required engineers to advance their skills after leaving university. ETIA’s main customers were engineers that wanted to keep up-to-date with the current engineering standards, or further expand and improve their knowledge on various engineering topics. A few years later, the CPD system became mandatory and ETIA continued to develop new workshops to support the increasing demand for engineering training.
To maintain engineering status and ensure Engineers Australia Chartered or NER credentials stay valid, engineers need to complete 150 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) over a three-year period. These hours are a combination of hours spent at training courses, research, work practice and any other tertiary studies being undertaken.
Within the training course requirements, engineers need to undertake ten hours of training in risk management; 15 hours in business (like accounting) and management skills; 50 hours relating to their particular area of practice; and the remainder must cover a range of activities relevant to their engineering career.
Since its establishment in 1998, ETIA now offers over 40 training courses in various areas of engineering (such as civil, structural and mechanical) for both professional and para-professional staff. The full list of courses offered throughout each year can be viewed on the ETIA website.
Since 2020, ETIA mainly offers workshops that are livestreamed over Zoom, with the occasional face-to-face workshop in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. ETIA’s expert speakers are leaders in their industry, presenting workshops that adhere to the current engineering standards, so attendees are always provided with up-to-date information relevant to your engineering field.
ETIA courses cover many specialised areas that appeal to staff in engineering design and construction, infrastructure works, building design and construction. These areas include but are not limited to concrete, steel, masonry, geotechnical, timber, loads, business accounting and management, risk management, hydraulics, glass and aluminium and forensics.
In addition to conducting training courses, ETIA are also the Australian and New Zealand agent for FINE Geo5 software. There are a whole range of geotechnical programs that are on offer on the ETIA website, similar to the geotechnical courses offered by ETIA. Engineers that attend an ETIA workshop in 2025 will also receive a ten per cent discount off the purchase of Geo5 software. Programs can be activated via a cloud system or by hard key.
For more information, visit etia.net.au
