Prior to relocating to WA in 2012, I represented the interests of the Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE) as a CIBSE committee member for several years in New Zealand. In Perth, I met Andrew Cresswell who was very active at a senior level in the Association of Hydraulic Service Consultants Australia (AHSCA). Andrew was keen to learn more about SoPHE and likewise, I was keen to get a better understanding of the AHSCA. We recognised the benefit of our two professional associations working towards a common goal, namely the sharing of knowledge.
We met up once a month and our conversations started to focus on how to initiate a new higher qualification. I was aware of the Australian Hydraulic Level 5 qualification and had an opportunity to look at its syllabus in 2016. My thoughts at the time were, the subject matter would provide a good base to work from but it could be taken to the next level.
I continued to apply more thought into dedicated Level 6 Public Health / Hydraulic qualification when I returned to Auckland in 2019, taking advice from fellow CIBSE committee members Roger Birchmore, a senior lecturer at Auckland’s Unitec and Ross Wakefield of the NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
I penned a proposal and sent it out to the industry outlining the role public health / hydraulic engineering plays within the building services sector across Australasia and the changes in skill sets required to keep abreast of technological advances. The wording was centred around an appropriate level of training with an end qualification that would meet the needs of our industry over the immediate future, and provide a pathway for those wishing to train in the field of design. I am pleased to say that it was met with favourable responses from major national and international engineering companies.
In an online meeting between myself, Ross Wakefield, and representatives of ‘Waihanga Ara Rau’ – Workforce Development Council in September, the first line of discussion entailed explaining what we do in the engineering field and what is undertaken by the trades. To us it may seem obvious, but for others, not so. The topic of conversation revolved around who may wish to undertake the qualification, how it would upskill our industry, and the possibilities of the subject material being taught at Unitec / AUT or as an online study option (NZ / Australia?). The latter has gained ground over the years with open-source learning platforms such as ‘Moodle’.
We also discussed the possibility of the qualification being delivered either as a four-year, part-time, online course, perhaps appealing to tradespersons wishing to upskill or practitioners who are already employed in our industry, or as a two-year, full-time course option appealing to school leavers who wish to enter engineering design via this pathway. It could also be a stepping stone to a future dedicated Public Health / Hydraulic degree course or introduced within a building services qualification.
There has been a revival of cadetships in the UK together with a push towards technical qualifications, in recognition of the void within the construction industry. Our industry has changed markedly in terms of developing technology. A graduate embarking on a career in building services straight out of a tertiary institution will most likely have no prior knowledge of our discipline.
Comparatively, the technical skill set required in a design environment differs from those honed at trade school. And those deciding on a career change from the tools normally embark on further academic learning. Complex buildings such as those designed to meet the requirements of the healthcare sector, pharmaceutical, industrial, and international travel hubs, require an increased knowledge of water science, health regulations and fluid mechanics. Whilst national and international standards offer codifying guidance, they do not preclude the value of research and the application of technical developments and engineered solutions.
We not only need fresh blood, but we need to provide the right education and working environment to prepare and support our next generation of technicians/engineers and a Level 6 qualification will go some way to fulfilling this.
The proposal is currently sitting with Waihunga Ara Rau - the NZ Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council and is to be escalated up the chain. Wheels turn slowly but I will keep CIBSE’s readership informed of developments via the newsletter.
Les Wilson (Auckland) Oct 2024