Core Competency Format

We spent a lot of our time last fall developing a list of the professional competencies we felt we should have by the time we graduate; the faculty worked on developing a list of the technical competencies IRE graduates are going to be required to have. Today, Ron gave us an update on what knowledge we are required to be able to demonstrate throughout the next two years—both professional and technical. Now, everyone has a more definitive answer to what knowledge and skills we are going to be expected to demonstrate and what evidence we can provide to prove our comprehension.


Here is an example of what a student of IRE can expect for a given competency (for an example, I’ll use Fluid Mechanics):


1. A primary learning objective will be stated:

Example:
Evaluate the wide variety of fluid systems using principles of property relationships, fluid forced, energy relationships, and momentum relationships.


2. You will need to be able to describe and explain a set of topics:

Example:
- Fluid Statics
- Fluid Property Relationships
- Energy Principle
- Momentum Principle
- Various Fluid Systems

*Evidence—methods of describing and explaining the given topics
- Essays
- Oral Exams
- Presentations
- Learning Reports


3. You will need to be able to perform a wide variety of fundamental analyses (FE type problems) of the competency.

Example:
What is the Reynolds number for water flowing through an open channel 2 m wide when the flow is 1 m deep? The flow rate is 800 L/s. The kinematic viscosity is 1.23 × 10-6 m2/s.

*Evidence
- worked out FE problems


4. You will need to be able to perform analysis and design on focused competency applications.

Example:
Being able design and analyze a hydraulic system.

*Evidence
- Technical Design Report
- Technical Design Review
- Learning Report and Final Exam


All of the competencies will follow the same format.