Program Benchmarks for Department of Renewable Energy Engineering
The Renewable Energy Engineering Benchmark:
1. Introduction
Renewable Energy Engineering is a sub discipline of the more general electrical engineering with a emphasis on renewable engineering. It is also a profession that is involved in efficient generation and distribution of renewable energy in all of its forms, solar, wind, geothermal, etc.
Usual tasks of renewable energy engineers include designing efficient systems that generate energy from renewable sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower. Also engineers design and analyze system that transfer or store energy from renewable sources.
The outcome of renewable energy engineering is a product, or perhaps a process or system; so that it distinguishes it from Science and Mathematics. Thus, the criteria of content of renewable energy engineering degree set out as follows in Table 1.
The primary purposes of the Benchmarking Statements are to assist:
Higher education institutions in designing and validating programs of study;
Academic reviewers and external examiners in verifying and comparing standards;
Where appropriate, professional bodies during accreditation and review process;
Students and employers when seeking information about higher education provision.
Table 1: Criteria of content of Renewable Energy Engineering Program:
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Engineering Practice |
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knowledge and understanding of |
· manufacturing and/or operational practice · codes of practice and the regulatory framework · requirements for safe and secure operation |
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Intellectual abilities |
· ability to produce solutions to problems through the application of methodologies related to Renewable Energy engineering · knowledge and understanding ability to undertake technical risk evaluation |
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Practical skills |
· ability to apply engineering techniques taking account of industrial and commercial constraints · project management and application of System and software engineering methodologies |
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General transferable skills |
· the engineering approach to the solution of problems · time and resource management · teamwork and leadership |
2. Assessment
In developing an assessment strategy some key factors should be considered:
There must be sufficient clearly identified opportunities for students to demonstrate that they have met the threshold in all components of the benchmark;
Achievement of threshold standards may, in some cases, be implicit in the learning process (e.g. the completion of a project may demonstrate attainment of some general transferable skills Achievement of threshold standards should be possible without an individual student being required to pass all units of assessment. For example, a particular unit may include the assessment of only one element of the benchmark. A student may achieve the threshold in this element but not achieve a pass mark in the unit as a whole.
Careful selection from a wide range of assessment methods can make the process more efficient and effective;
It is important that the strategy provides sufficient opportunity for the best students to exhibit the level of innovation and creativity associated with excellence.
3. Recommendations
The Benchmark Statements set out in Table 2 and based upon the rationale provided by the Criteria for Content above should be used to guide the academic review of programs in engineering. Individual disciplines within engineering should use the generic criteria of content in Table 1 to provide an interpretation of content and balance of attainment for their own discipline.Professional Engineering Institutions when setting criteria for their discipline and for the sections of the Engineering Council Register, for which they hold responsibility, should relate them to the generic criteria and the appropriate discipline-specific interpretation.
Table 2: Benchmark Statements:
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Engineering practice |
Threshold |
Good |
Excellent |
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Knowledge and understanding of |
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manufacturing and/or operational practice |
has a basic knowledge of current practice in the real word |
has a wide knowledge and good understanding of current practice |
has a comprehensive understanding of current practice, its limitations, and likely new developments |
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codes of practice and the regulatory framework |
has knowledge of specific codes of practice in routine problems, including the role of design factors |
has knowledge and some understanding of specific codes of practice, with some understanding of the limitations of the techniques and design factors involved |
has understanding of appropriate codes of practice, with wide understanding of the limits of the code and design factors involved |
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requirements for safe and secure operation |
has a basic knowledge of codes of practice relating to hazards and operational safety understands the need for operational safety by design and good working practices |
has knowledge and understanding of codes of practice relating to hazards and operational safety and can apply these to familiar and some unfamiliar situations |
has a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of codes of practice relating to hazards and operational safety, and can apply these to a wide range of situations |
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Intellectual abilities |
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ability to produce solutions to problems through the application of methodologies related to Renewable Energy engineering |
can integrate knowledge of mathematics, science, information technology, design, business context and Renewable Energy engineering practice, to solve routine problems as taught |
can integrate knowledge of mathematics, science, information technology, design, business context and Renewable Energy engineering practice to solve problems, some of which are unfamiliar and require good understanding |
can integrate knowledge of mathematics, science, information technology, design, business context and engineering practice, to solve a wide range of Renewable Energy engineering problems applying profound understanding to novel and challenging situations, is aware of limitations of solution methods |
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knowledge and understanding ability to undertake technical risk evaluation |
can evaluate typical technical risks, using the appropriate tools as taught |
can evaluate technical risks, even in some unfamiliar circumstances |
can make general evaluations of technical risks, through an understanding of the basis of such risks |
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Engineering practice |
Threshold |
Good |
Excellent |
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Practical skills |
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ability to apply Renewable Energy engineering techniques taking account of industrial and commercial constraints |
has some experience of applying Renewable Energy engineering techniques taking account of commercial and industrial constraints |
has experience of applying Renewable Energy engineering techniques taking account of a range of commercial and industrial constraints |
has experience of applying Renewable Energy engineering techniques taking account of a wide range of commercial and industrial constraints |
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project management and application of System and software engineering methodologies |
can develop a project plan, identifying the resource requirements, and the timescales involved |
can apply standard management techniques to plan and allocate resources to projects |
can develop, monitor and update a plan, to reflect a changing operating environment |
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General transferable skills |
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the engineering approach to the solution of problems |
can solve some general problems through systematic analysis and design methods |
can solve some general problems through systematic analysis and design methods and where necessary learn new theories, concepts, methods etc in an unfamiliar situation outside the discipline area |
can solve some general problems through systematic analysis design and planning, and where necessary, learn new theories, concepts, methods etc in an unfamiliar situation outside the discipline area |
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time and resource management |
can develop a personal plan of work to meet a deadline and to identify the main external constraints |
can identify the critical activities within a personal plan of work |
can monitor and adjust a personal program of work on an on-going basis |
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teamwork and leadership |
can work as part of a team |
can undertake many of the roles within a team |
can undertake most of the roles within a team including leadership |
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