Level of Competence of Civil Engineers in the Philippines

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2007 in the subject Pedagogy - Job Education, Occupational Training, Further Education, grade: 1.00, University of the Philippines (Graduate School), course: Educational Management, language: English, abstract: The study focused on the assessment of the level of competence of Filipino civil engineers in Northern Samar, its prospects for employment and implications for curricular improvement. It employed the descriptive-correlational method of research. Two sets of questionnaire were utilized to gather information needed in this study. The first was on the profile of the civil-engineer respondents and level of competence and the second was the AACCUP instrument. The civil engineers rated themselves as moderately competent as to level of competence, ranking as first is managerial skills while keeping abreast with the latest technology was observed to be the lowest. The respondents' immediate supervisors or HRMO rated their employees as moderately competent, wherein technical expertise is the highest and communication skills was observed to be the lowest. As regards to the status of the civil engineering curriculum in the University of Eastern Philippines, Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives, Faculty, Curriculum and Instruction, Support to Students, Library and Administration were rated very good, while Physical Plant and Facilities, Extension & Community Involvement and Laboratories were rated good and research was rated fair. In summary, the general findings of the study had a very good rating. The same findings revealed that there is no significant relationship between the respondents' level of competence and their age, eligibility, position and years of experience, while sex, category of employment, type of employment, training/seminars attended and highest educational attainment were found to be significant with the respondents' level of competence. There is no significant difference on the level of competence between the UEP and the non UEP graduates in terms of communication skills, managerial skills, environmental awareness, professional advancement and keeping abreast with the latest technology, while there is significant difference on the level of competence between the UEP and non UEP graduates in terms of skills and technical expertise. Likewise there is no significant difference on the ratings of the civil engineers and the observations of their immediate supervisors or HRMO.

I am a Philippine registered civil engineer and registered professional secondary teacher. I had passed the Civil Engineers Licensure Examination of the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC) with a general average of 85.45%. I have been working for 20 years in various fields of civil engineering both in the construction industry and in the academe. At present, I am working as a full-time professor of Far Eastern University (FEU) Institute of Technology. I worked with Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd. as Civil Engineer/Quantity Surveyor for the construction of Safi Independent Power Plant Project in Safi, Morocco. In Safi Project, I am in-charge with the design review and incorporate changes and improvement in the Bar Bending schedule submitted by the subcontractors and site construction management which involves planning and supervision. I perform analysis to develop design solutions using computer softwares such as Structural Analysis Program (SAP), Structural Analysis Aided Design (STAAD), GeoSlope, Plaxis and AutoCAD2010. I also worked as Design Engineer in Duqm Drydock and Shipyard Project and as Civil Engineer in Sur Independent Power Plant (SIPP) Project both in Sultanate of Oman under Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd. Moreover, I also have varied experiences in engineering education as College Instructor and Engineering Department Head in the University of Eastern Philippines Laoang campus from 2003-2007. I worked as Laboratory Technical Instructor in the Civil Engineering department of Salalah College of Technology (SCT) in Salalah, Sultanate of Oman in 2007-2008. Subsequently, I worked as Professor in the Civil Engineering department in Adamson University, Manila, Philippines. My last employment as a Professor was in Mizan Tepi University, Ethiopia, as an Associate Professor in civil engineering department. As a Professor in the academe, I provide significant contribution through quality education in handling civil engineering courses which also includes assisting the students in their research endeavors. In addition, I also had relevant experiences in various positions in the civil engineering industry such as, quantity surveyor, project engineer, project development officer and technical writer. I had completed the degrees in Master in Civil Engineering (MCE) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Educational Management with specialization on civil engineering curriculum.