Engineering Professional Practice
The Engineering accrediting body Engineers Australia, states that 'exposure to professional engineering practice is a key element in differentiating a professional engineering degree from an applied science degree' and requires engineering graduates to have exposure to professional practice.
Who is required to complete Engineering Professional Practice?
All UQ Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Master of Engineering and Master of Engineering, Master of Engineering (Professional) students.
Changes to Engineering Professional Practice from 2025
From Semester 1, 2025 there will be a change to how you register and claim your EPP and we will launch a new system called your EPP Hub utilising the UQ StudentHub platform.
What am I required to complete to graduate?
- Complete 450 hours of professional practice approved by the Faculty, and;
- Satisfactorily complete reflections from your Engineering Professional Practice experiences, referring to the Engineers Australia competencies. See more information here: Reflection Assessment Writing guidelines; Reflection writing template
The 450 hours of professional practice can be broken into two parts as outlined below:
450 hours of professional practice
Type A hours | Type B hours |
|---|---|
|
|
*you can claim all 450 hours (type A hours) in an engineering environment under the supervision of a Degree Qualified Engineer. 225 hours is the minimum amount of Type A hours you must attain. | Examples of what you can claim
And much more!! |
A minimum of 225 hours in an engineering environment under a degree qualified engineer to be claimed for Type A hours
Remaining hours can be made up of a range of allowable Supervision Requirements:
To claim Type A hours, you must be supervised by a professional engineer that is degree qualified in engineering. Supervisors that do not hold an engineering qualification but hold an equivalent or related qualification may be approved on a case-by-case basis by the Faculty. Email your request for approval to employability@eait.uq.edu.au.
You cannot be supervised by a near relative or close associate as this would be a conflict of interest. Examples of near relatives are parents, partners and siblings. Examples of close associates are friends and neighbours.
Students performing professional engineering services in Queensland as part of an internship or work experience must be directly supervised by a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) who takes full professional responsibility for the services as required under the Professional Engineers Act 2002. More information is available via the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland.
Students performing professional engineering services outside of Queensland should be aware of any similar Act or legislation.
4. Before placement starts: register your EPP hours
To seek UQ approval for an Engineering Professional Practice (EPP) Placement and to be able to claim your hours, you must submit your placement to InPlace before the placement starts.
Please follow the steps below:
Open the UQ InPlace dashboard.
- For both paid and unpaid placements, click to open the Self Placement submission for EAIT Engineering Professional Practice located in your ‘To Do’ section.
- If your placement is unpaid, you will need to submit the Unpaid Engineering Professional Practice Placement form along with your placement submission in InPlace.
Add the required information to the submission in InPlace.
Submit.
For detailed instructions (including screenshots) click on the button below:
Self placement submission instructions
Your submission will then be considered for approval by the EAIT Employability Team and further advice will be provided to you.
If your EPP placement is unpaid, and your placement has been approved via the Unpaid Engineering Professional Practice form, you will have access to a range of insurances whilst you are on placement. UQ’s Certificates of Currency for insurance are available here.
To be covered by the UQ Insurance Policy, you will need to submit the Unpaid Engineering Professional Practice Placement form along with your placement submission in InPlace.
The University's insurance cover will not apply to placements undertaken without UQ approval.
If you are undertaking an unpaid placement overseas, you must also register your trip through International SOS.
Travel approval form
If for your placement, you are travelling more than 50km from your usual place of residence that requires an overnight stay, you must complete the EAIT Travel Approval Form. This form must be submitted and approved in order to be covered under UQ’s Travel Insurance. Please note the travel form is not required if you are employed by the placement company.
If you have any other questions, please contact the EAIT Employability Team.
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