| 09 July 2007 New engineering registers aim to address skill shortages The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) has opened three new competence based registers in response to the shortage of engineering technologists and technicians. IPENZ Chief Executive Dr Andrew Cleland says the new registers benefit practitioners, their employers and engineering technologists and technicians from overseas. “Worldwide there are shortages of engineers at all levels from trades to PhD”, said Dr Cleland. “These registers recognise practitioners who can prove they are competent to an internationally-benchmarked standard. It will also help to introduce and retain more staff into critical roles”. Retaining staff in critical roles will be aided by allowing those practitioners who demonstrate competence against internationally-benchmarked standards to hold titles that give them recognition both by their peers and their employers who recognise them”. The register of Engineering Technology Practitioners (ETPract) and the New Zealand of the International Engineering Technologist register (IntET) are aimed at those holding three year Bachelor of Engineering Technology degrees (BEngTech). The register of certified Engineering Technicians (CertETn) is aimed at those holding two year diplomas of engineering. Dr Cleland said: “The registers will not only assist New Zealanders, but will also assist in assessing the competence of potential migrant engineering technologists and technicians. The proportion of total engineering graduates against New Zealand’s total graduate population, puts New Zealand at the bottom of the OECD. We are looking to industry to pick up and use these new registers”. Dr Cleland says well-accepted and internationally recognised competence registers will hopefully show school students that while the engineering diploma and BEngTech are new there are good and worthwhile careers in spite of the Diploma of Engineering and the BEngTech being relatively new qualifications on the national scene. The new registers opened on 1 July 2007.
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