Chemical Engineering Education and 'Output Driven Accreditation' - How are the World's Universities Meeting this Challenge?

David G. Wood, David C. Shallcross, Michael J. Parkinson
2004
For almost 4 years professional institutions involved in accrediting university Chemical Engineering programs have used what is known as "Output Driven Accreditation" guidelines. The concept is that chemical engineering graduates should acquire certain graduate attributes as they progress through the university program (normally of 4 years duration). The lecture summarises the concepts of graduate attributes (outputs) and considers how selected university chemical engineering programs from a
more » ... ber of countries align with professional accreditation requirements. It is of concern that a number of programs do not comply with some of the key outputs that the profession promotes. As an example, we are living in the age of sustainability and responsible chemical engineering professional bodies require that graduates are fully aware of the essential principles of sustainability. There is good evidence that students and graduates in a number of countries have only a very limited knowledge at best, of these principles. There is no doubt that many chemical engineers in industry have only a passing knowledge of the true fundamentals of sustainability and their responsibility in this area. An important consequence of an "output driven" accreditation system is that course curricula are not prescribed for accreditation giving the teaching institution much greater flexibility than hitherto. Hence we can expect to see more specialities arising in chemical engineering programs with full accreditation. An undergraduate program specialising in biomolecular engineering would be expected to arise alongside a traditional chemical engineering undergraduate program both carrying full chemical engineering professional accreditation.
doi:10.11491/apcche.2004.0.10.0 fatcat:jcbjgrw2gbbiffe7pnjk56i6qq