So, they graduated. They chose to end after 3 years with a Bachelor Degree. and i still have one more year to go to straightly graduate to Master of Engineering. am i doing the right thing here? how big of advantage am i getting? questions been asking to myself for quite a while. I guess we'll juz wait and see.
the status of this British system of MEng is somewhat still blurry. I heard, JPA only looks at it as a degree coz its an undergraduated course; direct 4 years without graduating 1st as a 'Bachelor'. if so, how about British's system of BEng? a lower degree? same level?
Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) only accredited 4 years of MEng from university of Nottingham. According to the BEM's website, this means that only through MEng (for University of Nottingham), the graduated students can register with BEM as a 'Graduate Engineer'. The BEM justify it by saying that students must go through 4 years of engineering programme for 'em to be qualified to register as 'Graduate Engineer'. Every other BEng programmes in other local University (which has a duration of 4 years) is accredited and the graduate can register as 'Graduate Engineer'. This is a list from BEM's website.
http://www.bem.org.my/v3/pdf/listofaccreditedprogrammes.pdf
What does this say then to my fellow frens who juz graduated with BEng from University of Nottingham? I'm not sure but I certainly haven't heard my seniors has a hard time finding job because of that technicality. One even earning over RM20k a month working at Schlumbeger with juz a BEng in Mechanical Engineering.
So, what's the difference actually? Asked around at the UNiM's career fair some months ago, all (Shell, Cameron (oil&gas), Sime Darby) said that they do differentiate MEng and BEng. mostly with a higher salary for MEng. guess, to really know it, i juz have to look at my seniors who graduated with MEng.
Btw, below is an explaination by Dr Stewart McWilliam, director of studies for Mechanical Engineering about MEng/BEng.
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Dear Hadi,
BEng (Bachelor of Engineering) and MEng (Master of Engineering) are both undergraduate courses.
MSc (Master of Science) is a postgraduate course.
The BEng and MEng Mechanical Engineering courses are accredited by the Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE). This means that the courses are recognised by the Engineering Council in the UK. The MEng is the preferred route to becoming a Professional Engineer – in the UK a Professional Engineer is called a Chartered Engineer. A student with a BEng qualification needs to study to a higher level (possibly an MSc) before they are eligible to apply to become a Chartered/Professional Engineer.
In Malaysia only 4 year MEng courses are accredited by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM). If you wish to be a professional engineer in Malaysia it is advisable to take the MEng. The Malaysia Campus had an accreditation visit by the BEM approx 3 weeks ago. As yet we have not recieved the final verdict, but we are hopeful that the Mechanical Engineering MEng course will be accredited by BEM.
In the UK we offer an MSc in Mechanical Engineering. Currently we do not offer an MSc at the Malaysia campus. The UK MSc offers students the possibility of upgrading their BEng qualification for the purposes of becoming a Chartered Engineer. Many of the modules studied on the MSc are identical to those offered at the Malaysia campus. The majority of modules on the MSc are at level 4 (MM 4 CFD is a level 4 module). The MSc is a full year course starting in September and finishing in August, involving 180 credits, 60 of which are for an individual project. In contrast, the 4th year of the MEng is from September to June and involves only 120 credits. A significant difference is that the MEng involves a large Group Development Project (40 credits). This project is design related involving writing a business plan, conceptual design, design evolution, proof of concept, and possibly manufacturing a prototype.
In summary the MEng is more focused on the needs of engineering industry than the MSc, whilst the MSc is used to enable a BEng student to study to the required higher level to become a Chartered/Professional Engineer. Ultimately the choice is yours. If you are intending to embark on a career in industry my advice would be to take the MEng. Alternatively you could take a BEng and then an MSc. One final point is that you should check the requirements in your country for becoming a Professional engineer, as this may help you decide.
I hope this is helpful,
Regards,
Stewart
Director of Studies
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering
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