The “How” and “What” of Continual Professional Development

The time of year has passed when most of us have paid our fees to the various professional bodies of which we belong and now these same institutions have reverted back to reminding us of CPD (Continual Professional Development).  

I wouldn’t dispute that CPD is and remains important for engineers… up to a point… and that is “my point” – What have those of us with at least 25 or more years in industry left to “Professionally Develop”?  Whilst there are always new things to learn and experience; those things aren’t necessarily “Professionally Developmental”.  

On numerous occasions when contacted by the IChemE to consider my CPD – and been told that I must maintain CPD records and CPD in ordered to maintain both Chartership and Fellowship… I ask “how” and “what”?

It isn’t that I would claim to “know it all” given the breadth of what Chemical Engineers do; more that there comes a time in many of our careers that we cease doing “nuts and bolts” type work in the form of calculations and simulations and move more into “advisory”, “supervisory” and/or Project delivery (among things).  

Whilst there are many calculations and simulations that I’d still have a fair crack at doing; it isn’t likely that those who pay me would actually happily pay me parity to do such things.  In my opinion, it serves no professional, nor financial purpose at my age and point in career to increase my knowledge of things like multi-phase pressure relief given:

• I doubt I’d find much opportunity to apply such in practice.
• There are vast numbers of engineers in “high value centres” (i.e., low wage countries) who do such day-in, day-out.
• Engineers working in such “high value centres” are billed out at an hourly rate well below what I’d need to maintain life in Ireland.

Taking a pay-cut, or professional demotion to return to such work is hardly “Professional Development”.  Perhaps the IChemE has guidance on such?  I keep asking and am yet to receive an answer as to how they adjudge what is or isn’t “Professionally Developing”.  Mostly I get reverted back to consider undertaking one of the many courses offered by the IChemE or other accredited bodies.  Back to the “why” question with the additive of “what”?  

For example, I haven’t personally formally done the Campbell Gas Course. I didn’t find that this held me back in commissioning compressors, peer reviewing design and serving as AMEC’s Chief Process Engineer for Upstream Oil and Gas.  

I did however borrow the books off an engineer who had done the course, and found them a useful, fascinating and knowledge building experience – an experience that I couldn’t prove to the IChemE; hence one that probably wouldn’t count towards CPD. Given I went off and commissioned an actual compression train is probably a moot point with the IChemE in relation to CPD.

It is also ironic that one of the most common things engineers in the AMEC graduate programme used to ask me (at that time) was to get them onto the Campbell’s course.  Whilst I agree that this is an interesting and informative course, I would dispute the actual value to many of the engineers who complete this course – especially as the majority of those asking me to sanction their attendance on the course declined my offer to provide them with the coursebooks (that they could read in their own time).

For the record, the Campbells Gas Course is one course that I would recommend to the right engineer, at the right time in their career, and where relevant to their day job.  It does however seem like a right of passage for many engineers and does tick all the CPD boxes for the IChemE.  Whether or not many of those engineers who do such courses ever make use of such would be a curious question.

Given I have been unable to get any answer out of the IChemE in relation to this CPD issue (other than do courses / training), the other question to “how” and “what” is “so what?”.  If for instance the IChemE make good on “auditing” my CPD….

• Would they strip me of my FIChemE status?
• Would they also take my Chartered status?

So… what if they actually did? Since becoming a Fellow of the IChemE, I have not found all that many people who even notice or care that I am followed. Given I work among many engineers also with 20+ years’ experience… few are Fellowed, some aren’t even chartered…. yet we all get paid about the same for similar work tasks.  I am not sure it would make any financial difference to me being Fellowed or not… more of a difference to the IChemE who would cease getting £235 p.a. membership fees…  

It is curious what the IChemE note for being a fellow:

Fellow – IChemE

Fellow

Our highest grade of membership recognises Chartered Members who are in a position of senior responsibility in chemical engineering and are likely to have made a significant contribution to the profession through their experience, technical excellence and leadership skills.

Fellows get access to all membership resources, plus:

• professional recognition of your seniority in chemical engineering
• use of FIChemE post nominal letters.

Given the vast chunk of the world outside of Engineering doesn’t seem to even consider “Engineering” as a profession, I am not sure that I receive much “professional recognition” in general, let alone “recognition of my seniority”.  I would suspect that those grey hairs (where I still have hair!!!) give me that “recognition or seniority” rather than the FIChemE at the end of my email footer?  

As to what I am supposed to do to “continually professionally develop” those last 15 (or less!!) years of my working life???…. if someone has any tangible ideas as to such then please feel free to pass that on as I’d really like to know.