Members-In-Training

After obtaining your bachelor’s degree where theories were applied in laboratory settings, you should be put in contact with the practical limits that define your specialty.

This is not an exhaustive list:

Exposure to engineering/geoscience works through:

• Field work
• Trips and visits to equipment or systems in both the operational and maintenance modes during the manufacturing or construction (including exploration camps, drilling rigs, mines, quarries, geophysical exploration projects, environmental assessment projects, and soil & ground-water exploration and remediation projects.)

Application of the component as part of the larger system including:

• Understanding the end product of engineering/geoscience work and the means to achieve it.
• Understanding the requirement for reliability
• Understanding the role of computer software to the total engineering/geoscience work

Limitations:

• Productions and/or construction
• Value engineering
• Tolerances of manufacture
• Maintenance philosophy
• Performance minimums
• Tradesperson’s/craftsperson’s ability to produce, including exposure to the craftsperson’s and the end uses
• The relationship between software and equipment as the system operator
• The effects of climate and weather, scheduling, logistics, financial and budgetary constraints, and regulatory consideration on the implementation of geoscience programs, as well as the practical limits of geoscience techniques, and the development of reasonable expectations for the performance of equipment, systems, and people engaged in geoscience projects.

Timeframes:

• Work flow process
• Wear out/replacement schedules

Surveying and Mapping

Management covers a wide area of an engineer’s/geoscientist’s work, and it is not only the supervision of staff. Project management, including the social management of the technology, is an essential part of your knowledge base.

This is not an exhaustive list:

Planning:

• Concept development;
• Identification of requirements;
• Assessing the resources required and available.
• Acquisition of the necessary permits and clearances from responsible authorities

Scheduling:

• Developing activity / task schedules;
• Determining interactions and constraints;
• Allocation of resources;
• Assessing the impact of delays;
• Interaction with other projects;
• Interaction with the market place.

Budgeting:

• Development of conceptual budget;
• Development of detailed budget, including estimates of labour, material, and overhead;
• Risk assessment of cost escalation potential;
• Review of budget in light of changes.

Supervision:

• Leadership and professional conduct;
• Organization of personnel
• Team building
• Management of technology
• Implementation of adequate safety precautions

Project control:

• Understanding elements of the project as it relates to the total project;
• Coordinating the phases of project work;
• Monitoring of expenditure and schedule and taking appropriate action;
• Performance measurement.

Risk assessment:

• Operating equipment and system performance;
• Product performance;
• Social and environmental impacts;
• Field conditions at geoscience projects
• Economic impacts.

The rapid expansion of technology has made it more and more important to be able to communicate effectively. This applies to all aspects of the work environment including communication with employers, employees, government regulators, clients and the general public. It is important that you be able to communicate concerning your work both orally and in written form.

This is not an exhaustive list:

Written Reports:

• Ideally, you should be given an opportunity to prepare written reports (including record keeping), including participation in larger reporting tasks being undertaken by the organization or unit in which you work.

Oral Reporting:

• This form of communication may include reports to superiors; reports to senior management; or exposure to, or participation in, reports to clients or regulatory authorities.

Public Speaking:

• If the opportunity arises, you should be exposed to, or allowed to participate in, presentations on behalf of the organization to the public.

Communication with Fellow Employees:

• Ideally, you should be given an opportunity to communicate information on behalf of the organization to other employees. You should also receive feedback on your performance and suggestions to improve.

For, the GIT, you should also demonstrate proficiency in the ability to present ideas in the form of geological maps, cross-sections, and other geoscience drawings.

An important facet of the engineering and geoscience professions is an understanding of the social implications of engineering works. This understanding should include:

• An awareness of an engineer’s/geoscientist’s professional responsibility to guard against all conditions dangerous or threatening to life, limb or property, and to call any such conditions to the attention of the responsible.
• An awareness of potential impacts, both positive and negative, of the projects with which the engineer/geoscientist is involved. This should include an understanding of:
  • the safeguards in place to protect the public and mitigate adverse impacts;
  • the quality assurance measures involved with the manufacture of products;
  • an awareness of the value of engineering works and/or geoscience to the public;
  • an understanding of the safety and/or economic consequences to both the public and employer/client of the work being carried out;
  • knowledge of the interface between the engineering/geoscience organization and the public when communicating the impacts and benefits of engineering/geoscience works, and
  • or a recognition of the significant role of regulatory agencies in the practice of geoscience, and a demonstrated interest in the wider social implications of engineering/geoscience, through attendance at public meetings, or seminars sponsored by the MIT’s organization.