ASEAN Engineering Register
The idea to set up the ASEAN Engineer Register was first mooted at the 14th AFEO Governing Board meeting held in Air Keroh, Melaka, Malaysia on 25 November 1996. The meeting agreed to set up an ASEAN Engineers Working Group to collect, tabulate and disseminate information on the education systems, engineering curriculum, recognition of degrees and qualifications, accreditation of qualifications and requirements for achieving professional engineer status of each ASEAN Institutions.
Philippines Technological Council (PTC) was nominated and appointed the permanent Chairmanship to prepare the findings and to standardise the level of engineering competence required for attainment of professional engineer status with relation to the regulation of each of the ASEAN countries.
At the 15th meeting the following year (27 November 1997) in Chiangmai, Thailand, the AFEO Governing Board noted the benchmarking of the APEC Engineer Register and agreed that IEM should host a forum on the ASEAN Engineer and to look into avenue for the AFEO Engineers in APEC. As PTC could not progress due to change over of Chairmanship and lack of information on the procedure for the set up of ASEAN Engineer Register, IEM undertook to finalise this issue.
IEM at the 16th AFEO Governing Board meeting on 23 November 1998 in Clarkfield, Angeles City, Philippines, tabled the first working paper on the Guidelines for the setting up of the ASEAN Engineer Register. The paper detailed the objective, concept, minimum requirements and operation of an ASEAN Engineer Register. Procedure of application and registration was also included in this presentation. The report was an output of the ASEAN Engineers Roundtable meeting. At the 16th CAFEO Workshop Forum (held a day before the governing board meeting) proposal was made to include Architects into the Register and be named as ASEAN Engineer/Architect Register.
The AFEO Governing Board approved in principle a meeting amongst the Institution on the development of ASEAN Engineer in March 1999 to be hosted by IEM to consider the standing or status of AFEO Engineers in ASEAN. The AFEO Governing Board also agreed to establish the ASEAN Engineer/Architect Register and AFEO Board members unanimously agreed that IEM be appointed the Secretariat to maintain the Register.
The first text of the Register was prepared and finalised on 8 January 1999. The text was amended and presented to IEM Council the same month. A letter was sent to Wisma Putra to inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the setting up and formation of the ASEAN Engineer. A progress report on the ASEAN Engineers/Architects Register was tabled eventually on 4 May 1999 to IEM Excomm for approval to be tabled to AFEO Board meeting later part of the year.
Federation of Engineering Institutions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP)
The Federation of Engineering Institutions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (FEISEAP) is an international non-profit professional organization founded on 6 July 1978. Its establishment following an exploratory meeting convened and organised by The Engineering Institute of Thailand under The King’s Patronage with the support of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 3 July 1978 in Chiang Mai.
Being an independent umbrella organization for the engineering institutions in the Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, the objectives of FEISEAP were to encourage the application of technical progress to economic and social advancement throughout the world; to advance engineering as a profession in the interest of all people; and to foster peace throughout the world. The Federation was, itself, an international member of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), that pursues objectives similar to those of FEISEAP on a global scale.
Network of Accreditation Bodies for Engineering Education in Asia (NABEEA)
NABEEA was formally established on August 8, 2007 at the first General Assembly meeting in Penang, Malaysia. Our goal, as a loose network, is to exchange information of the engineering education and the accreditation system among the countries/economies in Asia, identification of the similarities and dissimilarities, and to seek for the harmonization of the accreditation systems.
Our members are accreditation agencies and engineering education bodies who play an active role to enhance, not only in their own jurisdictions but also in the greater Asian region, the quality of engineering education through accreditation for engineering education. Our associate members are engineering organizations who dedicate their knowledge and services for the betterment of the engineering profession. Together, we are making a difference in the training of the future engineers in Asia.
Since our inception, our members have been working on many projects: The Rules and Procedures of NABEEA (lead by ABEEK) anchors and shapes our network as we continue to develop and progress; The Glossary of Terminologies for Accreditation of Engineering Education (lead by IEET) is meant to formulate a common understanding and practice of accreditation for engineering education; The Report on Issues in Engineering Education Accreditation in Asian Jurisdictions (lead by IES) serves as an effective mechanism to showcase the characteristics of the members’ accreditation systems and their engineering profession. Meanwhile, we continue to develop more projects that are of key concerns of our members. Collectively, these projects demonstrate that NABEEA is a learning organization and a source for information , improvement and mutual cooperation.