Developing Engineers are responsible for their own development, and for maintaining their quarterly reports. They should ensure that quarterly reports are submitted in a timely manner to allow the mentor time to engage with the Line Manager and others before verifying the reports online. Developing Engineers must ensure that they meet their Mentor regularly (at least once a quarter) and take responsibility for arranging these meetings. These meetings will review progress in the achievement of competence, and will assess their progress against UK-SPEC using the Annual Assessment Report.

Responsibilities

The Developing Engineer should be encouraged to take ownership of their professional development,. They must make a commitment to professionalism from the earliest stage. It is important to accept that technical expertise alone does not make a professional engineer. The mentor should be seen as a valuable resource and facilitator who can help the individual to recognise the range of skills, knowledge and understanding involved in reaching their goal.

During the period of initial professional development, a Developing Engineer will develop a range of personal styles and will need to recognise the effect of this style on others. They should be expected to seek creative opportunities and develop the habit of creative thinking.

Mentors

Each Developing Engineer participating in the scheme should be assigned a mentor. The role of the mentor is to establish a peer-to-peer relationship at the outset, acting as a counsellor and guide to support the Developing Engineer to complete IPD and achieve the level of competence necessary for professional registration. The mentor may assist the Developing Engineer to identify and arrange appropriate placements. Regular meetings should be arranged to review progress, and whilst early submission of reports is the responsibility of the Developing Engineer, during these meetings, the mentor should ensure that records are being maintained and appropriate levels of competence demonstrated.

Responsibilities

The mentor indirectly represents IMechE and as a result, the standards set down by the Engineering Council. More importantly, they are assessing the Developing Engineer’s performance against the professional demands of their company and aligning these with UK-SPEC. The mentor must liaise regularly with line managers and Personnel or Training department and should develop and manage these relationships as well as the relationship with the Developing Engineer.

A mentor can expect to mentor no more than one or two Developing Engineers at one time, with perhaps three or four in exceptional circumstances, and then only for a limited period. Ideally, a mentor should not be the Developing Engineer’s line manager, although it is accepted that on occasions, there is no other option, particularly in SMEs. If this happens, the mentor must be aware of a possible conflict of interest and be able to manage the situation.

Delegate Mentor

MPDS requires that all mentors are Chartered or Incorporated Engineers of any discipline. However, in specific circumstances it may be more appropriate for the day-to-day mentoring to be undertaken by someone other than the person registered as their mentor. These situations are as follows:

If the Developing Engineer is likely to spend an extended period working in a location which will make it difficult to meet with the mentor regularly, it may be more suitable for the employer or mentor to ask a professional engineer or line manager at the Developing Engineer’s place of work to act as delegate mentor.

If within a scheme, there are not enough mentors to support the Developing Engineers who would like to register on the scheme, the employer or registered mentor should consider appointing another professional engineer to act as delegate mentor. (IMechE recommends that a mentor should not support more than two Developing Engineers at any one time).

In all instances, the delegate mentor is not required to be a Chartered or Incorporated Engineer. The person registered as the Developing Engineer’s mentor is required to approve the various online MPDS submissions. Read-only access to e-MPDS is available for delegate mentors to view evidence and reports online, so that suggestions and recommendations can be made, prior to approval by the registered mentor.

Line Managers

• The line manager plays an important, but sometimes understated, role in the Scheme. They should:
• Understand how the Scheme operates and the benefits to the company and individual
• Provide opportunities for the development of the appropriate competences by enabling access to particular areas of work
• Set appropriate and challenging objectives
• Provide training and/or coaching, if appropriate, so that the Developing Engineer has the skills to achieve the objectives
• Provide feedback to the mentor on how successfully the Developing Engineer completed their objectives

Industry Liaison Officers

These individuals are key contacts between various professional engineering institutions and the company. They assist with the dissemination of important information and usually feed back this information to personnel within the company in a co-ordinated way. They are key communicators of the needs of industry, and should ensure that these needs are being met by professional Institutions.