Prof. A. Moropoulou, Vice Rector of National Technical University of Athens, Scientific

Responsible of ECS, NTUA

“Employment and Career Structures (ECS) for Graduate Engineers”

NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY of ATHENS (NTUA)

EEDC EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2012 13.IX.2012 FLORENCE

The Global Environment

The increasing threats by various risks and the out bursting socio-economic crisis are challenging engineering at all levels

• Profession• Education• Employment• Socio-political role

Lessons learned from local, national, international projects intrinsically linked, taught us the need to investigate, document, share and evaluate engineering profiles features and curricula in order to figure out a strategy to bridge the gap between Academia, Industry and Policy.

Lessons learned from problems solving taught us that the emergence of possibilities requires the convergence of tools and innovations as well as synergies of global partnership in order to implement the goals pursued.

The synergies that SEFI presents as a very important international body,

bridging Universities and Higher Education Institutions offering various

levels of 3 – 5 years curricula, provide a unique opportunity in unifying

the Engineering qualifications versus educational programs with

the classification of the technical responsibilities’ levels,

accordingly:

Qualifications arising from studies program

Technical Responsibility based on the qualifications - accessibility to professional activities, based on the qualifications

With final objective the Lisbon Goal of increasing the employability common

strategy is suggested to the EEDC

In Greece the Summit of Rectors and Deans of Engineering Universities and Engineering Schools along with the Technical Chamber of Greece (Association of about 110.000 engineers),

is coordinating the strategy.

• The proposals of the above mentioned body are discussed at the National Board of Education which consists of the Board of Higher University Education and the Board of Higher Technical Education,

with the attempt to unify all levels of Higher Engineering Education, on the field of the gradation of technical responsibility and the accessibility to professional activities

Levels of technical responsibility based on educational levels

1st (Highest) level of technical responsibility 5year diploma of engineering programs of Technical Universities / Schools

Responsibility for study, supervision, integrated application of works

2nd (Mid) level of technical responsibility 3-4 years educational programs focusing on technical applications (higher technological education – not University level)

Partial technical responsibility for application of works and participation in study groups or supervising committees

3rd (Lowest) level of technical responsibilityTechnicians at various levels

Technical responsibility for application of works under supervision

Greek system of accreditation of engineering diplomas

Public University (National Technical

University of Athens)

Greek StateMinistry of Education

Accredited Engineering Programs

Technical Chamber of Greece

Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency

(Regarding University assessment and evaluation)

Integral 5year studiesengineering diplomas

(Master level) of 300 credit units & diploma thesis

(10th semester)

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accreditation

Acquired Qualifications Complying with

C111/6 EU Recommendation Level 7

Knowledge “highly specialized knowledge, some of which is at the forefront

of knowledge in a field of work or study, as the basis for original thinking and/or research critical awareness of knowledge issues in a field and at the interface between different fields”,

Skills “specialized problem-solving skills required in research and/or

innovation in order to develop new knowledge and procedures and to integrate knowledge from different fields”

Competence “manage and transform work or study contexts that are

complex, unpredictable and require new strategic approaches take responsibility for contributing to professional knowledge and practice and/or for reviewing the strategic performance of teams”

The outcome of the 5 – years Studies Program is an Engineering Diploma Equivalent to Masters Degree

The structure of the Engineering Schools Studies Programs, along with the evaluation of the students to it, lead to a Diploma

with 300 ECTS Units equal to Master Degree, meeting the requirements arising from the EQF, in order to classify the

Diplomas of Engineers at the 7th level of the 8 grade scale of the EQF.

Greek system of professional accreditation

According to the law the Technical Chamber of Greece provides professional licences

Steps

1.Classification to the basic disciplines

2.Evaluation of appropriateness through exams based on diploma thesis

3.Professional license to exert the engineering profession at the highest level of technical responsibility

9 basic disciplines• Civil Engineering• Mechanical Engineering• Electrical Engineering• Architecture• Chemical Engineering• Rural and Surveying Engineering• Mining Engineering and Metallurgy• Naval Architecture and Marine

Engineering• Computer Engineering

1247 different engineering programs with total or partial cover of professional rights according to the basic disciplines

Justification by the Scientific Committee of the discipline

Decision of the Executive Committee of the TCG

Employment and Career Structures (ΔΑΣΤΑ - ECS) for Graduate Engineers

In this framework common efforts are being developed between all the Greek Engineering

University Schools and the Technical Chamber of Greece along with organizations of development

towards the easier access to employment opportunities for graduates from Engineering

Schools. For this Employment and Career Structures (ΔΑΣΤΑ – ECS) were created.

The page of www.dasta.ntuagr

Objectives of the Employment and Career Structure (ECS) information management system

• User admission through appropriate internet portals

• Access to information and data regarding career student and liaison office (CSLO)

• Content and course management services related to the Entrepreneurship Office (EO)

• Information and legislation dissemination for promoting and supporting individuals as well as groups of individuals engaging in entrepreneurship

• Integrated IT support and automation of the Co-Op Office (CO) operations

• Data collection and compilation of executive reports

Technical Characteristics of ECS information management system - Use of open source

technologies and frameworks

• Modular Layered Architecture• Java Implementation using the Java Persistence API

(JPA/Hybernate) as Object Relational Mapping (Persistence Layer)

• Use of relational databases Postgress, MySQL• Use of BIRT (Executive Reporting) for the compilation of

management reports• Use of the LifeRay and Joomla open frameworks for content

management• Data collection from the system’s databases through the use of

OData and REST framework and architecture• Support for future integration with other systems through Web

Services • Use of the Vaadin (Java framework for Web Applications)

framework for the implementation of user interfaces (UI)• System security based on RBAC (Role Based Access Control) • User authentication using SAML Assertions from the NTUA’s

Shibboleth server

Career and Student Liaison Office (CSLO) Services Support

• Collection and storage of student data records that are participating or benefited from the CSLO services

• Information dissemination related to novel technologies, trends, and scientific directions pertaining to the engineering profession

• Support for the NTUA “Observatory” services, tracking the

trends of the engineering profession and placement of the NTUA alumni

• Compilation of user reports evaluating CSLO’s services

• Compilation of executive reports pertaining to the operations of the Career and Student Liaison Office

Entrepreneurship Office (EO) Services Support

• Provision and dissemination of educational material related to innovation and entrepreneurship based on an e-learning platform

• Storage and management of information that relates to entrepreneurship studies, and practices

• Support of interactive discussion forums, as well as compilation, processing and storage of questionnaires and other related student provided content

• Compilation of executive reports pertaining to the operations of Entrepreneurship Office

Internship Program Services Support

• Data entry, processing, management and storage of information pertaining to agencies and companies offering Internship Program positions

• Data entry, processing, management and storage of student records, for students participating in the Internship Program program

• Management of the placement of students to Internship Program positions

• Support for managing Internship Program related student payments and financial records

• Support for managing general correspondence and insurance coverage related data

Automated Search and Categorization of Engineering Job Opportunities/Postings

(EUREKA)

• EUREKA as a component of ΔΑΣΤΑ - ECS

• Architecture– System– Algorithm

• Integration with ΔΑΣΤΑ - ECS– RSS FEED– Database Queries

• System Management

• Reporting

EUREKA is Not Google

• Targeted search robot• Realtime tracking of new information

(takes into account chronological order)• Linguistic analysis and filtering of

information based on specialized criteria for engineering job postings

• Parametrized automatic categorization and grouping of information.

• Can support multiple languages and track thousands of sources

System Architecture

Ιντερνετ

Ρομπότ επίσκεψης Διαδικτυακών τόπων με αγγελίες εργασίας - συλλογή περιεχομένου

Επιλογές Διαδι-κτυακών Τόπων

Διαδυκτιακό Υλικό

Επεξεργασία Διαδικτυακού Υλικού:

Αλγόριθμος ορισμού γλώσσας

περιεχομένου & κωδικοποίησης

κειμένου

Αλγόριθμος δημιουργίας

κατηγοριών για το περιεχόμενο

Αλγόριθμος ελέγχου και

διορθώσεως κατηγοριών

περιεχομένου

Αλγόριθμος αναγνώρισης όμοιου

περιεχομένου

Αποθήκευση Πληροφορίας Επιλογές

Διαχειριστή

Παρουσίαση πληροφορίας σε δυναμική ιστοσελίδα

Internet

Robot visits Internet sites with

job postings – content selection

Job posting sites selection/seeding

System Management

Material Collected from the Internet

Presentation of collected information on a dynamic web page

Processing of Collected

Internet Content

Language Definition, Analysis,

Tagging

Categorization and grouping Algorithm

Filtering algorithms, uniqueness, exclusions

Information Storage

Algorithm- Key Elements

• Continuously visits selected websites.• Can discriminate relevant content from general or

irrelevant information• Performs linguistic analysis of relevant content ad

creates appropriate XML tags. • Categorizes content into dynamically defined categories

based on the derived XML tags. These categories are based on TAGS either derived automatically from the sites or defined by the system manager.

• Populates database with all the selected and categorized content.

• Ranks content relevance based on recency and addictional user defined criteria.

• Checks uniqueness of entries.

Specialized Characteristics

Algorithm Function Code

Content Selection & Processing Collects all content from selected sources. PHP

Analysis of HTML contentParses HTML content and understands the relevance of selected

information. Indentifies relevant sections. PHP

Content ProcessingMorphological analysis, date/time of content entry, title of entry,

source of content entryPHP

Robot Management System Parameterization of all component algorithms. Definition of

processing order. IF_THEN (rule-based) scenarios definitionPHP

Linguistic processing

Definition of Language, linguistic features, tagging, automatic

detection of language both from features and from character sett

used.

PHP

Content Categorization Algorithm

Categorization based on seed key–words. Blending or HTML

source tags and user defined tags. Automatic

repopulation./expansion of tags.

PHP

Categorization Check &

Correction AlgorithmBased on Tag Synonyms, Rule based filtering PHP

Uniqueness of Entry Algorithm

Detects same content/positng. Similarity filters parse title, and

content and use word ending filtering and time of posting aspects.

Tag by tag comparison.

PHP

Integration with ECS websiteRSS FEED of the most recent announcements

Search Interface

• Characteristics of Search– Free form text– Can also be used with key-words– Job categories based on Greek

Chamber of Engineers categorization

Presentation of Search Results

Results from the visits of ΔΑΣΤΑ – ECS of NTUA

Operation of ΔΑΣΤΑ - ECS of NTUA 20-6-2012

Structures for students and young graduates to explore their future employment

The proposed strategy focuses on:

• Interactive platform of employment and career structures of Universities with development carriers like industries, constructors, consultants enterprises, e.t.c.

• Employment Observatory: documentation and evaluation of engineering employment market and the developing trends on the job market

• Networking with: European Engineering Universities, Association of

Engineers (like FEANI etc), as well as, their bridge to International Organizations, Carriers and Structures like

OECD, ILO, UNESCO, etc

SEFI integrated strategy for a unified regulatory framework that certify the potential access to

professional activities based on the qualifications arising from the Studies Programs of all Technical

Professions

With gradation of the technical responsibility, in order to assure that the Engineer will have the

position according to its qualifications, assuring the public interest.

In other European countries (i.e. the UK) the free market regulates the access to the profession taking

into consideration the professional experience. Therefore, SEFI should have an extended strategy,

including studies and experience in its’ assessment