Prof Mark Alexander teaches Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, dealing with researching Cement and Concrete Materials Engineering, and has research experience in the areas of design and construction. He has visited India a couple of times and has mainly taught postgraduate civil engineering students at IIT-M along with a few other colleges. President of RILEM (Reunion Internationale des Laboratoires et Experts des Materiaux), an international organisation that conducts research in materials and structures, he is a specialist consultant on concrete materials.
Edex caught up with the professor, who was recently in the city to give guest lectures to civil engineering students
How has your experience of teaching been in India?
I have mainly taught postgraduate students at IIT-Madras. I’ve given a few lectures to undergraduates. They’ve got a bright set of students here. They compare with the best in the world. They are very informed, quite interactive, ask good questions, are extremely respectful, obliging and very easy to work with. I have not only taught them through lectures but have had quite a lot of one-on-one interactions. I have seen a large research group here involved with building materials. I’ve given critical inputs on their projects and have watched them develop it. That has been an incredible experience — just to see how they think, how they work. They’ve taught me a lot as well.
I have also given a couple of lectures to undergraduates at Vellore Institute of Technology and SRM as well. At VIT the students were very responsive, they asked me why I was here, what I was doing, and we even spoke about cricket!
Do you see any difference in the pedagogy of civil engineering, construction and design in India?
Models and pedagogy are pretty much the same. I am talking about the civil engineering department here at IIT. They are given a very conducive environment here to have their questions addressed. They press us for answers, information and understanding. The research environment is very rich here; on par with top institutions I have known or have worked with not just in my country but other countries as well.
Can you tell us something about the licensing practices with respect to civil engineers and architects in South Africa as opposed to India?
In South Africa, an engineer who graduates needs to look for professional registration in five to ten years of graduation. When they first graduate, they’re not yet full professional engineers. The graduate has to register with the engineering council and go through an approved training scheme. It’s not a formalised scheme but they need to work with sufficient standards and responsibility under the guidance or mentorship of an existing professional engineer.
At a certain point in that process, they need to submit documentation showing projects that they’ve dealt with, have worked on, and at what level they worked. After an interview, they will be registered as professional engineers, which in South Africa is known as the PrEng. PrEng (Professional Engineer) is a necessary qualification to undertake civil work.
Our graduates have to take that next step of professional qualification. In India it is not quite so formalised. In US, it is the other extreme; every State in which you wish to work has a PrEng.
Recently, Chennai saw a spate of building collapses. It is not easy to hold a structural engineer accountable in such instances. How is it in South Africa?
In case of professional negligence, there may be criminal and civil proceedings initiated against them, but that’s the legal justice system. The council will also have the right to call an engineer in and examine his/her professional performance. If found negligent, one can lose his/her licence. The degree is only the first step after which you have to get professional qualification, and you have to go through a programme of experiential learning. Experiential learning involves training under the mentorship of a senior engineer, who eventually needs to sign off on your professional competence. After that, a panel of professional engineers interview you about your experience.
The registration is a public protection mechanism, which ensures that practising engineers have a certain level of competence. Every five years you have to renew your registration, showing evidence that you have kept up with professional standards by attending seminars and engaging in reading and courses to ensure that you are up to date.
We’re building infrastructure in which people live and work. If something goes wrong, the public is harmed. So there should be better enforcement of systems.
suraksha@newindianexpress.com