Well, THAT was different (for us)!

[creekland]

Hubby is a civil engineer and often does jobs in various countries (from home on his computer). Today he got a call in from Australia to discuss a job - no big deal - right? Well, when the dude sends his "job" over hubby takes one look at it and realizes it's a college assignment. Sure enough, he googles the dude and finds he's been "fishing" for someone to do a project as part of his thesis. It's so "comforting" to know aspiring engineers who will be certified in their field are farming out their education. :bored:

 

Needless to say, hubby turned down the project and explained why (not that the dude will care I'm sure). I'd like to think there aren't other unscrupulous engineers out there who would do it for him, but I doubt it.

[Live2Ride]

I'd be the one to call the college and report him....complete with sending his request...I don't like cheaters...

[Grover]

I'd forward it to the college too. That's just so wrong.

[creekland]

We don't know which college. Hubby was able to see the dude left more info on other sites when he started asking. He got more clever later. We weren't able to locate his name, but we do know he isn't Australian from his e-mail - just going to an Australian college as per how he needed the assignment completed.

[Arcadia]

^{Thesis/Dissertation writing being farm out to others has been going on for a long time. I went to university in the early 90s and it was already prevalent. We have oral interviews for each step of our dissertation and an oral exam after submission so that we have to proof we know the work (even if we did not do the work). An ex-colleague was tutoring someone for his thesis in Business Adminstration as in guiding the adult every step of the way.}

^{The only difference between than and now is that people use to ask for help by word of mouth and pay a small amount of money as "appreciation money". Now it is more like off-loading the work wholesale.}

[creekland]

The dude even knew he was totally wrong when he tried it himself. Here's the body of the e-mail:

 

"hello, this is my first draft submited but please note that the whole design was wrong, you can follow the formulas and methods but please start a new design and a new drawings because this one is wrong. i dont have any copy of the dng file at the moment but i will send it to you as soon as possible, please have a look"

 

He wanted it by Sunday so we can hope no one will step forward in time.

 

There was no signature, of course and it's a Hotmail e-mail addy.

[creekland]

^{Thesis/Dissertation writing being farm out to others has been going on for a long time. I went to university in the early 90s and it was already prevalent. We have oral interviews for each step of our dissertation and an oral exam after submission so that we have to proof we know the work (even if we did not do the work). An ex-colleague was tutoring someone for his thesis in Business Adminstration as in guiding the adult every step of the way.}

^{The only difference between than and now is that people use to ask for help by word of mouth and pay a small amount of money as "appreciation money". Now it is more like off-loading the work wholesale.}

 

 

Yeah, I don't really think it's anything new - it's just new to us. FTR, hubby said if he doesn't know how to do this, he really doesn't know what he is doing. I suspect he may really be getting his degree in partying or something. The scary thing will be how he will do on the job. He may very well be able to look at what another engineer does and explain the work, but that's totally different than being able to come up with the work yourself. Without that ability, one really isn't an engineer IMO.

[creekland]

This is what we found on google from a month ago by the same dude (same screen name):

 

"this is the final thesis of a final year project where structaral design, drainagesystems, and cost estimations are involved. i have submited the first draft of the tasks, but there are some stuff need..."

 

He was more honest when he was looking for an engineer then. Now he made it seem like a legit project - the type hubby does, but those, of course, have REAL places involved. This one is just theoretical. It also seems like that first submission he (or someone else) did wasn't exactly done correctly. ;)

[Arcadia]

The scary thing will be how he will do on the job. He may very well be able to look at what another engineer does and explain the work, but that's totally different than being able to come up with the work yourself. Without that ability, one really isn't an engineer IMO.

 

 

That is where internship comes in for an engineering course (whether associate or bachelors level). That is where it can become apparent who are better at what type of engineering work/occupation.

My lecturers hammer in that the root word for engineering is ingenuity so I do have a similar opinion to yours.

 

If he wants it by Sunday, and he is in Australia, the chance of someone willing to do the entire homework for him for pay is rather high. As in there are quite a few scholars in QUT, RMIT and other AU universities that won't mind income on the side.

[fairfarmhand]

But here is the beauty of the situation..

 

 

First of all to become a licensed PE, he will need to work 2 years under a licensed Engineer. Hard to fake that. Eventually, he will get into a situation and his lack of work will bite him in the behind. Not to mention before he can get his EIT (engineer in training cert.) he will have to pass the FE (fundamentals of engineering) (I think all of that is accurate)

 

Next, he has to take the PE exam. This test is killer. My dh knows VERY sharp engineers who have had to take it a few times.

 

So just because he passes his courses and earns his diploma, there is no guarantee that he will be able to work as an EIT or a PE.

 

Edited to adds...these are US procedures. I am assuming that the procedures in Austrailia are similar.

[creekland]

Hubby never had an internship. He graduated and when straight to work at his job. Granted, he wasn't a full-fledged PE then, just an EIT (is that what you're considering an internship? - I think of them as a semester off from college or perhaps a summer job), but they still expected HIM to do the work. We expect the same from anyone working for us.

 

If he finds someone, he does, but it won't be hubby.

 

I suppose it would be smart of those hiring newly minted grads to give them a day's worth of a test at the workplace before offering them a job.

 

This dude comes from a different country - one where he will probably be able to work and come up with sub-standard stuff. It is kind of scary (to me).

[fairfarmhand]

Hubby never had an internship. He graduated and when straight to work at his job. Granted, he wasn't a full-fledged PE then, just an EIT (is that what you're considering an internship? - I think of them as a semester off from college or perhaps a summer job), but they still expected HIM to do the work. We expect the same from anyone working for us.

 

If he finds someone, he does, but it won't be hubby.

 

I suppose it would be smart of those hiring newly minted grads to give them a day's worth of a test at the workplace before offering them a job.

 

This dude comes from a different country - one where he will probably be able to work and come up with sub-standard stuff. It is kind of scary (to me).

my dh did what they called co-op. He worked for a year in an engineering office in between his Jr and Sr years of college. Not all engineers do this. But still, through the EIT process you still have to WORK.

[creekland]

But still, through the EIT process you still have to WORK.

 

 

In the US, yes, but this dude will probably be able to take his first world degree to a second or third world country and truly "be" an engineer - wrong thoughts and all. His e-mail doesn't give us a country, but it appears to be either middle east or toward southeast Asia. His first name (all we have) is Mohammad. Considering I think that is the most popular first name on the planet, it's a little difficult to narrow it down more.

 

I doubt the prof at some Australian college who assigned a project due soon is looking at our homeschool forum and will go, "Aha! Mohammad, let's talk..."

[Arcadia]

Internship for hubby and my bachelors was a semester (6 months) at an engineering firm/company where we have a PE for a mentor and we get a grade for the internship that counts towards our degree being 1st class, 2nd upper and all that. My brother went for the associate degree. He had an internship too for a semester and it was graded too and in his transcript. I was from Civil Engineering, brother was from Mechanical Engineering, hubby from Electrical Engineering. I'm from SE Asia.

[creekland]

Internship for hubby and my bachelors was a semester (6 months) at an engineering firm/company where we have a PE for a mentor and we get a grade for the internship that counts towards our degree being 1st class, 2nd upper and all that. My brother went for the associate degree. He had an internship too for a semester and it was graded too and in his transcript. I was from Civil Engineering, brother was from Mechanical Engineering, hubby from Electrical Engineering. I'm from SE Asia.

 

Well, THAT could be beneficial if that's the system there. ;) Glad to hear it anyway. I don't like the thought of substandard engineers out there anywhere on this planet. Too many lives could be at stake.

 

Internships here can happen, but aren't necessary for a degree or to get hired. I suppose our EIT program sifts out those who don't know what they are doing. I hadn't really ever given it much thought before. Hubby didn't have problems passing either test (EIT or PE).