Introduction to IESL B

Paper
Shavindranath Fernando
Past President

WHO IS AN ENGINEER
?
An
engineer
is
a
professional
practitioner of engineering, concerned
with applying scientific knowledge,
mathematics and ingenuity to develop
solutions
for
technical
problems.
Engineers design materials, structures,
machines
and
systems
while
considering the limitations imposed by
practicality, safety and cost. The word
engineer is derived from the Latin root

 Engineers
are
grounded
in
applied sciences, and their work in
research and development is distinct
from the basic research focus of
scientists. The work of engineers
forms the link between scientific
discoveries and the applications that
meet
the
needs
of
society.

Therefore the central focus of the engineering

profession is the application of scientific
knowledge to meet societal needs.

On the other hand Engineers may pursue

creative efforts without involving analytical skills,
and one may apply analytical skills without
entering the domain of creativity.

 For example, as engineers apply

commercial software to the solution of an
engineering problem, the application of
analytical skills, per se,may involve little
or no creativity.
On the other hand an Engineer may design
an ergonomic office space with little
analytical skills.
Hence Let us now look at Engineering from
these perspectives.

Three aspects of
Engineering

Three aspects of
Engineering
Sector A: represents the intersection

of
purely
analytical
talents
with
the
engineering domain. This may be used to
represent engineering science, an ability to
model complex systems and predict their
response to various inputs under various
conditions.This segment of engineering
has, of course, been the subject of intense
development over the last half century and
has benefitted most directly from the
availability of fast digital computers.

Three aspects of
Engineering

Sector C: The intersection of our creative

capacity with the engineering domain, can
be viewed as representing those sudden
intuitive leaps often responsible for
revolutionary advances in technology
called "significant novelty" as well as those
aspects of engineering, not yet fully
supported by engineering science, that
remain more art than science

Three aspects of
Engineering

Sector B : (the intersection of knowledge

and need with both creative and analytical
capability) can be used to represent
engineering design and much "real world"
problem solving. This sector includes
activities
ranging
from
developing
innovative products and processes, to
creating an innovative bridge design, to
developing a new control process for
petrochemical production.

What about the other sectors in the above

figure represent?

Sector 1: the intersection of analytical skills with

societal needs outside the bounds of scientific
knowledge might include economics and
philosophy.
Sector 3: may encompass the arts.
Sector 2: may be used to represent those societal
needs outside the bounds of scientific knowledge
that required both analytical and creative skills,
perhaps including public policy, business
administration, and music.

Engineers Can not ignore the above

Engineers are creative problem solvers

What does the Accreditation

Board of USA say
The Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology (ABET) of USA identifies
engineering as "that profession in which
knowledge of the mathematical and
natural sciences gained by study,
experience, and practice is applied with
judgment to develop ways to utilize,
economically, the materials and forces of
nature"for the benefit of mankind"

What Does the International Professional

Engineers Agreement say

Engineer , Engineering Technologist and Engineering

Technician

WHAT DO WE NEED OUR ENGINEERS TO BE ?

SPEAK-UP, LISTEN: Open and always in a talking

mood, does not ration words

WRITE WELL: Clear and logical writing, in

whatever they write. Fiercely careful about
accuracy.

GOOD MANNERS: Courteous, well mannered.

DRESS WELL: Be smartly dressed to suit the

occasion.

READ WELL: Such a lot of media, news

channels, Journals, Technical reports

WORK HARD

Are you ready to face the challenge?

Are you ready to face the

challenge?
Face The Challenge Confidently
thinking
If I cant Who Can

and After winning be humble enough

to say
If I can who cant

Professional Review
IESL tests theExamination
candidates on:
(i) professional experience and
(ii) knowledge on general issues faced by engineers
and the society they work in
Comprise of :
a) Viva- voce an oral examination (shorten form
viva) simply means an interview aimed at assessing
ones knowledge.
b) A paper which is prepared specifically to
examine the candidate on his specific experience
and
c) B paper aimed at testing the candidates
knowledge on engineers role in society and
general affairs

What do we examine at IESL B Paper

In Engineering Council (UK) Examination there is a
specific subject called Engineer in Society
We at IESL call it B Paper and we test the knowledge
on general issues faced by engineers and the society
they work in
But we have a syllabus which is very wide and relate
to day to day issues we as Engineers face in society.
How many have looked at it?
Have you gone through some of the lectures done
last year?
Are you aware of the structure of the B Paper?
Have you gone through the pass papers and
attempted to do them. What about kuppi???

Paper B The Structure and emphasis

Communication Skills, Code of Conduct and
awareness of events taking place in the Society
1. Written Paper B would be of 03 hours duration and will consist of two
Sections. Section I will be on Engineering Ethics and Code of Conduct whilst
Section II will be on topics based on issues taking place in society, both local
and foreign, and in other spheres other than engineering that has direct
impact on the society.
2. Out of the questions in Section II, half of the questions will be on topics of
general nature where specific knowledge about the area subjected to the
question is not necessarily required to answer them. Candidates are usually
asked to analyse, express opinions, comment, giving views, elaborate etc. on
certain issues taking place in the society. A candidate who is generally
sensitive to what is taking place around him and who can form his opinion
about them should be able to answer these questions without difficulty.
The other half of questions will be based on specific pre-identified areas.
3. Candidates are required to answer four (04) questions; selecting
one (01) from Section I and three (03) from section II. Candidates
can select any mix of questions irrespective of the type in Section II.
4. Each question will carry 25 marks and the pass mark for the paper will be

IESL will be testing you

on...
1. Communication skills - The art
of communicating clearly, concisely and
intelligibly in English. The art of structuring an answer, the beginning, the
body and the conclusion, presentation and the flow, transition from one
point to another, proper use of paragraphs, writing grammatically correct
English, spellings, writing answers to the point etc.

2. Ethics and Code of Conduct. (Refer IESL publications on the subject).

3. Issues affecting the Society Social, Economic Political factors, Gender
Issues, behavioral sciences, National Development, Industry, Commerce,
Role and responsibility of engineers as a member of the society and as a
professional, public perception of engineers, strengths , opportunities and
threats to the profession, role of the civil society, environmental issues,
emerging technologies, International affairs, Governments national policy
and Sri Lankan economy, major infrastructure projects taking place and
planned for future etc.
4. Also listen to the lectures on specific topics arranged by IESL from time
to time and in this series of lectures and last few years on which few
questions will be directly based upon.

WHY DO STUDENTS FAIL IN

THE B PAPER ?
THE REAL REASON:
STUDENTS DO NOT WORK HARD
AND PREPARE ADEQUATELY, TO
MEET THE REQUIREMENTS (as you
did in the school, university, IESL
examinations) - they do not read
technical literature, national news
papers, international journals or
simply not interested in topics
other than their own area of

Problems faced by
candidates:

The problems faced by candidates

and their weaknesses have been
identified to be the following:
(i) poor reading habits,
(ii) lack of knowledge of common affairs,
especially politics, economics, social
issues,
(iii) inability to correctly understand the
question
(iv) inability to structure a response to a
question,

To overcome these problems

series of lectures are conducted
about three months before the PR
examination
IESL hopes that this series of
lectures and interaction with eminent
resource persons will help candidates
to overcome their weaknesses before
the examination, and enable them to
face the paper with a greater degree
of confidence.

IESL will do its part; What do you have to do

Attend these Lectures as much as possible, if
you miss it look them up in the web site.
Read articles of national interest especially on
engineering related issues and issues that
impact the national economy, International
relations, environment etc.
Attempt the pass papers and write answers to
those questions and check with the resource
persons if they would like to give a feed back on
your answers I will most certainly do so on my
subject areas.
If you are not quite competent in English Please
follow an English course. English is not our
mother tongue.

Topics of General Nature

Let us Look at these Awful

Pictures
Who is responsible for
those???

Electrical Short Circuit caused this Fire

1100 lives were lost in Dhaka in

2013

Looks Funny Therte was a joke in one

our news papers

Can we afford to laugh at others???

If Technologists and Technicians try to

do the job of Engineers this may
happen
But are we prepared to face the challenge.
Can we confidently say that we Engineers in
Sri Lanka will not let this happen?
Can IESL assure that our Charted Engineers
are in a position to avoid this kind of
disasters.
The answer is in your hand

How about your General Knowledge

Shall we have a quiz?
What is CEPA
Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
What is NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
GATT
General Agreement on Trade and Tariff
SAPTA
South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement
SAFTA
Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Agreement

Some unsavory statistics Are you

prepared to Change it!!!
Year

March 2013

Sept. 2013

March 2014

Sept. 2014

March 2015

Total applied

534

565

775

801

911

Total candidates for the exam

426

461

623

650

716

Total passed

198

210

354

347

398

Passed candidates percentage

46

46

57

53

56

How Many exams have you faced ? But

Unfortunately these things happen. Can
you assure us that this will not happen this
time anyway you have no choice IESL has
decided not to tolerate this anymore
1. To write the correct question number. Otherwise it goes
to the wrong examiner for marking.
2. To write the correct Index number in all pages.
3. There are cases who do not write the Index Number at
all.
4. To write the correct question numbers to which they
have answered. Some do not fill this page.
5. Proper hand writing. Very difficult to read. There were
instances where the examiner has given zero marks since
they could not read the writing.
6. Read the Instruction clearly before start writing. Some
answer 5 questions. Some answer both questions in Section 1

Theme and Coverage

Resource
Person

Examiner

Introduction to B Paper:Coverageofthe
paper,structureofthepaper,resource
persons,proposedreadingmaterial,how
applicantsshouldpreparethemselvesto
answerthepaper,commonproblemsfacedby
students,howtocorrecttheweaknesses,
generalreadingmaterial.
Code of Ethics:Keyelementsinthe
IESLAct,CodeofConductandByLaws.

Eng.
Shavindranath
Fernando

Eng.RusselDe
Zilwa

Engineer in Society:Socialsciences:Moral Eng.Proboda

conduct,professionalintegrity,genderissues, Jinasena
povertyandpovertyalleviation,mechanisms
andinstitutionsthataddresssocialissuesin
SriLanka,shortcomings.

EngRusselDe
Zilwa

Eng.Proboda
Jinasena

Prof.WL
Science and Environment:(i)Sciences:
Recentkeyfindings/headlineresearchprojects Sumathipala
and
inpuresciences(physics,chemistry,biology),
Mrs.
astronomy(ii)Environment:Keytopicsinthe
currentdebateonglobalenvironment(global RamaniEllepola
warming,ozonedepletion),andinternational
protocolsandprojects/actions(Kyotoprotocol,
carbontrading,othervoluntarymechanisms),
nationalenvironmentofSriLanka,key
environmentalissues,environmentallawsand
regulations,IEE/EIAprocessinSriLanka,
environmentallicense,forestry,faunaand
flora,coastalandmarineresources.

Prof.(Ms)N
Ratnayeka

Dr.Saman
Government, National Policy and the
Kelegama
Economy:(i)Government:Abriefpolitical
historyofSriLanka,formsofgovernment,
prosandconsofdifferentmodels(ii)National
policyofSriLanka:Hownationalpolicies
shouldbestructured,introductiontopolicy
documentsavailableinSriLanka(iii)Economy
andTrade:Economicpolicies,fiscalpolicy,
economicgrowth,structuralchangesinthe
economy,disparitiesingrowth/GDPamong
provinces,balanceofpayments,public
spending,managingthebudgetdeficit,
managingtheexchangerate,tradedeficit,
internationaldebt,comparisonof
closed/open/hybrideconomicpolicies,Sri
Lankastraderelationshipswiththeworldand
introductiontoGSP,SAFTA,CEPA,and
similaractiveorproposedagreements.(iv)
Internationaltrade:RoleofWTO,keyfeatures
ofGATT

DrTLGunaruwan

Mr.NihalRodrigo
International Affairs: (i)WorldPolitics: Recent
politicalchangesintheworld,currentandlongrunningconflicts,superpowers,colonialism(ii)The
UNcharterandUNsystem:history,roleofUN,
variousagenciesoftheUN,(iii)Disarmament:
Initiatives,nuclearnon-proliferationtreaty,
exceptions,historyofworldwars.

MrNihalRodrigo

Eng.
Physical and urban Infrastructure: (i)Irrigationand
WimalasenaGamag
watersupply:Historyofirrigation,majortanks,reservoirs
e
andcanals,keybeneficiaries,agriculturaldevelopment,
And
watersupplyanddrainage,keychallengesfacedbythe
populationandserviceproviders(ii)Roadsandhighways: Eng.Gunathilake
Bandara
Nationalhighwaysandroadnetwork,plannedexpressway
network,keyproblemsofaccessandmobility,andhow
theycanbesolved,maintenanceofroads,problemsand
solutions,(iii)Transportation:Roadandrailtransportation
facilitiesinSriLanka,publicVsprivatemodesoftransport,
privatesectorinvestmentandoperationofpublic
transportationfacilities,congestion,(iv)Urban
development:Urbanization,migrationtocities,importance
ofurbanplanning,currentproblemswithurbanservicesin
SriLankaandpossiblesolutions.

Eng.
WimalasenaGamage
And
EngGunathilake
Bandara

Emerging Technologies:Progressinvarious
disciplines,Nanotechnology,currentresearch
andachievements,SriLankasinitiatives.

Eng.Ranil
Senaratne

Quality Assurance: (i)Qualitystandards:BS,

ISO,IEC,VDEandothersimilarinternationally
recognizedstandards,howtheinternational
systemofstandardsoperate,mandatoryvs
optionalstandards,(ii)SriLankaStandards:
Overallpolicy,standardsandprocedureto
establishstandards,roleofSLSI,testingand
enforcement,legalframework.

EngSunanda
Fernando

EngRanil
Senaratne

EngSunanda
Fernando

10

Infrastructure (Energy):Electricityandpetroleumsector
history,institutionsandtheirroles,keyissuesfacedbythe
sectorandsectorinstitutions,costsofenergy,renewable
energypotentialandlimitations,prospectsforoilandgasin
SriLanka,planneddevelopmentinelectricityand
petroleuminfrastructure,regulatoryinstitution(s).
Infrastructure (Telecom and IT):SriLankasfixedand
mobilenetwork,backboneinfrastructure,modesof
internationalcommunications,newgenerationofmobile
telephony,costsandpricingofnetworkusage,IT
infrastructure,facilitiestoremoteareas,homeownership
ofITfacilities,telecomandITregulatoryinstitutions.

Eng.SamithaMidigas Eng.Shavindra
pe
Fernando

&
Eng. E M
Piyasena

Eng. Tilak de
Silva

Eng. Tilak de Silva

11

Management, behavioral & Social Sciences:

Management:Leadership,motivatingemployees,decisionmaking,howtoconductameeting,conflictresolution,
negotiations,strategiestoreachaconsensus.

12

Let us make sense when we talk and write:(i)Speaking:

planningapresentation,content,delivery(ii)Writing:Clear
andconcisewriting,howtostructurearesponsetoa
question,commonmistakes.

Eng.Shavindra
Fernando

Lecture Schedule
5.00 to 7.00pm

Date and Time Presentation Resource person

Dec 18th (Fri) - Introduction to B Paper Eng. Shavindranath Fernando
Dec 28th (Mon) - Code of Ethics / Conduct Eng. Russel De Zilwa
Jan 1st (Fri) - National Key Environmental Issues. Mrs. Ramani Ellepola
Jan 4th (Mon) - International Affairs Mr. Nihal Rodrigo
Jan 8th (Fri) - Infrastructure (Energy). Eng. Samitha Midigaspe
Jan 11th (Mon) - Infrastructure (Civil related) Eng Wimalasena Gamage
Jan 15th (Fri) - Sustainable Development 7 Climate Change Prof. W L
Sumathipala
Jan 19th (Tues) - Infrastructure (Road related) Eng. Gunathilake Bandara
Jan 22nd Fri) - Government, National Policy & Economy Dr. Saman Kelegama
Jan 26th (Tues) - Engineer in Society Eng. Praboda Jinasena
Jan 29th (Fri) - Quality Assurance Eng. Sunanda Fernando
Feb 2nd (Fri) - Infrastructure (IT &Telecommunications) Eng. Tilak de Silva
Feb 8th (Tues) - Infrastructure (Petroleum) Eng. E M Piyasena
Feb 16th (Mon) - Let us make sense when we talk and write Eng.
Shavindranath Fernando

Are You Ready!!!