Competencies and skills associated with the architectural engineering

Competencies and skills associated with the architectural engineering

Introduction

This study explores the skills and competencies related to architecture engineering. The future of the construction industry is dependent upon competent and skilled architects because they are responsible for developing aesthetic and beyond the boundary construction designs. Architecture engineering is a beautiful career; it pays well as one gets the opportunity to make a significant and lasting contribution to how society is shaped and designed.

Nonetheless, not everyone may have what it takes to fulfill its complex, multifaceted and technical roles. As the study will unveil, the course is associated with a unique mix of competencies and skills. This exploratory study reviewed various bodies of literature to inform competencies related to the course. The researcher of the current research takes architectural engineers, so the themes identified are relevant to his field of study as further explored in the works of literature.

Legal competency

There are often laws, building codes and regulations that restrict architectural designs, and every country has got its distinctive rules and regulations. Being unaware of these laws and regulations may lead to wastage of time and resources on projects which might never be implemented. These laws keep on changing so that taking an entire course only provides a student with the primary and common laws; however, it is upon the architect to do a background search on the prevailing laws before initiating a project. () defined legal aspects as knowledge of the ethical basis, laws and statues that regulate the practices of architecture; exhibit knowledge on and competence on contractual arrangements and needs of regulatory authorities; understanding and compliance with the relevant development laws, regulations, ethical codes and industry standards. () study on the legal skills associated with the architectural engineering revealed that legal architects engage in construction project environment and delivery, which are greatly influenced by various professional and contractual laws. Therefore achievements in the profession undoubtedly correlate with the sound understanding and knowledge of these laws and regulations. () indeed established that competency of relevant design codes, rules and regulation by architectural professionals remains very integral to the industry, especially on mass construction projects. Most nations conduct a critical assessment on the compliance of the rules and Acts when architectures are issued with the work permits. In this regard, the architectural engineering course enables learners to  enders themselves to laws that improve their professional practices and relationships with colleagues, clients and other professionals together with laws that regulate training and compliance to controls and standards.

Communication Skills

Because architects work with so many different types of people, they should efficiently and effectively communicate their ideas to these people on various projects. Accordingly, knowing how to explain your thoughts and findings in several different ways in a manner that can be understood is fundamental to architectural engineers. () established that architecture engineers should maintain a well written and accurate project documentation, and present information on the technical subject in a concise and measure way. They should have the knowledge to influence others, manage conflict effectively and tailor communication to the needs of the targeted audience, such as executive of technical audiences. They should have the competency to document designs and specifications that are consistent with the company practices.

Similarly, () reported that communication skill is an integral competency associated with an engineering course. The author noted that architects should be active listeners and astute observers. This is because they are usually team leaders or at least members of a particular team, which are prone to conflict. The course reminds them that they should possess excellent presentation skills so that they can document designs and specifications that are consistent with organizational practices

Business Competencies

Organizational dynamics

() observed that architects often work in organizations and projects which are full of dynamics. Therefore, it is integral for them to understand these dynamics and how to go about them. Accordingly, the authors revealed that the course equips architects with the competency of recognizing the key influencers of a project and work with those influencers to drive a project to a successful conclusion. The authors pointed to the political dynamics within an organization that can influence a project, and they suggested that when architectures understand these political landscapes within an organization, they can use their business competencies to influence the organization structure and politics for the success of projects they are working on. Moreover, they can employ the awareness of the internal legal organization to ensure that the legal guidelines are followed and met.

Project management and leadership

() identified project management as a crucial area of competency associated with the architectural engineering course. Undoubtedly, architects require good and sound project management knowledge and skills, negotiation and conflict resolution skills and the ability to control and monitor projects against the program and external factors which are inevitable in their profession. () accounted that the business management intuitions and concepts skills remain a crucial determinant to the success of their activities and hence concise knowledge of project participants is critical. () argues that there no one absolute figurehead of the construction and designing process; because it is your design, but you will need to demonstrate, delegate and dictate certain concepts to various stakeholders, such as contractors, junior architects and other members of the team. This calls for basic leadership skills that often improves with experience, but still can be obtained from the course. () supports the idea of leadership and management competencies among the architecture, although he suggests that in order to accelerate the process, an architect might choose to pursue project management, in addition.

Team building  

() defined a team as a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared towards the achievement of a goal or completion of a task; they agree on a goal and agree that the only way to achieve this goal is to work together. Team building is a catchall term for a whole host of models geared towards improving the internal functioning of work groups, whether conducted by organizational trainers or outside consultants. Architectures are work in an industry where they interact and work with many other people, including designers, an engineer from other fields, accountants, and other architecture majors when building complex projects. Therefore, it is fundamental to not only know how to be part of the team but also to know how to lead a team when it is necessary. The significance of team building for an architectural practice has received scant attention in the construction literature. The findings of survey questionnaire, observations and interviews conducted in the United Arab Emirates revealed that different architecture majors exhibit different perceptions for building their teams (). The architectural practices need to be organized effectively to maximize the use of every staff working in the organization. () brainstormed on the process of selection of architectural team members. The authors hold that the team leader has to create the team spirit so as to build on a competent team who can achieve both the organization’s and client’s objectives. This can be achieved through various ways: First, perceiving the nature, abilities and skills for all team members to assigning jobs commensurate with the abilities and skills. Second, forming team early enough to maximize its performance throughout the project cycle. Third, collaborating with the members of the team to achieve the set objective and lastly is establishing the norms of the team and maintaining cohesiveness by having common objectives and goals. Due to the significance of team building competency, architects have to focus on building effective teams. Building such teams start with choosing the right people who perceive working together as the best option to achieve goals and objectives of the client and organization. Training programs play a vital role in improving their skills and enhancing their abilities to adapt to these changes and deliver successful projects. Selecting and applying the appropriate motivation techniques have positive impacts on increasing the firm’s productivity.

Any architect will tell you that there are distinct differences between architecture and engineering skills. However, the two professionals should have a basic understanding of each other’s competencies for them to work harmoniously. A project may have stages before it reaches completion, hence requiring intervention of two or more engineering professions. Therefore, the course equips the learner with what is expected in other professions to avoid confusion and mistakes. For instance an architect cannot submit a design to a structural engineer if it is impossible to implement it physically; therefore, this point to the fact that architects require fundamental physics and engineering principles to be complete. Besides, this could be done through teamwork as () notes that an engineering field is vast, and it is impractical for an architect to all principles applicable to all areas. Teamwork could be effective because there will be knowledge sharing and specialization and division of labor.

Analytical and problem-solving skills

() argues that very few people have succeeded without hitches along the way in the history of plans, and large-scale building projects are no different.  For this reason, architectural engineering places much prominence on analytical and problem-solving skills. Architects are taught to be flexible and adaptable when designing-related problems arise to solve it efficiently and quickly, whether it is a legislative or material supply issue. () argues that, knowing an equation to key into a calculator or computer program is not enough when it comes to majoring in architecture; you need to know how practical actions of those calculations and not only theoretical aspects of them. Moreover, the author posits that an architectural engineering student should also understand why certain numbers are not working out well and solutions thereof. () holds that when architecture is not working at personal level, he is working under an organizations; however, whichever the case analytical thinking and problem solving are inevitable. The author opined that analytical thinking entails organizing the parts of a problem or a situation, making systematic comparisons of different parts of it, understanding the impacts, setting priorities on a rational basis, identifying time sequences and finding causal relationships.

Technical competencies

Studies that examine technical competencies associated with the architectural engineering often include technology in breadth. () held that at the end of the course, architecture majors understand architectural best practices and apply them across breadth of technologies to solve an organizational problems. Articulate views of the on the future development of technology, and fathom the connectedness between infrastructure and solution architecture that meets operational requirements, including scalability, maintainability, flexibility, extensibility, and manageability. The knowledge enables them to think abstractly and exhibit sufficient use of service-based, object-based and component-based modeling. (), further opined that architectural industry is extremely dynamic, especially with the advancement in technology. Therefore, architecture ought to remain relevant by demonstrating detailed knowledge of the concept and ideas, and applications to the clients and organizations. Moreover, they should demonstrate the ability to comprehend information regarding new and emerging technologies quickly. The architectural engineering course equips learners with demonstrable and sustained expertise in various areas of technology and how the technology fits in their profession and everyday activities.

Design Competency

Undeniably, design competencies are incredibly fundamental, regardless of whether architecture is creating a new piece of machinery or doing a new design. Architectural engineering course equips learners with the ability to analyze programmatic requirements and site and budget restraints to address project criteria effectively. () argues that many people see the architect’s finished products and think that it is all about design and modelling. The authors posit that architecture is deeply rooted in the scientific and mathematical competencies, including engineering programming, geometry, algebra and physics. For one to succeed as an architecture major, he must possess strong skills in mathematics in order to understand how and why certain concepts and designs may or may not integrate before they are built

Creative thinking skills in architectural engineering

Architectural design is a highly sophisticated way of building creative problem solving competencies. In architectural engineering course, many learners tend to explain their project ideas verbally rather than through visual medium. According to (), this is because various education systems attach prominence to theory and verbal thinking. Nonetheless, due to the fact that architectural thought are basically non-verbal, the verbal thinking and expressions are not enough. Therefore, architectural course put more emphasis on verbal expressions than visual expressions in design, since true creativity begins where language ends. The rational of visual thinking as emphasized in architecture is to solve design problems via a visual representation of a concept, because research reveals that visual representation bolsters creativity during design stages. Although studies do not show serious disagreement on the significance of a balance between praxis and theory, the common ground of intersection is still a puzzle since theory is often favored.

() puts forwards an interesting arguments relevant to the architectural engineering that if you are going to spend a good time in your career designing cutting-edge and competitive buildings and other designs that surpasses the boundaries of aesthetics, then one needs a flair of creative thinking and imagination. In my course, I have noted that the ability to be imaginative and bring new, daring ideas on board is the fundamental mission statement of any architect, so if one want to remain to the hearts of his clients and organization and well received, he has to be creative always.

Attention to Details

As any architect will quickly tell you, any slightest details, especially in the construction design is important, and a small mistake of omission can cause a great problem. () reported that whether hand-drawn, or computer generated or otherwise, architectural drawings are painstakingly detailed pieces of work that architects rely on for guide. Accordingly, architectural engineering emphasizes on the significance of paying attention to every small details right from the introduction of the course to the end because there is no option of taking chances. Nonetheless, the author reported that mistakes are inevitable when an architect is working on a design, but these mistakes are what define an impeccable architect from the rest.

Conclusion

This exploratory study has reviewed various bodies of literature regarding the competencies and skills associated with architectural engineering course. It considers how competencies are fundamental to the young architects in their professional journeys. Evidently becoming an architect calls for more than just a simple touch of imagination and flair; one needs to have leadership skills, such as team building, creative mind, problem-solving skills, mathematical and science skills, legal aspect skills, not to mention a grounded knowledge in the defining principles of engineering. In this study, the researcher has revealed that managerial competencies are integral to an architectural profession. Architects work with other stakeholders, and in order to get the best out of them, he has to exercise proper managerial skills. Moreover, the researcher has pointed to the crucial need of having a good understanding of the design processes, such as knowing how to integrate visual appeal with functionality; a impeccable architect will actually know how to integrate the two.

References