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Vinay Domal, Comparing engineering practice in South Asia and Australia. PhD Thesis, University of Western Australia, 2010"The thesis presents a qualitative investigation of engineering practice in South Asia and Australia in order to learn about engineering practice and the differences between an industrialised country context and a developing world context. Through a series of interviews, participant observations and focus group interviews it discloses the dynamics of how engineers relate to work, to clients, to suppliers, to managers and to each other. It also examines the perceptions and experiences of their daily work practice in two different worlds. The study introduces the concept of dimensions to call attention to the differences uncovered from detailed analysis of engineering practice in South Asia and Australia. The first dimension is the ability of an engineer to coordinate and exercise authority within their own department as well as outside the company and how this makes a difference in the engineering outcomes. The second dimension involves the strength and effectiveness of organizational procedures and policies and how they contribute to productivity and quality differences. The third dimension involves supervision practices used for technical work. The fourth dimension is the skills and knowledge of production supervisors. Finally the fifth dimension involves perceptions of labour costs and how these perceptions influence daily decision-making. By engaging in actual practice, this study makes a concrete contribution to the debates surrounding both technical and social aspects of engineering practice."Full abstract and text available hereSee Also :Vinay Domal &#38; James Trevelyan, "An engineer’s typical day: lessons learned and implications for engineering education", 20th Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference, University of Adelaide, 6-9 December 2009. Available here.Vinay Domal, Brad Stappenbelt &#38; James Trevelyan, "Professional development at university: student perceptions of professional engineering practice", In L. Mann, A. Thompson &#38; P. Howard (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education: To Industry and Beyond (pp. 1-7). Barton, A.C.T: Institution of Engineers, Australia. Available here.