Dr. Steve Mackay is the founder of the Engineering Institute of Technology. He firmly believes in Nelson Mandela’s mantra that, “Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world.” His leadership has inspired EIT’s unique and distinctive approach to engineering education.

Since 2008 three core objectives define the essence of the institute:

Collaborating comprehensively with industry to ensure graduates are job-ready.
Employing platforms of learning to facilitate student accessibility and engagement.
Keeping the business of education student-centric.

Dr. Mackay has enjoyed a varied career in engineering, having worked in automation, data acquisition, instrumentation, data communications, and process control throughout Australia, Europe, Africa, and North America over the past 35 years. He has successfully pioneered the application of new technologies in Australia and overseas, installing industrial data communication systems and implementing live online education, (including remote laboratories), for engineering students worldwide. Dr. Mackay has been involved in a range of industries, including power stations, mining, mineral processing, oil/gas/petrochemical plants, and platforms. He has presented courses on industrial data communications, data acquisition, instrumentation, and process control to over 30,000 engineers and technicians worldwide for clients such as NASA, Rolls Royce, and BP. He has also co-authored and edited 25 engineering books that have been published across the world. Dr. Mackay is a Fellow of Engineers Australia with a license to practice as a Chemical, Mechanical, and Electrical Chartered Professional Engineer. As Dean of the Engineering Institute of Technology, Dr. Mackay leads the institute in providing microcredentials and engineering qualifications to over 2000 students per year from 140 countries. He has an unswerving focus on student outcomes and on excellence in education.

Taking Initiatives

February 2, 2015 2:19 pm
Courtesy Mityunjay Kumar Taking initiative is about picking up organizational challenges to solve without being asked and delivering results. Taking initiative is a well-known way to achieve stardom at workplace. A FastCompany article has this to say from the book How to Be a Star at Work: 9 Breakthrough Strategies...Read More

Enabling Product Managers to manage

February 2, 2015 2:02 pm
Courtesy Mityunjay Kumar In my last post, Product Manager, or Product Experience Manager, I described the disparate features and experiences that got broken in SiteZ and made the case that product management team should be responsible for overall product experience. In the final post of this series, I will present...Read More

Effective Grammar Checking

February 2, 2015 1:42 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

Why our engineering education system is broken and what to do about it

January 27, 2015 12:13 pm
Dear colleagues, We employ an eclectic mixture of experienced engineers, graduate engineers and engineering students both on staff and contract ranging from few days a year to “14 months a year” (i.e. they work day and night). What drives me into a frenzy (and other engineers around town) is the...Read More

How to Really Make your Learning Stick

January 19, 2015 1:58 pm
Whether you like or not – we are all in a feverish state of learning new things. Whether it is to learn how to use a new process at work or how to use the Windows operating system or how to handle a new automated torque wrench – we are...Read More

Forty Sign offs for your Emails

January 19, 2015 1:42 pm
When we have a moment to reflect, I suspect we sometimes wonder whether our sign offs on our emails are appropriate or a little bit tired. Perhaps not? Naturally at the end of your email message, you should avoid lengthy quotes, massive corporate logos and a brief signature. I also...Read More

What Makes You a Successful Engineering IT Professional

January 19, 2015 8:58 am
Today, as engineering professionals, information technology and software skills are generally a key part of our skill set. Whether it is only using Word and spreadsheets, troubleshooting an errant industrial automation system or specifying the requirements for a new PLC and SCADA system – software is a key part of...Read More

Prepare for your next job interview on Skype

January 19, 2015 8:50 am
Increasingly job interviews are being conducted over the phone and indeed, Skype, as this allows for a reasonably effective version of video conferencing. Skype is a great way to meet up with people far away and it is also convenient and quick, even for a meeting a few blocks across...Read More

Put your engineering career on the high road

January 14, 2015 3:19 pm
The New Year has been well and truly launched. Do you stick to your New Year's resolutions? Apparently only 14% of people do - especially in relation to their occupations. Peter Drucker, the famous management guru, remarked that first of all we need to set our sights higher when it...Read More

The Disappearance of Jobs Accelerates

January 14, 2015 1:03 pm
Ten million British jobs could be taken over by computers and robots over the next 20 years, wiping out more than one in three roles. Thus says The Telegraph newspaper; naturally using inflammatory rhetoric to excite comment. One can clearly see low-paid repetitive jobs disappearing at a rapid lick. According...Read More

Professional at the start

January 14, 2015 12:58 pm
Your Email Address  Consider it from an employer’s perspective. Ensure it is simple and appears sensible. Choose your provider with care (remember gmail is free) and personalise it conservatively. Rate the following examples: [email protected]  versus,  [email protected] Your Voicemail Message Friendly is good, but the message should be brief and effective....Read More

Cover Letters and Resumes/Curriculum Vitaes

January 9, 2015 2:17 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

How networking can help

January 9, 2015 2:16 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

Where to look

January 9, 2015 2:16 pm
Some of this information will vary depending on where you are in the world. Online Sites In Australia,for example,a popular online site for job searching can be found at; www.seek.com.au. You can even create an account with Seek so that relevant job alerts are emailed to you. Another Aussie one...Read More

Commonly Misused Terms and Phrases - Part 2

January 7, 2015 2:16 pm
In continuation with the previous article Commonly Misused Terms and Phrases, we can see few more in this article. Affect / Effect You are not alone if you commonly confuse “affect” and “effect.” These two terms were confused in print as early as 1494. The key to correct usage here...Read More

How to Prepare an Internship Report - Part 2

January 7, 2015 2:12 pm
In continuation with the previous article Internship Report, there are few more important things that have to be concentrated while preparing an internship report. They are as follows: Global Mechanics Cover Page Title Abstract Introduction Section Headings Conclusion Acknowledgments Global Mechanics Of course, reports should always be typed, using double-spaced...Read More

How to Prepare an Internship Report

January 7, 2015 2:02 pm
Internship Report Typically, you are required to write a report about your work at the completion of an internship or co-op. Although an internship or co-op might not be linked directly to a class, per se, the act of writing the report—which is often achieved in the final weeks of...Read More

Tips for Interview

January 7, 2015 1:30 pm
Few people relish interviews, and it is easy to respond to them by being either overly nervous or even overly cocky. It is important, then, to prepare for an interview as you prepare for any test. Incredible resources are available to you, including websites where you can “practice” by choosing...Read More

Commonly Misused Terms and Phrases - Part I

January 7, 2015 1:21 pm
When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, “Did you sleep good?” I said, “No, I made a few mistakes.” —Steven Wright This chapter is for everyone. We have all made the mistakes described herein. How many times have you found yourself puzzling over the distinction between “affect”...Read More

Troubleshooting is one of Your Key Engineering Skills

January 6, 2015 10:33 am
One of the key skills employers want from their people is the ability to problem solve, or troubleshoot as we generally refer to it in engineering. As with common sense, good troubleshooting isn’t so common around here. Dear Colleagues, One of the key skills employers want from their people is...Read More

Mentoring is a Key Part of Your Engineering Career

December 28, 2014 12:08 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

A few Tips on Effective Troubleshooting of your PLC

December 23, 2014 12:07 pm
Dear Colleagues, Some years back, I was engaged in the automation of a mushroom farm (no – we weren’t manufacturing crack or magic mushroom potions). When I joined, the engineering team had already implemented an embedded controller system with the electronics systems designed from scratch. Surely lots of fun for...Read More

Tips for Your Next Outstanding Engineering Presentation

December 19, 2014 12:05 pm
Dear Colleagues, You may be one of the many engineering professionals not particularly enthused with the idea of making presentations. The reasons may be that one gets nervous; the audience shows obvious boredom and the poor presentations reflect badly on one. It is thus not a particularly pleasant experience for...Read More

How You Can Attract Outstanding Engineering Staff

December 16, 2014 12:06 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

Engineering Less with Moore’s Law

December 2, 2014 12:04 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

Murphy’s Law and Engineering

November 25, 2014 12:03 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

Undertake Engineering Negotiation with Panache

November 18, 2014 12:02 pm
Dear Colleagues, The art of negotiation can be a thorny topic. The wise words from a guru ring in my ear: “You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate”. We don’t negotiate enough I believe most of us engineering professionals don’t negotiate enough. We accept the status...Read More

The Disappearance of Jobs Accelerates

November 11, 2014 12:01 pm
Dear Colleagues, Ten million British jobs could be taken over by computers and robots over the next 20 years, wiping out more than one in three roles. Thus says The Telegraph newspaper. Naturally, using the usual inflammatory rhetoric to excite comment. One can clearly see low-paid repetitive jobs disappearing at...Read More

First Engineering Impressions Always Count

November 4, 2014 12:00 pm
The Art of Support: EIT’s Learning Support Officers InformationCategory Education10 September 2020Written by: Quintus Potgieter The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique global institute, delivering online engineering short courses, diplomas, and degrees. Students around the world log into EIT’s synchronous online virtual campus to network with other... Read...Read More

Where Did the QWERTY Keyboard come from?

October 28, 2014 11:59 am
Dear Colleagues, With the rapid change in technology, it is incredible that a keyboard layout designed in 1873 for one of the first mechanical typewriters – the QWERTY keyboard – is still the basis of all our keyboards (esp. the virtual ones) today. The name QWERTY comes from the first...Read More