NEMA is most influential only in North America including Mexico while IEC has been adopted in most countries as indicated by its 67 members countries including the US.
Electrical manufacturers are desperate to merge both standards to create a truly global market for a single product. European manufacturers which are mainly IEC have been trying to penetrate the North American market mostly through buy-outs or merger. The same is true with US manufacturers.
Despite the efforts of equipment manufacturers to satisfy both IEC and NEMA standards, the merging of standards in the construction sector may be a nightmare. An example of this is joining an IEC cable to an NEC cable. There are no exact equivalent of cable sizes for either standard. It will either be one or the other.
The Filipino Electrical Engineer to be able to compete into the global market, knowledge of the IEC Standard is a requirement. The IEC Standard is acceptable in most countries around the world. Notwithstanding that there are more national standards based on the IEC than on the NFPA or NEC.
Click this for the most commonly used IEC standards in the electrical industry.
Experiences outside the Philippines, particularly in the Oil & Gas industry, help me analyze and compare the practice of Electrical Engineering in the Philippines to some developed countries particularly those using the IEC as a standard.
In the Philippines, Electrical Engineering has almost always been a third class profession. To make matters worst, there has been a proliferation of non-qualified Electrical practitioners who are willing to accept lower fees to bait on unsuspecting clients in exchange for a sub-standard work in the detriment of the client and the Electrical engineering profession as a whole.
The European Union (EU) unveiled this week the 'Blue Card' for skilled migrants to suppliment its requirements for engineers and IT practitioners. The plan indicated that EU needs 20M skilled workers over a period of 20 years. The successful applicants and their families will be able to live and work within the European Union.
Welcome to The Filipino Engineer!
The Filipino Engineer will focus on the globalization of the Filipino Engineer. To prepare the Filipino Engineer on the challenges of the engineering outside the Philippines, provide guidelines and resources to be able to compete in the global market of engineering.