Engineering accreditation in Brazil

The accreditation of engineering programs in Brazil is part of a bigger evaluation scheme devised, primarily, to evaluate the quality of individual programs. The results of this evaluation are also employed for accreditation purposes. The evaluation involves three main areas, which are termed "dimensions", viz.: pedagogic dimension; faculty dimension; and, infrastructure dimension. In the pedagogic dimension, the analysis is focused on the academic administration of the program and its characteristics. In the faculty dimension, the items evaluated are workload and work experience of each professor, the adequacy of the professor\´s academic background with respect to the courses taught, and his professional and scientific production. The infrastructure dimension evaluates general facilities, library resources, and laboratories. The latter being the one aspect in which specific laboratories characterize the instruments employed for evaluation of different engineering programs, such as, civil, electrical, and mechanical.