This guide brings together everything a Mechanical Engineer (ANZSCO 233512) needs to plan a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) for the Engineers Australia Migration Skills Assessment: which projects to choose, how to structure each Career Episode, what a sample outline looks like, and how to map your paragraphs in the Summary Statement. Mechanical Engineer is normally assessed in the Professional Engineer occupational category.
Plagiarism warning: Engineers Australia checks every CDR with automated plagiarism detection. Use samples and outlines only to understand structure. Every project description, calculation and sentence you submit must describe your own engineering work.
1. What a Mechanical Engineer CDR contains
- Three Career Episodes: first-person accounts of three separate projects or periods of engineering work.
- Summary Statement: a table that cross-references your Career Episode paragraphs to the Stage 1 Competency elements.
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD): a list of the courses, training, conferences and self-study you have completed since graduating.
Always check the current Migration Skills Assessment (MSA) booklet on the Engineers Australia website before you submit, because requirements are updated from time to time.
2. Choosing the right projects
Many applicants think only large industrial projects are good enough for a CDR. That is not how assessors read a report. They look for the depth of your personal engineering activity: the calculations you made, the analysis you ran, the decisions you took and the problems you solved. A modest project where you did the design work yourself is stronger than a mega-project where you only attended meetings.
- Pick work you personally performed: mechanical design, calculations, FEA simulation, thermal modelling or troubleshooting.
- Academic, thesis and professional projects can all be suitable when they give enough genuine evidence of your own competency.
- Cover three different areas so the three episodes together show breadth, not the same skill three times.
- Name the standards you actually used and explain how you applied them. Depending on the project and country, these may be AS, ISO, ASME, DIN or other international standards.
Technical areas that work well for mechanical episodes
- Thermal and energy systems: heat exchanger sizing, boiler design, thermodynamic cycle modelling, HVAC cooling load calculations.
- Fluid dynamics and piping: pump selection, pipe network head-loss calculations, hydraulic system design, CFD simulation.
- Mechanical design and FEA: shaft design, gear selection, stress and strain analysis in ANSYS or SolidWorks Simulation.
- Rotating equipment and machinery: vibration analysis, bearing life calculations, maintenance troubleshooting, reliability engineering.
3. How to structure each Career Episode
Each Career Episode follows the same four-part structure. The word ranges below are practical guides for balancing the sections; the technical section should always be the longest.
| Section | Typical length | What to include |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Introduction | about 100 words | Dates, location, employer and your job title. |
| 1.2 Background | 200 to 500 words | Project context and objectives, plus an organisation chart showing your position. |
| 1.3 Personal Engineering Activity | 600 to 1,500 words | What you did, in the first person: calculations, FEA models, CAD work, material selection, problems and how you solved them. |
| 1.4 Summary | 50 to 150 words | Your evaluation of the outcome and how your work met the objectives. |
Sample outline: a mechanical Career Episode
The outline below shows the shape of a good episode. It is not text to copy.
- CE 1.1: “From March 2022 to January 2023 I worked as a Mechanical Design Engineer at [company], [city], on the upgrade of a plant cooling water system.”
- CE 1.2: why the upgrade was needed, the design targets, the team structure and where you sat in it.
- CE 1.3: “I calculated the system head loss…”, “I compared three pump options and selected…”, “I modelled the heat exchanger in…”, “When site tests showed cavitation, I…”. Each paragraph describes one thing you did and why.
- CE 1.4: what was delivered, measured results, and what you learned.
Write “I”, not “we”. Assessors need to see your personal contribution, and team language is one of the most common reasons reports are sent back.
4. Paragraph numbering and the Summary Statement
Number every paragraph in sequence (CE 1.1, CE 1.2, CE 1.3 and so on through CE 3.x). In the Summary Statement you then point each Stage 1 Competency element, such as PE1.1, PE2.3 or PE3.4, to the exact paragraphs that prove it. If the numbering in your episodes and the references in the Summary Statement don’t match, the assessor can’t find your evidence.
5. Using ANZSCO duties correctly
The ANZSCO description for 233512 lists typical duties, but copying those duties into your episodes does not prove competency. Use them only to check that your projects fit the occupation, then describe your own work in your own words.
6. Is Mechanical Engineer the right occupation for you?
- Robotics, automation and electro-mechanical control: see our Mechatronics Engineer guide.
- Workflow optimisation and line balancing rather than machine design: consider Industrial Engineer (ANZSCO 233511).
- Material fatigue, corrosion and qualification: see our Materials Engineer guide.
- Vessel geometry, hydrodynamics and stability: see our Naval Architect guide.
- Testing and assembly support roles: see our Mechanical Engineering Technician guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my university thesis as a Career Episode?
Yes, if it shows enough of your own engineering work. Many applicants combine one academic project with two workplace projects.
Do all three episodes need to be from different employers?
No. They need to be different projects or periods of work, and together they should show a range of competencies.
Where can I check the official rules?
In the Migration Skills Assessment booklet on the Engineers Australia website. See also our MSA booklet summary, Summary Statement guide and main CDR guide.