Simplified guides have a lot of value for students, as they offer information on the fly.
EIT has decades of experience to assist students, and have published an online and in-depth list of abbreviations students will need to know while completing an engineering course. You can access our Acronym Master list here.
The beauty of engineering acronyms is that they are universally understood, and a good way to be in touch with fellow engineers.
As a refresher, here are some common acronyms you’ll see often while completing a course in engineering.
A
AC – Alternating Current
ACS – Advanced Control System
AIC – Autonomous Intelligent Controller
APC – Advanced Process Control
AS/R – Automated Storage and Retrieval
ASIC – Application Specific Integrated Circuit
B
BACP – Bandwidth Allocation Control Protocol
BAV – Business Analysis and Visualization
BCU – Backup Control Unit
BFW – Boiler Feedwater
BMS – Burner Management System
BOM – Bill of Material
C
CAA – Clean Air Act
CAM – Computer-Aided Manufacturing
CAN – Controller Area Network
CCA – Common Component Architecture
CEM – Continuous Emission Monitor/s
CIP – Control and Information Protocol/s
D
DCD – Data Carrier Detect
DCOM – Distributed Component Object Model
DCS – Digital Control System, Distributed Control System, Document Control System
DDE – Dynamica Data Exchange
DDL – Device Description Language
DPDT – Double Pole Double Throw
DH – Data Highway
DH+ – Data Highway Plus
DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
E
EDA – Electronic Design Automation
EDC – Electronic Data Capture
EDFA – Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier
EDS – Engineering Design/s Specification/s
EWBS – Engineering Work Breakdown Structure
EW-CRDS – Evanescent Wave Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy
F
FBAP – Function Block Application Program
FBD – Functional Block Diagram
FGD – Flue Gas De-Sulfuriser
FIM – Field Interface Module
FMCW – Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave
FMEDA – Failure Modes, Effects, and Diagnostic Analysis
G
GFC – Gas Filter Correlation
GHG – Greenhouse Gas
GPC – Global Project Controls
GPE – Global Project Engineering
GRP – Glass Fiber Reinforced Polyester
GTG – Gas Turbine Generator
GAAP – Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
H
HAP – Hazardous Air Pollutant
HART – Highway Addressable Remote Transducer
HMI – Human Machine Interface
HPI – Hydrocarbon Processing Industry
HTU – Hydrotreater Unit
HWL – Honeywell
HEETP – Height Equivalent to one Effective Theoretical Plate
I
IBP – Internet-Based Procurement
ICA – Independent Computing Architecture
ICE – Instrumentation and Control Engineering
ICMP – Internet Control Message Protocol
IFC – Integrated Function Controller, Issue for Construction
IIS – Instrument Information System
IPS – Inclined Plate Settler
J
JEA – Job Execution Authorization
JIT – Just In Time
JSA – Job Safety Analysis
K
KDD – Knowledge Discovery in Databases
KM – Knowledge Management
KPI – Key Performance Indicator
L
L2TP – Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol
LAN – Local Area Network
LCA – Life Cycle Assessment
M
MAP – Media Access Protocol
MCL – Maximum Contaminant Level
MCU – MUX Control Unit
MDI – Multiple Digital Input
MDO – Multiple Digital Output
N
NCF – Network Configuration File
NEP – Noise Equivalent Power
NIU – Network Interface Unit
NM – Network Management
NPR – Noise Power Ratio
O
OA – Office Automation
OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer
OEP – Operator Entry Panel
OSS – Open Source Software
OTSG – Once Through Steam Generator
P
P&ID – Piping and Instrumentation Diagram
P2P – Path to Profitability
PCIU – Programmable Controller Interface Unit
Q
QA – Quality Assurance
QC – Quality Control
QDW – Quality Data Warehouse
QoS – Quality of Service
R
RAS – Reliability, Availability and Serviceability
RASI – Responsibility, Authority, Support, Inform
RMON – Remote Monitor
RO – Restriction Orifice, Reverse Osmosis
RTZ – Return To Zero
S
SAM – Sensor Analytical Manager
SAP – Service Advertising Protocol
SAT – Site Acceptance Test
SCADA – Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
SDS – Smart Distributed System SEA – Scalable Ethernet Architecture
T
TA – Terminal Adapter
TAR – Test and Assessment Report
TFTP – Trivial File Transfer Protocol
THD – Total Harmonic Distortion
TIA – Telephone Industries of America
TIC – Total Installed Cost
U
UCN – Universal Control Network
UDE – Unified Development Environment
UDP – User Datagram Protocol
UHCI – Universal Host Controller Interface
UML – Universal Modeling Language
V
VAC – Volts Alternating Current
VAP – Value-Added Process
VAR – Value Added Reseller
VAS – Value Added Service
VB – Visual Basic
W
WAN – Wide Area Network
WBS – Work Breakdown Structure
WDM – Wavelength Division Multiplexing
WML – Wireless Markup Language
WMS – Warehouse Management System
X
XML – eXtensible Mark-up Language
XSL – Extensible Style Sheets, eXtensible Stylesheet Language
XSLT – Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations
Numbers
1oo1 – One out of One
1oo2 – One out of two
2oo3 – Two out of Three
3G – Third Generation
3IM – Third Order Intermodulation Distortion
