This Saturday will mark two weeks since the last "principles
and practice of engineering examination" was administered by the NCEES to
thousands of engineering professionals seeking certification. I am aware of this
date partially because coworkers in my office have just taken the exam, and are
awaiting their pass/fail results. But more so, I'm aware because I hope to take
the exam in the fall of this year.
The professional engineering (P.E.) license is given by individual
states to certify individuals as approved to practice engineering in said
state. P.E.'s are needed in every discipline of engineering to sign off on
designs and . But having a P.E. is more than just signing design documents - it
is a recognition of competency, understanding, and responsibility for the
demands and ethics that must accompany this field of work and service.
The process to this certification, however, does not start
with the P.E. exam. It starts with the Fundamentals-In-Engineering (FE) exam. I
took the FE in the spring of 2011, my senior year of college. At that time it
was a paper and pencil test consisting of some 80 to 100 questions (I've long
forgotten those details) over a grueling eight hours. The questions encompassed
both a broad sweep of the different engineering disciplines, and my discipline
of choice which at the time was chemical engineering. Today, the FE has morphed
into a computer-based exam of 110 questions over 6 hours - whether that is an
improvement I'll leave open to debate…
Once passed, I received my Engineer-In-Training certificate,
allowing me to gain experience towards my license under engineers and other
technical professionals in the disciplines and practice of engineering. This
month will mark just short of 5 years of engineering experience, a majority of
that work under the title of Environmental Engineer.
The next step in the process is an application, from which I
must prepare a summary of my experience and contributions as an
engineer-in-training, and provide references who will sign-off and certify my
experience as adequate. Each state's application requirements differ, though
most if not all require four years of approved experience for those with a bachelor's
degree, and two years of approved experience for those with a master's degree.
My application, though not due until July, is nearly
complete. It includes a fairly exhaustive list of my projects, and the
engineering theory and design principles that accompanied my work. Once I
submit my application, I will shortly be either approved (hopefully) or denied passage
to sit for the principles and practice of engineering exam. And so will begin
my review for the exam. More on that in an upcoming post…
I would welcome any insight and discussion from those who
have obtained their PE license, and for those who, like me, are in the pursuit.
I'm sure there are many joys and perils to talk about along the road.
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