Professional Engineering Certification Roadmap

Engineering

Entrepreneurship


Quotes

  • "Too Few Engineers, Too Many MBAs!" Guts pg 157

  • "Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine." Alan Turing

  • "Your only limitation is your mind." Bruce Lee

Where to Start

You should ideally start the process during college while you have the full breath of mechanical engineering knowledge fresh in your mind. In reality you should start when you are in college because life may get in the way afterwards. You should take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam your senior year in college (it will also help for job interviews).
1) Take FE exam. Go through the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).
2) Track your engineering experience throughout your career. Key words: Design & Analysis
3) Take PE exam. Depending on the state that you are applying for licensure, the PE exam can be decoupled from the experience.
4) Complete your Supplementary Experience Record (SER)
5) Complete recommendations (via SER) and applications

Familiarize w/ Requirements

The requirements to take the PE exam vary by state. There are two major categories: 1) states that couple the experience to the PE exam, and 2) states that de-couple the experience to the PE exam.
Basic Process (coupled)
  1) ABET Acreditted Engineering Degree
  2) FE EXAM
  3) Complete Professional Experience
  4) Submit Full License Application
  5) PE Exam
  6) Get your engineering license
  * States that are coupled (Verified Dec 2017): Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hamphire, ...

 Basic Process (de-coupled)
  1) ABET Acreditted Engineering Degree
  2) FE EXAM
  3) Eng. in Training Cert. (vary by state)
  4) Take PE Exam
  5) Complete Professional Experience
  6) Submit Full License Application
  7) Get your engineering license
  * States that are de-coupled (Verified Dec 2017): California, Illinois (May 2018, application), Lousiana (EIT & App), New Mexico (2 yrs, App), Oklahoma, Texas (EIT)...

General Requirements

The licensure process focuses on three elements: education, examination, and experience.

These are the basic requirements:
  A) Engineering Degree (4 yrs) from accredited University
  B) Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam
  C) Pass the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam
  D) Complete 4+ years of progressive engineering experience

Why: Professional Engineer

As you start your thought experiment to become a professional engineer (licensed) consider asking yourself: WHY? While I can not attest that the professional engineering license will result in financial gain, I do feel fulfilled knowing that I can legally call myself an engineer. Here is a side note: Even with 4 engineering degrees from MIT I could not legally call myself an engineer. I was legally not allowed to sign a consulting contract to provide engineering services. Starting a company where the title or the description included "engineering" requires a licensed professional engineer. The challenge is that the engineer title is socially often undervalued when it is improperly used. Sometimes people refer to technitians, operators, etc as engineers. Thus, if you want the prestige that comes with the title of engineer reconsider your motivation.

In the early 1900's expensive lessons and anomalies were discovered. The first state to pass a law requiring a license to practice engineering was Wyoming in 1907, mainly to restrict untrained individuals from working as engineers and land surveyors. The number one goal for Professional Engineers is to: protect the public health, safety, and welfare. Many states followed suit for their own reasoning.

Engineer Beware

While licensure is exempt from the code of Hammurabi of Babylon, the professional engineer assumes the LIABILITY for his/her work.