PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, PE

P.E.

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

What it is and how to become one

Every state, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories have laws regulating the practice of professions including law, medicine, and engineering. These laws protect the public health, safety, and welfare by insuring that those receiving licenses to practice have at least met certain requirements of competence, ability, experience, and character.

Licensure laws vary from state to state and are exclusively under the control of the individual state legislatures. But generally, the licensure laws for professional engineers require graduation from an accredited engineering curriculum followed by approximately four years of responsible engineering experience, and finally the successful completion of a written exam. Some states may waive the written exam on the basis of education and experience, but the trend is toward an examination requirement.

Starting the Process New engineering graduates need not wait until they have four years of experience to start the licensure process. Most state laws provide for a prelicensure certificate for those who do not yet have four years of engineering experience. These are generally known as "Engineers in Training" (EIT), although some states use other names. In New York it's "Intern Engineer," and in Florida it's "Engineer Intern." The requirements for an EIT are usually graduation from an accredited engineering curriculum plus the successful completion of an examination on fundamental engineering subjects. The EIT program is designed for new engineering graduates so they may begin the licensure process while engineering subjects are still fresh in their minds.

The certificate does not authorize the practice of engineering, but it does signify that the individual has successfully completed an exam in engineering fundamentals, which is the first part of the examination process for full licensure. After acquiring the necessary engineering experience, EITs then need to complete only the second portion of the exam-Principles and Practice-relating to their particular field of specialty.

Moving From State to State

But what about the engineering graduate who takes the EIT exam in one state and moves to another before being ready to take the remainder of the licensure exam? Most state boards of engineering licensure recognize the EIT certificate of another state, and credit for the EIT certificate is usually valid for ten years. The engineering profession is a mobile one, with engineers often practicing in a number of states during their professional careers. Therefore, most states provide for reciprocal licensure-that is, they allow engineers licensed in one state to become licensed without further examination as long as the requirements of the state that originally granted licensure at least equal their minimum standards. Uniformity among state licensure laws is a goal that most engineering societies have been working toward for many years. A model law has been developed and has been used as a guide for almost 40 years. Currently, the majority of states require that a candidate pass an eight-hour Fundamentals of Engineering written exam (the FE exam), and the eight-hour Principles and Practice of Engineering exam in the applicant's discipline.

The Traffic Group, Inc. proudly employs eight PTOE's on staff: Mickey Cornelius, Derek Joost, Shulin Li, Joseph Caloggero, Betty Tustin, Carl Wilson , Qiang Tian and Ming-Yu Chien. These professionals, with their knowledge, skill, and ability, guarantee our clientele the highest level of expertise in the specialized field of traffic operations engineering.

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