I was about 10 minutes into a grad school course on Fatigue and Creep when the professor announced.
“If you’re not a PE, you are not an engineer.”
I had to choke back an immediate scathing reply, and proceeded to spend the next week fuming over his words. What about my degree? What about the last 2 and a half years working as an engineer? How dare he call me not an engineer!?
I can tell you the exact moment when I stopped fuming and started thinking: I was getting frustrated with a coworker and was raging in my mind that he was simply grandfathered into the engineering position since he spent most of his life out on the production floor of the company. Who is he to call himself an engineer?
The realization of what I’d been thinking floored me: What about his 20+ years of experience? What about his knowledge of how the system works? What about all the time he spent doing engineering work before I was even in high school? How dare I call him not an engineer!?
To PE or not to PE
Engineering is a profession, and just like other professions, like doctors or lawyers, engineering must have some sort of legal status and entry criteria. (Otherwise my 6 year old nephew could be considered an engineer when he is playing with his blocks)
So what is that criteria? It varies from state to state, but generally to become a PE one must:
- Graduate with a degree from a four-year university in engineering.
- Complete a standard Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam
- Accumulate a certain amount of engineering experience typically under the supervision of a P.E.
- Complete the Principles and Practice in Engineering exam (PE)
As a PE one may sign and seal official legal documents. As a PE you’re also considered legally responsible.
Some people actually prefer not to gain PE status because of the liability they take on (I.e. someone can sue the company AND sue you as well!). Others simply have no desire to spend their careers stamping plans and checking others work, something not uncommon in large companies where only a few PEs exist.
A Rose by Any Other Name…
So what does it mean if you’re not a PE but still working as an engineer for your company? There is a term for those with a degree in engineering called a “Graduate Engineer.” If you’re working in an engineering position without a degree or PE certification you can be called an “Operating Engineer.” However you’re an engineer only as long as the company calls your position an engineer.
So was my professor right? Technically, with my degree I’m an engineer, but then again so is the guy sitting next to me with no engineering degree. So who is right here? What is an engineer?
- A PE?
- Someone with an engineering degree?
- Anyone with an engineer title?
Or is being an engineer more than that? Is it a state of mind? Part of someone’s personality?
It can be a pretty hot debate, so I welcome the comments!
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February 8, 2012 at 4:25 pm
So are there then no engineers outside of the USA since the NCEES is a US organization? What if a country’s equivalent of the NCEES isn’t rigorous or is non-existent? Is there a reason why only the NCEES can call somebody an engineer? Sure, they’re recognized by our government, but our government sure makes a lot of mistakes. I happen to think my hard-earned engineering degree from a high powered top college is worth more than membership in this vaunted fraternity. According to your professors logic Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison weren’t engineers nor were the vast majority of people who made engineering discoveries. I’d love to see this prof tell my old circuits professor that even though he’s the father of nonlinear circuit theory he’s still not an electrical engineer. I could come up with a few other good reasons, but this is getting long already…
So what does make an engineer? Some hotels call their maintenance lead an engineer. I could buy an engineering degree from an online college. I’d argue that these two examples don’t make engineers. I could work as an engineer somewhere where I only run absurdly simple software or process simple documents. I’d argue that these three examples don’t make engineers. Despite our needs as humans to categorize, I think this definition must remain nebulous.
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