ENGINEERS!

[JettaKnight]

So, I, with my Masters education, could just sit an exam to become an actual "Engineer"? How much does it cost and when are they scheduled?

And what kind of engineer is an "FE"?

EE = Electrical Engineer
ME = Mechanical Engineer
CE = Chemical, Civil, or Computer Engineer (depending on context)
FE = ???

Food Engineering? Forensic Engineering?

Taking a test does not make one an engineering. In fact, the vast majority of engineers I know and work with are not licensed PE's. That's typically the domain of civil engineers. Of the EE's that became PE's, they'll be the first to say that it hasn't opened any doors for them.


IIRC, "the test", the EIT, is the first part of becoming a PE. The second is work experience and recommendations by others PE's.

 

[87iroc]

Engineers!!?!?!

The mortal enemy of technicians...you guys are the reason my hands are 90% scar tissue.

I believe all (mechanical) engineers should have to spend time on the service line before they are set free to cram components into designs wherever AutoCad claims they'll fit.

Well, at least I have you all in one place...time to cluster ban everyone!

I migrate toward resumes that say 'car guy' or 'farmboy' or 'Formula SAE/etc' type things for this reason. I think to design stuff the best you should be firmly grounded in the reality of what you're putting people through...rather than the theory of a math equation. Sadly, many don't see it that way and are more worried about the GPA.

 

[87iroc]

Non-traditional path to a BSMET...

2 yr Industrial Drafting Degree-1995
Drafting apprenticeship
BSMET via IUPUI 2006

My advice...go to college straight from HS and don't quit your edukation until you're done(except may be a MBA)

 

[the only Qualk]

This right here is one of the main reasons I am not sure I want to spend my time studying for the tests.

Of the EE's that became PE's, they'll be the first to say that it hasn't opened any doors for them.

 

[CathyInBlue]

Indiana Professional Licensing Agency: FAQ

Question: What are the requirements for professional engineer registration?
Answer: One must graduate from an approved engineer curriculum followed by fours years of experience.

So, my MS degree in CS and near-MS in Physics means squat when it comes to becoming a Professional Engineer (PE).

 

[Hop]

I've been watching this thread... because I'm not a "real" engineer but close...

AS in Laser electro-optics & Electronics. A few credit hours towards a BMET/EET. Years of being an Engineering Tech (taking scribbled napkins from engineers and turning them into schematics then real working PC boards). A couple years of being an "applications engineer". Now working in IT for the last ~13 years.

You might say I kinda sorta qualify as an engineer but I won't tell someone that I am one. Yet here I am posting in an Engineer's thread.

 

[atvdave]

Not a Engineer, just a A.A.S. in Electronic Engineering Technology. But having worked with many EE's & ME's over the last 30 years I can say that many of them need to go back to where ever that got there degree and demand a refund.

 

[rhino]

So, I, with my Masters education, could just sit an exam to become an actual "Engineer"? How much does it cost and when are they scheduled?

And what kind of engineer is an "FE"?

EE = Electrical Engineer
ME = Mechanical Engineer
CE = Chemical, Civil, or Computer Engineer (depending on context)
FE = ???

Fundamentals of Engineering Examination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fundamentals of Engineering?

The test is multidisciplinary. Because of that, mechanical and chemical engineering majors tend to do better (or least that was the case "back in the day") due to more diversity in their respective curricula. It's typically the first step toward getting a PE license.

Each major discipline usually has their own requirements for sitting for the PE exam as well as what can be done with that PE license. For instance, in California back in the early 1990s, Mechanical PEs could sign-off on just about anything. Chemical PEs and Electrical PEs were much more limited in scope. I knew chemical engineers who became PEs as mechanical engineers so they'd have more options after licensing.

Indiana Professional Licensing Agency: FAQ
So, my MS degree in CS and near-MS in Physics means squat when it comes to becoming a Professional Engineer (PE).

Hmm . . . apparently in Indiana the degree is required.

Other states' licensing standards vary, though.

 

[Black Cloud]

307th Engineers?

 

[kludge]

EE Purdue-Indpls (IUPUI) 1996

 

[Tactically Fat]

So, I, with my Masters education, could just sit an exam to become an actual "Engineer"? How much does it cost and when are they scheduled?

And what kind of engineer is an "FE"?

EE = Electrical Engineer
ME = Mechanical Engineer
CE = Chemical, Civil, or Computer Engineer (depending on context)
FE = ???

Fundamentals of Engineering Examination - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fundamentals of Engineering?

Duh... They're iron engineers.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Speaking of the PE exam...

I once worked with a somewhat "special" man. Older than I was/am, but still a young dude. Very smart. Double-major in Geology and Geotechnical Engineering (Very closely related, he figured he'd just go ahead and double major "Just because").

Guy works TWO full-time jobs. Day/week job is as a geotechnical engineer. Weekend job he works for one of the major airlines - kind of as a chauffeur. They fly him all over the world to drive pilots/execs to/from hotels and to deliver vehicles places if pilots/excecs need a vehicle. No BS, either. I've seen his passports.

Anyhow - this fellow took his PE exam at his first opportunity. And passed it with flying colors. But got so impatient with waiting for the results, that he scheduled and took the exam AGAIN, thinking that somehow his first one was lost / failed / etc / whatever. He passed it again with flying colors.

Contrast that with another engineer I used to work with (pavement engineer) - who attempted the PE several times and just couldn't quite pass it. I don't know if the PE is an "all or none" test or if it's modular, but I do know that she just couldn't get passed some of the stuff that she only did in college.

 

[rhino]

Do you know which PE exam he took?

I think he passed because his brain was so fresh . . . he didn't have to use it much majoring in rocks for jocks.

BWAH-HAHAHA!

 

[Tactically Fat]

Do you know which PE exam he took?

I think he passed because his brain was so fresh . . . he didn't have to use it much majoring in rocks for jocks.

BWAH-HAHAHA!

Didn't know there were different PE exams!

He took one to be a professional geotechnical engineer. That's all I know.

The guy is extremely nice. To a fault / his own detriment. Also very naive. A good lot of us thought him to have Asberger's (sp?).

Guy once walked from his house on the west side...all the way across Indy on Washington St. to our office at Wash and Shortridge. Without a coat...in the fall. Simply because his car was in the shop...

 

[CountryBoy19]

Taking a test does not make one an engineering. In fact, the vast majority of engineers I know and work with are not licensed PE's. That's typically the domain of civil engineers. Of the EE's that became PE's, they'll be the first to say that it hasn't opened any doors for them.

+1 Even in the mechanical engineering field a PE license isn't likely to get you anything. I've looked at the options of getting my PE or a Masters.... there is absolutely no benefit to doing so in my career field. No bonus, no pay increase, just more workload because you're deemed "smarter" than the others...

 

[mbills2223]

Not an engineer but I would absolutely be in for an INGO pocket protector. Can I be in your nerd club???

 

[Scout]

Engineers!!?!?!

The mortal enemy of technicians...you guys are the reason my hands are 90% scar tissue.

I believe all (mechanical) engineers should have to spend time on the service line before they are set free to cram components into designs wherever AutoCad claims they'll fit.

Well, at least I have you all in one place...time to cluster ban everyone!

And a big +1. As a mechanical technician, I don't know how many times I've looked at something and wondered "How am I supposed to change that? How am I even supposed to get to it?" Of course the fun thing to do is to wonder why something is designed so complicated, when it could be done with half the parts.

 

[CountryBoy19]

when it could be done with half the parts.

Would half the parts be as easily/cheaply produced though? Often times by going to more smaller parts you can use manufacturing techniques that couldn't be used on the larger, more complex parts...

Quite often there is likely a logical reason for those parts that you may not consider until the reason is pointed out to you. Of course, there are also those instances where stupid happens in the engineering world... every engineer has had a "stupid" attack at some point in his/her career... I bet every technician has had their "stupid attack" as well. The only problem is that if the engineer's stupid attack isn't caught soon enough it lives on in the form of a completed design that may exist for decades to come... for all to ridicule...

No pressure on engineers... they ought to just be perfect naturally...

 

[rhino]

I AM THE MORTAL ENEMY OF ALL LIVING CREATURES!

 

[Scout]

Sometimes there isn't really a "field". Think of satellites or software in cloud computing.

I get the gist; we call them "stakeholders". When I was designing class 8 long haulers, I tried to talk to as many truckers as I could and spent countless hours getting immersed in operation and maintenance.

Of course, you can't make every stakeholder 100% happy; that's where trade studies and validation come in. And then... are you asleep again?

Would half the parts be as easily/cheaply produced though? Often times by going to more smaller parts you can use manufacturing techniques that couldn't be used on the larger, more complex parts...

Quite often there is likely a logical reason for those parts that you may not consider until the reason is pointed out to you. Of course, there are also those instances where stupid happens in the engineering world... every engineer has had a "stupid" attack at some point in his/her career... I bet every technician has had their "stupid attack" as well. The only problem is that if the engineer's stupid attack isn't caught soon enough it lives on in the form of a completed design that may exist for decades to come... for all to ridicule...

No pressure on engineers... they ought to just be perfect naturally...

I don't have at specific examples to discuss at the moment, but I have looked at a few pieces and the wondered why it wasn't built simpler.

I can't really be in the nerd club, but I did get through half of a tool engineering degree at ITT, then later switched to an architectural engineering for a semester. I should really finish one of them.