Benefits of obtaining a PE license

[bk2]

Hello all,
I am a Mechanical engineer with 4 years of experience in design / FEA field. I also have a Masters degree in Mech. Engg. I am thinking about obtaining my PE license in the state of TX but I wanted to look for any inputs from experienced people as to what is the real advantage of obtaining this license.

I dont see myself starting my own firm in the next 5-7 years. Are there any real benefits in investing time in preparing for the exam now? Does it have a value only if you are a consultant in any particular field or Is it just another certification?

 

[electricpete]

I once was offered and accepted a job as substation maintenance engineer for a large electric utility. Even though there was absolutely no design or stamping required, an Electrical PE was required for all the substation maintenance engineers at this utility..

There was one weird part. Apparently there was some accident at one point in the company's corporate history involving oil processing of a transformer. As a result the task of running the transformer oil vacuum/processing truck was now reserved for engineers only. It involved monitoring gages, turning valves and connecting/reconnecting hoses. Not exactly a task that would require any electrical knowledge.

Nevertheless, it was an opportunity that I was very glad to have open to me (by virtue of my PE) at the time.

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[bk2]

Thanks to all for your inputs. I spoke to some of the other senior engineers who work with me and they have this same opinion "You can get it if you want but you DONT have to get it"
I dont foresee any specific value addition (with regards to my job)bcas of the license at this point of time but it does not mean that it may never be one in future. I am going to take the exam just as a personal challenge and to prove myself that I can solve engineering problems on paper as well. I have been working on same kinda calculations for a while , so it will be a welcoming change to scratch something other than the usual on a paper

CoryPad,
I did search before I posted and I was not satisfied with the way the threads had been started to instigate responses other than salary concerns.

regards,
ksbarry

 

[arto]

Comes in handy when arguing with marketing-type bosses, sometimes - especially when safety issues come up.

Everybody has an opinion {like everybody has an ....}, but you have a "professional opinion."

Also, in a previous life, we used to get a buck-an-hour raise for passing the EIT &PE tests [a bigger deal way back when.]

 

[PatBethea]

I've been licensed for several years now. Before I sat for the exam, I questioned the worth of the PE as well. Generally speaking, the PE doesn't do a whole lot for an ME, at least compared to CEs. What finally sparked my decision to obtain my license was a comment an older engineer made to me when I asked him. He described a situation where two candidates apply and interview for a job and both have identical credentials, but one has the PE. Who's going to get that job?

Anyway, my wife and I recently started our own engineering firm. This was not something I could have foreseen 6 or 7 years ago, but I'm glad I already had the license in place and kept it current over the years.

 

[Ashereng]

I have a P. Eng. I am a professional engineer.

If I don't have a P.Eng, then I am not a professional engineer (and I can't call myself one). I am only a guy doing technical work.

If you have the time, make to effort to get it. If you don't have the time, then I guess not. The cost really isn't that much (at least where I am). The tough part is the time commitment - but you only need to do it once (most states have comity).

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[plasgears]

I personally found the preparation for the PE exams very stimulating. I took an eight week in-plant course for preparation. Everybody has their short cuts, and I learned a few.

My favorite problem was working out an AC air mixture problem on the psychrometic chart. Finding conditions A and B on the chart and determining the proportional mix point was astounding to the class. The response was 'Is that all there is?'

 

[crjones]

As the liability attorney that I used to work for pointed out, once you have your license everything you sign,from an engineering standpoint whether or not it expliciting requires a license, makes you directly liable. Even when your industry generally has an industrial exemption it no longer protects you in many states. So if you go for it beaf up your insurance.

 

[rbulsara]

Every job/task that involves responsibility invovles liability. If you are in the USA, it does not matter if you are responsible, you can still get dragged in to a litigation.

Do not assume improper liability, but be responsible enough to take on responsibilities, if you are to persue any kind of success.

As someone here the line "It's not the failure but the fear of failure that keeps you from success".

 

[prost]

with all this talk of liability, it occurred to me that maybe the entire reason for the professional registration system is to know whom to hold personally responsible when something goes wrong. It may be that even non registered engineers are held directly liable, but I think it's pretty rare. Certainly if there is a name at the end of a document with a faulty design printed on it, it's very easy to go after that name at the end. The company the name belongs to is always sued, of course, because of deep pockets.

If you aren't registered, it is easier for you to stay anonymous when something goes wrong. Was any engineer held liable for the Pinto gas tanks exploding on impact? Or for the bad latch design on the DC-10? But someone surely was held personally responsible for the collapse of the Hyatt
Regency walkway. The primary difference between these 3 is that only the last one had some registered engineer's name attached to the design documents.

Personally I won't affix my stamp to any document unless it is absolutely necessary, and I stay away from any client who needs such a stamp.

 

[rbulsara]

prost:

Nothing can be farther from truth if you say if you did not stamp a drawing you are not responsible. The litigation does not work that way. The key is to establish negligence, not whether or not you were qualified for the task. In fact someone is found making decisions, that he/she is not qualified to make, he/she can be even more severely punished.

If you have a license you have better chance of defending your decisions as at least you had the credentials. So whether or not you stamped the drawings, if it can be proved without reasonable doubt that you made the decisions, even if the superiors failed to catch your mistakes, you are still liable.

The key is to not to commit negligence. Stamping drawings is merely a statutory requirement. One cannot be absolved of his/her actions and their consequences just because they do not possess a license or do.

 

[LSThill]

Team Member's:

Have you ever read the articles: "ENGINEERING and The LAW"? ****Was Publish in the late 1970, & 1980.

Technical Note: If you are working other then the (NOT IN)United State how long will you be detain or in jail.

 

[monkeydog]

My senior year in collage, I took (and passed) the EIT exam. My first job and since has been in the aerospace industry. I have discussed with other non-PE's the merits of taking an getting the PE licence. Almost alway met with opposition, as it is not needed in my line of aerospace business.

After some years of meeting and discussing this with aerospace retreads (started aerospace, fired due to lack of work - then obtaining their PE, and rehiring to aerospace) I got my PE for insurance in case of lack of work (about 20 years after the EIT).

After getting my PE licence and simply adding it to my email sig block, I noticed a positive change is how managers, customers, and suppliers responded to me. I have never used it, I don't even have a stamp. Nothing else changed.

I cannot put a measureable value on the benefit of obtaining the PE licence, but it is there.

I would recommend pursuing the PE licence.

 

[EddyC]

At my last job there were a lot of phonies with questionable credentials who were given the engineer title by the company in order to fool the customers. None of them had or could ever get a PE. This kind of company is precisely why engineering licensure was developed and why every qualifed person should pursue their PE.

 

[ScottyUK]

EddyC,

You have summed up my view perfectly. Merry Christmas!


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Sometimes I only open my mouth to swap feet...

 

[rmw]

KSBarry,

Do a careerbuilder.com or a monster.com or whatever job seeking website you like search for your discipline and field and see how many job descriptions state that PE is preferred or required and then make up your own mind.

rmw

 

[WoodyPE]

I'm a mechanical PE (registered in NC) with "inactive" status. I also recently attained six sigma black belt certification, which would qualify me as "active" on the CEU count for 2 or 3 more years, but why bother?

Anyway, if your state does not allow the "inactive status" then use reciprocity to activate your PE license in NC. You can pay your $40 a year and remain inactive.

To continue the "active status" requires you to have continuous education hours (CEUs). None of it comes close to "real" on-the-job experience. If you have the full weight of a plant's operation riding on your expertise, then I'd count that above all the courses that meet CEU requirements.

When the rubber meets the road -- that's what seperates the engineers from the wannabes. When you have a highly visible problem with no immediate solution, but you're confident your expertise will solve it -- you are then a professional. Shut out the heckleres, the naysayers, and just do your job -- it works every time.

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/gadgetforum/index.html

 

[prost]

I've read perhaps a thousand failure analysis cases, and never once heard of a non PE getting sued for negligence or any other act as far as I recall. So legally someone may be held negligent, but it seems to be pretty rare occurrence for any engineer, but non PEs in particular.

 

[prost]

rbulsara: I very much doubt what I said about liability at first could be the one thing in the universe that is 'farthest from the truth."

 

[WoodyPE]

A civil Engineer without a PE is a different story altogether.

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/gadgetforum/index.html

 

[rbulsara]

prost:

Not to parse words, but to say that by not sealing and signing drawings, you avoid liability, is not true at all. If any thing it could work against you in a real litigation.