For Professional Development What Certifications?

[Rich2001]

Other than a PE what professional certifications are required, or recommended, in your fields? What are the good points and bad points.

 

[TWong]

Before the PE, you must take the EIT exam (now called something else). None are required, just recommended. The requirement for certification comes from the type of work you do. If your company needs the approval of a PE to validate their designs they will request it of you or they will hire one. Pros are higher saleries obviously, 12k to 25k higher than a regular engineer, opportunities to move into management. Cons are increased liability, some companies tend to use you as a crutch for all designs, in-house, new product or otherwise, and increased politics as you are pulled between company objectives and professional ethics.

 

[swertel]

The test is now knows as the FE exam (Fundamentals of Engineering), but is commonly referred to as the FE-EIT. Once you pass the exam, you become an EIT (Engineer in Training).

 

[chemicaltaz]

Depending on how long you have been out in the field, one can also waive the taking of the FE-EIT exam. I think it is somewhere around 8-10 years of experience before the board will allow you to petition in order to take the PE.

 

[Rich2001]

A little clarification is need here. My question was other than PE what certifications are required in your field of work? The idea was to generate a list of certifications that are required in different fields, such

WELDING/INSPECTION

AWS CWI (CERTIFIED WELDING INSPECTOR)
AWS CWEng ( CERTIFIED WELDING ENGINEER)
ASNT LEVEL I, II & III (NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING)

FACILITY/PLANT ENGINEERING

CPE (CERTIFIED PLANT ENGINEER)


RADIO/TV BROADCAST ENGINEERING

FCC GROL
SBE CERTIFICATION

I believe that some of the certification out there is just a method for the certification agency to make MONEY, while others are truly needed.

What are do you think? Is a certificate in a narrow area of expertise required? Should it be part of the process of obtaining a PE?

 

[CJM]

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) has the following certifications:

Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE)
Certified Manufacturing Technologist (CMfgT)

Both involve writing an exam on manufacturing principles, & the CMfgE requires passing a second exam on manufacturing engineering as well. Having a PE exempts you from having to write the first exam.

It's not a substitute for a PE, but it is a good addition to it for anyone in the manufacturing engineering field. I haven't written it yet (I'm presently working on the PE), but I intend to after the PE.

chris

 

[leanne]

I kow this is an old post, but Quality Engineering was not addressed. I'm in Quality, so the following certifications through ASQ are desirable in my field.

CQE - Certified Quality Engineer
CQA - Certified Quality Auditor
CQM - Certified Quality Manager
CRE - Certified Reliability Engineer

ASQ website:

http://www.asq.org

Also, depending on what industry, the AWS/ASNT certifications are also desirable in Quality departments.

 

[Bensley]

Can anyone tell mw where to find a good check list or a printable form, of milstones also certificated requirements (Certyfying Agent like Lloyds ete.) in a capital expenditure project?

 

[TheTick]

Some companies (GE in particular) have bought heavily into the 6-Sigma cult. Most engineers aren't overly enamored with it, but having it on a resume helps get it past the HR hyenas.

All this machinery making modern music can still be open hearted.

 

[GregLocock]

Six Sigma is not a bad toolbox, and since we HAVE to use it we are able to question other decisions in the company that are not data driven. For instance, several people have decided to do projects on performance ranking and remuneration and so on, much to the alarm of our HR people.

We might actually see a win out of that!

However, it is no silver bullet, and unless the management are behind it then it will go the way of all things innovative. We are told it is cost effective, I can see that individual projects are, but I wonder how many of them would have happened anyway, and whether the cost of pulling an engineer out of his job for two years is taken into account.

By the way I'm a green belt, that is, I've attended a week long course and am expected to use it, but if it gets too hard I am supposed to call in a black belt.

Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[TheTick]

I like your statement about the silver bullet. 6-Sigma is a tool. A tool can only do as much as the mechanic allows. Of course, some of the mechanics are major tools, too!

All this machinery making modern music can still be open hearted.

 

[ICman]

Certifications further than a PE are somewhat limited to your particular field. Quality, welding, inspection, radio, and other licenses have been mentioned. One of the current "hot" certifications is Project Management Professional (PMP). You can find out more at:

http://www.pmi.org.

Then, MSCE or other Microsoft certifications are popular for those in the computer field.

If you're in the aircraft industry, a pilot's license might be helpful.

Of course, as you know, you can only stamp documents as a PE in the jurisdictions in which you are registered. There are over 50 jurisdictions, so I guess you could go for all of them. Don't know what good that would really do, but it would be impressive .

 

[plasgears]

During a stint as a Plant Engr/Bldg Mgr, I managed a purchasing operation. I sought certification as:
Certified Purchasing Manager.
The logic is that if you are managing or working in a set of specialties, you should be able to find sources of certifications there.

That's where I became aquainted with EOQ (economic order quantity) methods. Up until that time, the purchasing types wre filling warehouses with a year's supply of toilet paper and other commodities. I know something was wrong when one purchasing agent wanted to expand a warehouse one year after tripling the size. I later found out that he was going to Las Vegas as a guest of the suppliers.

 

[StarrRider]

plasgears

At one of the companies where I worked – we had a VERY enterprising purchasing agent. He even incorporated his own little venture and rerouted most of the hardware through it. He worked there for nearly 20 years. At first his company’s prices were 10% lower than the competition – but as soon as they became automatic purchases in the system – the prices rose to 10% to 25% higher. He did keep an inventory and he always made sure that the product arrived on time.

I think that was what saved him. He was fired for his efforts – of course - but they didn’t try to prosecute. His justification was that they were using a “Just In Time” system and he was ensuring that it worked most of the time. After he left – they found out how out of sync their “Just In Time” system was with the real world and were still having problems with it 6 months later.

Lee

Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.