DarrellThomasNV
Mechanical
Hello fellow engineers! I’m looking for some advice.
I’m trying to get my P.E. license in Nevada and I’ll be sitting for the test in a few weeks on October 23rd--wish me luck. Assuming I pass, the state requires four letters of recommendation from other P.E.s (any state), and four years of experience among other things. I have the four years, but I don’t have the letters yet.
Here’s the scoop: When I graduated B.S.M.E. many years ago, I worked for a P.E., and accomplished 3.5 years of experience (well documented). I started putting my P.E. package together in Florida where I lived, and I had everything I needed to test, including letters of recommendation--3 of which were P.E.s. Well… military duty called and unfortunately I never sat for the test.
Instead, I was selected to fly some pretty high-performance aircraft in the USAF. It was a blast, and I’ve been doing it for the past 15 years or so. It’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on! So, 15 years older, I'm ready to get back into engineering. Feeling stale, I go back to my Alma Matter and recently get an M.S. Engineering (2009). I’ll be retiring from the military in about 18 months after one more deployment.
As for the P.E., I’ll have 5.5 years of experience (the M.S. counts as two), the test (assuming I pass), the F.E. taken years ago, but no letters of recommendation. Nevada will not accept my letters written to the Florida board, they must be on the NEVADA forms, and ALL the recommendation must be from P.E.s. The strongest letter I have is from my P.E. mentor and coach, Dr. Sidhu, but he regretfully passed away a few years ago. The second strongest is not a P.E.—Florida didn’t require them all to be P.E.s; and the other two guys I worked on a “few” projects and I didn’t know very well beyond that.
I’m trying to avoid the “start over” answer, but this may be the case. Some things I’ve considered were:
(1) Ask my M.S. professors if they are P.E.s and get their endorsement--hopefully I can find four. (2) Volunteer to do some work on the side for a P.E. to demonstrate a sample of work. I still have a day job though. (3) Ask the board for a waiver. Likely. (4) Don’t take the test in Nevada. Take it in Florida and use the letters I’ve got. I don’t live in Florida.
thoughts?
I’m trying to get my P.E. license in Nevada and I’ll be sitting for the test in a few weeks on October 23rd--wish me luck. Assuming I pass, the state requires four letters of recommendation from other P.E.s (any state), and four years of experience among other things. I have the four years, but I don’t have the letters yet.
Here’s the scoop: When I graduated B.S.M.E. many years ago, I worked for a P.E., and accomplished 3.5 years of experience (well documented). I started putting my P.E. package together in Florida where I lived, and I had everything I needed to test, including letters of recommendation--3 of which were P.E.s. Well… military duty called and unfortunately I never sat for the test.
Instead, I was selected to fly some pretty high-performance aircraft in the USAF. It was a blast, and I’ve been doing it for the past 15 years or so. It’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on! So, 15 years older, I'm ready to get back into engineering. Feeling stale, I go back to my Alma Matter and recently get an M.S. Engineering (2009). I’ll be retiring from the military in about 18 months after one more deployment.
As for the P.E., I’ll have 5.5 years of experience (the M.S. counts as two), the test (assuming I pass), the F.E. taken years ago, but no letters of recommendation. Nevada will not accept my letters written to the Florida board, they must be on the NEVADA forms, and ALL the recommendation must be from P.E.s. The strongest letter I have is from my P.E. mentor and coach, Dr. Sidhu, but he regretfully passed away a few years ago. The second strongest is not a P.E.—Florida didn’t require them all to be P.E.s; and the other two guys I worked on a “few” projects and I didn’t know very well beyond that.
I’m trying to avoid the “start over” answer, but this may be the case. Some things I’ve considered were:
(1) Ask my M.S. professors if they are P.E.s and get their endorsement--hopefully I can find four. (2) Volunteer to do some work on the side for a P.E. to demonstrate a sample of work. I still have a day job though. (3) Ask the board for a waiver. Likely. (4) Don’t take the test in Nevada. Take it in Florida and use the letters I’ve got. I don’t live in Florida.
thoughts?
