Trends in Trainings on Engineering Standards 2

[Anoop_gupta]

Hi,

Could anybody please help me with the following information:

1) Frequency of engineers receiving trainings on standards/competencies set by organizations such as ASME, IEEE, ASTM, etc.? Average number of trainings per engineer per year?

2) Corporates spend per year per engineer on trainings for standard-based certifications and compliances? Is this spend increasing or decreasing and how much has been the year-on-year growth in spend in the last five years? Also, is this spend expected to grow in future? If yes, then how much growth is expected?

3) Key challenges faced by corporates/engineers in maintaining standards compliance, acquiring or retaining certifications, and understanding and applying appropriate standards to designs?

Any help would be of highly appreciated.

 

[RVAmeche]

I don't think you'll find any general consensus on this; it varies wildly depending on the industry you're in and the company you work for.

In my experience with smaller industrial consultants, official third-party training is limited to special circumstances. Lots of webinars to keep up to date with new products/methods/etc. We would purchase whatever standards required if a new one came up, but in general we relied on the senior engineer's experience.

 

[dgallup]

The only standard training I get every year is sexual harassment.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.

 

[Jboggs]

You will find that a large percentage of engineers in industry are not certified or licensed as such. In most jurisdictions in the US, engineer licensing is only required for certain kinds of work that may have a direct impact on public safety such as buildings, roads, etc. Also, business entities or individuals that offer "engineering" services to the public must have a licensed engineer on staff. There are requirements, set by each state individually, for a minimum annual amount of continuing education that each licensed individual must maintain. Some of the larger engineering firms will assist employees with the cost of that education. The National Society of Professional Engineers can give you more information.

In general, engineers that work for manufacturers designing widgets, or the equipment that makes the widgets, most often are not licensed. Any training will be on an as-needed basis, for example if they install new CAD software or want to develop a new skill like vibration analysis.

 

[dhengr]

Dgallup:
After all that training, are you any good at it yet?

 

[CWB1]

I don't know that I've ever had training on the various society "standards." On the rare occasion they are applicable its usually a simple matter to locate and read the appropriate standard to locate the bit of relevant info. The reason I quoted "standards" previously is that most large companies have their own standards which usually differ slightly from the society "standards," and many of the society "standards" are rather contradictory to themselves or industry practice.

As to training otherwise, I'm a big fan of taking advantage of opportunities given and probably average 20-40 hrs/year in addition to the usual individual research/learning necessary for projects tho admittedly, its difficult to guesstimate.

 

[IFRs]

Pick a standard that is in your area of work. Go to the committee meetings. Learn. Contribute.

 

[fel3]

dhengr....

When I was in high school, in the mid 1970s, I worked in an electronics store (like Radio Shack on steroids and with staff who actually knew their stuff). One day, during a lull in customer traffic, my shift manager mentioned to me that his fiance was giving a seminar on sexual harassment (yes, way back then). So, I asked him if she was for it or against it. All I got from him was "deer in the headlights." I love verbal ambushes.

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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[Anoop_gupta]

Thanks all for your insightful responses. What is the cost of attaining a Professional Engineer (PE) License? and what are the challenges that engineer face in getting this license?

 

[Jboggs]

You can contact the NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers) for up to date detail. Rules will vary in each state. Generally an engineer can get an Engineer-in-Training certificate based on completed credits from an accredited institution and passing an academic test. Not sure if that is a required step to the PE license in all cases. An applicant must have a degree from an accredited institution plus a number of years (usually five I think) working under the direct supervision of a licensed engineer. Then he or she can apply to sit for the PE exam. This us usually an 8 hour exercise. They are given a number of questions (maybe 12) and asked to submit solutions to a smaller number of them (maybe 8).

In the past, the questions on the exam were created by various professors of engineering. (Don't know if still true.) Then those same professors actually grade the responses of the individuals that chose to solve the question they submitted.

Those that pass the exam are awarded a Professional Engineer certificate. Each state has rules about how PE's in their state must complete a minimum amount of continuing education credits each year, and pay an annual fee to keep their license.