After a Century of Engineering Licensure,
NCEES Continues to Fulfill a Vision of Leadership
The water we drink, the buildings we work in, the roads we navigate—the work of professional engineers touches all of society. Our health, safety, and welfare depend on the soundness of these infrastructures and the competence of the men and women behind them. Licensure ensures that the engineers who offer services to the public meet the high standards of the profession.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of engineering licensure in the United States. The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) is celebrating this milestone by recognizing the successes of licensure’s past and preparing for its future.
For NCEES President Louis Raimondi, P.E., L.S, the celebration provides an ideal platform for NCEES to broaden its outreach to the general public, who may know little about what professional engineers, or P.E.’s, do but benefit from their commitment to excellence. “The 100th anniversary of licensure is an opportunity to raise awareness about the value of licensure,” says Raimondi. “Licensure requires engineers and surveyors to prove themselves and holds them accountable. A licensed professional’s signature and seal symbolize reliability and integrity. They verify that the person is qualified and dedicated to public health and safety.”
When Clarence T. Johnston accepted the position of Wyoming State Engineer over a century ago, he found individuals working as engineers who lacked the training to competently carry out their duties. Johnston addressed the problem by preparing a bill to mandate registration and to create a board of examiners. In 1907, the Wyoming legislature turned that bill into law, creating the first U.S. engineering licensure law. Other states soon followed. A little over a decade later, the licensure boards created the organization now known as NCEES to help them more uniformly carry out their duties as they regulate the engineering and surveying professions. Today, this nonprofit organization is a pivotal element in ensuring that the nation’s enormous infrastructure and vast complex of technologies run safely and efficiently.
NCEES develops and scores the only national examinations used by all U.S. licensure boards in their licensing process. The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam establishes a basic level of knowledge that allows successful candidates to become engineering interns. The Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam is open to those who have passed the fundamentals exam and have completed the required professional experience. Through these standardized exams, NCEES ensures that only qualified individuals become licensed.
Many of the Council’s other services, such as the Records Program, are designed to help facilitate geographical mobility for the nation’s 435,000 licensed engineers. NCEES constantly expands and develops services for its member boards and, in turn, the public that puts its trust in those boards.
As it celebrates 100 years of licensure in 2007, NCEES, with a staff of 65 and headquartered in Clemson, South Carolina, remains focused on finding new ways to fulfill its vision of providing leadership in licensure. It is reaching out to the next generation of engineers through several initiatives. NCEES recently launched a campaign targeted at the undergraduate engineering community to raise awareness about the opportunities licensure will bring to their careers. The central message—Finish it!—encourages students to begin the licensure process by taking the FE exam. The Council also created the Engineering Speaker’s Kit to help engineers who talk to students about the profession and licensure, and its speakers’ bureau recruits licensed professionals to speak at university campuses.
NCEES is reaching out to younger students as well. Since 2004, it has worked with the National Engineers Week Future City Competition, a nationwide engineering education program involving more than 30,000 middle school students, and is now a major sponsor of Design Squad, a new reality TV series that aims to introduce 9- to 13-year-olds and their families to the engineering design process. The program debuts nationwide on PBS in February during Engineers Week 2007.Celebrating 100 Years of Licensure - NCEES
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