Dear Seniors:

If you are considering Engineering Professional Registration, the first step is to take the NY Fundamentals of Engineering Exam (FE). Students who are within 20 credits of graduation or have graduated from an ABET accredited baccalaureate program in engineering are automatically eligible to sit for the FE Exam and no longer need to get approval from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the State Board for Engineering and Land Surveying.

Students who graduated from a Non-ABET accredited baccalaureate program or who received their bachelor’s degree from an institution outside of the U.S. must get approval from NYSED before registering for the FE exam on the NCEES website.  Please go to http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/pels/  for information on how to apply for approval and application forms.

The FE exam is now computer based and will be offered in four testing windows throughout the year (January-February, April-May, July-August, October-November).   Students can go directly to the NCEES web site http://ncees.org/engineering/  to register for the exam.  Once you have registered to sit for the FE exam directly at the NCEES site, you will schedule an exam date and location at a Pearson Vue Center anywhere in the US. The nearest centers to Ithaca are in Endicott, NY and Syracuse, NY but there may be a center near your home that you could access during January or Summer break.

If you plan to take the exam in another state you should look at that state’s licensing board requirements on the  NCEES website.

To assist you in preparing for the FE Exam, BEE (Professor Timmons) and CEE (Professor Stedinger) will teach BEE 5330 Engineering Professionalism for 1 credit in the Spring.   The class will meet Wednesday evenings from 7:30pm to 8:50 pm for the first 10 weeks of the semester (finished one week beyond spring break). Any student is welcome to attend any of the review sessions even if they are not signed up for the course.

If you have questions, please contact: Professor Timmons at mbt3@cornell.edu or Professor Stedinger at jrs5@cornell.edu

Why do I need a PE License?
-Better chances (differentiation) during job interviews
-Opportunities for private practice and/or owning your own engineering firm
-Recognition as a professional
-Career advancement

For more information on the FE Exam please check out this website:  http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/FEExam .