Journey to PE
In the United States, certain practices of engineering are required to be performed by a licensed engineer. This includes signing and sealing engineering plans and drawings, and some engineers working in teaching or government must be licensed. To obtain licensure in engineering, you must pass two national standardized tests (the FE, fundamentals of engineering, and the PE, principles of engineering) and then apply to your state's board to obtain the license (also called the PE, professional engineer.) The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) writes the standardized tests, which are specifically designed for several disciplines of engineering. Spoiler alert: If you've seen the home page on my website, you'd already know I have successfully obtained a PE in control systems engineering.
Engineer-in-Training
In early 2021, while I was still a student at UC Davis, I studied for a test called the fundamentals of engineering, or FE. This is a breadth exam that tests you on a very wide range of knowledge, from basics like math and geometry, to hard sciences like physics and chemistry, even to soft sciences like ethics and economics. This was a 110-question, multiple-choice exam to be completed in under 6 hours. The pass rates were in the 70% range. Without too much preparation, other than studying the amount for a regular class, I took the exam at a testing center in Sacramento and passed on the first try. I had to get fingerprinted, filled out an application with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, and then received my certificate bestowing upon me as an engineer in training. This was the first step in my long journey to becoming a PE.
Ideation
At work, the PE was discussed and I discovered I had the opportunity to take the shot, so I decided it would be beneficial to go for it. The first step was deciding which test to study for. I recently got my master's of science in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Whereas there's no PE (exam) in aerospace engineering, there are actually 3 different tests I could choose from for mechanical, with current 2024 pass rates in parenthesis:
- HVAC and refrigeration (76%)
- Mechine design and materials (67%)
- Thermal and fluids systems (74%)
A couple other exams that would also be relevant were:
- Industrial and systems (70%)
- Control systems (58%)
After plenty of thought, I decided to take the control systems route. It had/has the lowest pass rate overall, but with my skills and interest in control systems, I thought it would be the best option for me.
Stu-dying
In the late spring in 2023, I signed up for the control systems exam, which was scheduled for October 2023. I downloaded all the materials I could find online, purchased the official practice exam, and downloaded several textbooks from Library Genesis. The first thing I did was take the practice exam. I got the equivalent of an F. Yikes! A high F, due to some lucky guesses, so not all hope was lost, but still an F. NCEES does not release the required passing score, only the pass rates, so I could only benchmark myself based on this score. I knew I'd need to hit the books hard this summer if I wanted a chance to pass.
I registered for a PE preparatory class offered by the International Society of Automation (ISA) specifically designed for the control systems exam. To be completely honest, I was less than thrilled with the course materials, although it did open up ideas for things I needed to look deeper into, and I learned a few other key bits of knowledge. For example, this was the second year that the test was being administered in a computer-based format instead of pencil-and-paper, meaning that the test had recently underwent some major changes. When the test was pencil-and-paper, the pass rate was in the 70% range, and then dropped to the 30% range. That means that NCEES would likely make some major revisions on the test questions to make it more fair.
I think the best thing that came out of that class was our study group. I set up a Discord channel and emailed it out to my classmates, and we would use that to post materials, questions, and hold weekly calls to study. I soon realized that this test specifically was designed to focus on more practical and less academic knowledge, which was going to be particularly difficult for me, having only worked as an engineer for about a year at this point. The worst part was having to memorize bits of codes and standards. That's not how my brain works at all and was really distressing to have to learn this way. I'm not sure how many hours total I spent studying that summer, but I would guess in the hundreds, at least. The class alone was 12 weeks long that met a few times a week, excluding study sessions. The class finished around a month before the exam.
The Test
I'm not legally allowed to talk about any material on the test, but I can describe what it was like. Similarly to the FE, I needed to sign up for a specific testing location from an approved list. I found one in Fairfield, CA. On the day of the test, I ate a small breakfast, packed some snacks, and drove over to the testing center. There were about 15 people taking various tests, a few of them also taking the PE. The test was 85 multiple-choice including a few "puzzle" type of questions. (E.g. needing to interpret an engineering drawing.) I had 9 and a half hours to complete the entirety of the test, including a lunch break.
The test was indeed administered on a computer. The software allows you to use a builtin calculator, and provides a few codes and standards. Obviously, most of the questions are asking about other codes and standards that aren't in the list of materials, so the ones provided were not that helpful. Again, without saying specifics, the test was incredibly difficult and a lot of the questions on there I was not prepared for via the ISA course nor practice exam. I finished the exam in much less time than the alotted 9.5 hours, and left with very mixed feelings.
After a few weeks, the results came in and to my sheer and absolute surprise, I passed! I checked up on my other classmates and was happy to hear that most of them also passed. I felt an overwhelming feeling of relief, not for the fact I passed, but for the fact I would not have to study for this incredibly unfair test again. I later learned that the pass rate for that year was only 50%!
Application
Now that I had the hard part out of the way, I could move on to my PE (license) application. I was able to log into my old account I used for the FE application, and started a new one. I needed to write some essays about work experience, projects, and level of responsibility. I also needed to take one final test, on engineering ethics. It was online, open book, and could be taken multiple times, so it was pretty easy and I passed first try. In addition, I needed to send in letters from references, academic transcripts, and to get fingerprinted once again. Of course, there were plenty of fees along the way as well, so everyone got their cut I guess.
After a few months, in January 2024, I got a letter back from the California Department of Consumer Affairs, with a certificate and license that bequeath to me the rights, responsibilities, and honor of becoming a professional engineer!