Professional Registration in the United States is continuing to become more important for Petroleum Engineers. It has seen some drastic changes since its implementation unto the national scene in 1973. The requirements to become registered have gradually become stiffer. An engineering, math or science degree is fast becoming the norm to be a licensing engineer. Continuing Education requirements are also being implemented.
The Petroleum Professional Registration Exam is changing. As we enter the 21st Century, the PE Exam is being offered as a full multiple choice exam. The format of the exam is evolving towards an exam that can be administered eventually via the computer. Tomorrows average Petroleum PE examinees will be better qualified than their counterparts of previous years. Projections are made for the next century.
Introduction
Professional Registration did not exist at the beginning of the 20th Century. Petroleum Engineers joined the registration process in the latter half of the 20th Century. The state boards began forming in the early 1900's. This was accomplished in four decades (Fig. 1). Each state board set up their own requirements for professional registration. At first, these just consisted of getting one's education and work experience verified. This was the so-called Grandfathering Era.
After World War II, many states implemented, at first a basic, or fundamental test given near college graduation, and then a second, more practical oriented exam that was given after a few years of work experience. This latter exam became known as the Professional Engineering Exam. In itself, it has gone through its own metamorphous. Before taking a look at the 21st Century, we need to take a look at how the current national Professional Registration evolved.
Professional Registration
State Boards.
The first Professional Engineering state board was created in Wyoming in 1907. Louisiana followed the next year and enacted their Professional Engineering state board in 1908. The rest of the states waited until after the World War I years to get their state boards over the next four decades. Ironically, Wyoming's neighbor, Montana, completed the full 50 states in 1947. California enacted in 1929.
Grandfathering Era
At the outset of the enacted laws in each state, getting registered consisted of completing an application that showed ones education and work experience. The state board would verify these. Most tended to accept a high school education as the minimum level of education. The work experience years needed simply depended upon some varying time-scale based upon completed education.
Examination Era
Fundamentals Engineering Exam.
Sometime in the post World War II years, the states set up and started requiring a basic, or Fundamentals Engineering (FE) Exam for college graduates. Passing this exam had the primary affect of shortening the time frame to become a full Professional Engineer. Gradually, states started combining their duplicating exam resources to get, at first, several regional exams, and then they finally starting agreeing to one uniform national FE exam in 1965.
