REGISTERING FOR PE EXAM - Requirements of 'Endorser'?

[Sunny_009]

Hello everyone,
I am a Mechanical engineer who graduated BS in 2003 and MS in 2006. Took my FE Mechanical CBT earlier this month and I am happy to say I passed 1st try. It was a 'fun' experience being out of college for so long. I already have 13 years engineering experience so I am motivated to continue the studying and take the PE Mechanical(TFS) by this year end in NY. 
I am currently working on my PE application and I am realizing how cumbersome it is with the 'Experience verification and endorsement'.
 
New York Board's Experience documenting instructions say the "Endorser" shall be a "Qualified Professional". Could anyone please advise on the following in general?

• Who is a "Qualified Professional" in the context of the PE application typically?
  
• Should the Endorser strictly be a Licensed PE only? If yes, the issue is I am with a small company for the last 10+ years and we do not have a PE in-house. My company subs-out the PE stamping. However, I work closely with those licensed engineers on a regular basis and I can always ask them to provide an endorsement. Will outside-the-company PE endorsers be acceptable by the exam review board? (OR)
  
• Can the Endorser be my non-licensed VP who has an engineering degree?  (OR)
  
• Can the Endorser be a non-engineer (my company President)? I report to my company President and VP directly. Both are happy to endorse me if acceptable.
  

           Thank you in advance. Sorry about the long write-up.
           Sunny


                  PS: This is a great resource for PE Engineering experience write-up IMO

 
 

 

[Tiger15]

I think the answer to this question is going to vary by state. Different state boards have different requirements.So the best way to get an answer is to contact the NY board. Maybe someone from NY could give you a good answer.

Below is a combination of my opinions and my understanding based on my interaction with my state board (Louisiana). The minimum requirement is that the person who verifies your experience should know your day to day work and can vouch for it's engineering merits. I'd personally rank the possibilities like this (from best to worse):

1. Your supervisor who is also a PE
   
2. A PE you work with who knows your work.
   
3. Your supervisor who is not a PE
   
4. A non-PE engineer who knows your work
   
5. A non-engineer who knows your work
   
6. A random person who does not know your work.
   
7. Your dog
   
8. A random dog
   

Ok, I intentionally got pretty silly there at the end. I would think 1 thru 4 are all acceptable. 5 is questionable and I'd want to avoid it, but I could imagine a situation where you'd have to use 5. 6-8 will probably get you in a lot of trouble. Again, contact your state board to get their correct answer.

 

[Dothracki PE]

Congratulations, that sounds like a difficult feat. I was only about 2 years out of school when I took the FE exam. I just recently sent in my application to New York with endorsements from two of my managing principals. Both are technically PEs but I don't think it is necessary. According to the instructions online at this website:

Your experience must be endorsed by someone who is familiar with your work and can attest that it has been done as stated and is accurately described. Your endorser should preferably be the person who was your supervisor at the time the work was performed. If this is not possible, a letter documenting the reasons, must be provided with the Form. If you are unable to obtain a supervisor's endorsement, select another person (coworker or client) you worked with who is sufficiently knowledgeable about your work to attest to the accuracy of your experience description.

I believe you just need one 4a form from every employer you are claiming as part of your four years of relevant engineering experience. I only had one employer, but I still submitted two forms because at my practice, I worked under multiple principals on different projects. Based on this instruction, the person who is most familiar with your work should be an endorser regardless of their PE status.

 

[Sunny_009]

Thank you jean15paul_PE and ryankon518 for taking the time to give a detailed response. That was very helpful.

I did contact the New York board and they basically cited the above instructions, indirectly saying a PE endorsement isn't mandatory.

 

[Dothracki PE]

Not a problem. I haven't had much help from NCEES or NY State in this process when I did reach out. The most help I found from what I could on the websites and a few coworkers who went through the NY PE process not too long ago.