Monroe Professional Engineers Society A Chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers 657 East Avenue, Rochestter, New York 14607 Dedicated to Professionalism in Engineering in the Interest of Public Safety and Welfare 2017-18 Officers: President David Roberts, PE, President-elect Chris Kambar, PE, Vice-President Arthur Reardon, PE, Secretary Martin Gordon, PE, Treasurer Michael Ritchie, PE, Membership Chair Arthur Reardon, PE Past Presidents: Chris Devries, P.E., Joseph Dombrowski, P.E. Directors: Barry Dumbauld, PE, Robert Winans, PE, Ann Ziki, PE, Jim Drago, PE, Neal Illenberg, PE
Reflections on the EIT Designation Nearly one year ago, a colleague of mine successfully completed his FE Exam. Recently, I noticed that his email signature did not have the letters EIT after his name. I asked him if there was any specific reason he didn’t include this and he said that he simply hadn’t thought about adding it. This caused me to reflect back to when I had completed my FE Exam over 12 years ago. I typically didn’t list EIT after my name either. My thinking back then was: EIT stands for Engineer In Training and since my job title has engineer in it (I work in Industry by the way), adding EIT seems to make it sound like I’m only a trainee. Looking back, I consider that to have been flawed reasoning, but apparently I wasn’t alone. A web search brought me to a reddit page on this topic. One commenter stated: “I don't see the point in putting it on your business cards or email signature since it doesn’t actually convey any legal authority.” Another related: “A few times people would ask "what's EIT?" I would explain and they would reply "oh, so you're not really an engineer, huh?" If you go to Wikipedia and search on “Engineer-In-Training,” it states that the term “is a ubiquitous misnomer as people with this designation are already engineers, just not fully licensed Professional Engineers.” But it also comments that “having an EIT designation shows an understanding of fundamental engineering principles, as EITs have passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam.” In retrospect, I think that anyone who has successfully completed the FE Exam should be proud of their accomplishment and consider using the letters EIT after their name. Anyone within the engineering profession will know the value carried by those letters. They set the individual apart from others who have completed an engineering curriculum, but have not demonstrated their mastery of the fundamentals through examination. As a side note, in my research for this article I did see some postings on message boards in regard to certain states having strict rules about using the letters EIT on your email signature or business cards. However, after researching the following: NSPE, NCEES, the NY State Department of Professions, and a quick review of Title 8, Article 145 of NYS Education law; I could find no mention of any such restrictions for NY State.
Upcoming Area Events
TSA/TEAMS Student Competition: March 3, FLCC Victor Campus Engineering Symposium in Rochester: April 24, Rochester Riverside Convention Center NYSSPE Annual Conference: June 15-16, Holiday Inn, Saratoga Springs, NY NAFE Summer Meeting: July 27-29, Hyatt Regency, Buffalo, NY As always, we encourage active membership in the Monroe Professional Engineers Society. We are constantly striving to improve your membership but we always need more help. If you are interested in becoming an active member or have any questions, please email me at dcrobertspe@gmail.com or contact MPES through our website at www.monroepes.org/ contactus/.
David C. Roberts, P.E., President, MPES
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FEBRUARY 2018 The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | 29
