Professional Registration
A profession is an occupation which
- Renders a service based upon advanced, specialized knowledge and skill.
- Performs its services to a large degree in the general public interest and has a substantial public obligation; and
- Is bound by a code requiring specific ethical behavior including trustworthiness and maintenance of confidential client relationships.
Professional registration gives assurance that only those persons who meet fixed educational and experience requirements may practice as registered professional engineers. Regulation is achieved in Arizona by protecting the use of the title “Professional Engineer (PE).” Typically to become a Professional Engineer (PE), you first need to become registered as an “Engineer in Training.” This is done through the Arizona Bureau of Technical Registration (AZ BTR) and more information can be found below.
You should become registered to
- Establish your professional standing on the basis of legal requirements and
- Receive authority to practice your profession before the public.
Arizona registration requires that the engineer
- Have at least eight (8) years of appropriate engineering experience and education and
- Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and professional engineers (PE) exam.
The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam is a graduation requirement for Biosystems Engineering majors, and the FE exam is a course assignment in BE 496A. To schedule your FE exam with NCEES, you must first obtain the approval from the Arizona Bureau of Technical Registration (AZ BTR). Because pre-approval with AZ BTR can take up to 8 weeks and to ensure you do not take an incomplete in BE 496A, BEBS students need to send the required documents to the AZ BTR no later than October 1st to ensure they can complete the exam during the fall semester of their Senior year. Students must provide proof of FE completion to pass the BE 496A course and to receive their BEBS degree. Students who do not complete the exam requirement must meet with the Academic Program Manager no later than the first week of December to discuss their options for completing their degree requirements.
The FE exam is computer-based and can be taken year-round at National Council for Examiners for Engineering (NCEES) approved Pearson VUE test centers. There are four in Arizona (Tucson, Chandler, Phoenix, and Flagstaff). The one in Tucson is located at the Pearson Professional Center, 5210 E Williams Circle, Suite 810, Merrill Lynch Building, Tucson, AZ 85711. The test consists of 110 questions, and you are given two 3-hour time periods to complete the exam. The FE is offered in seven disciplines: Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Environmental, Industrial and Systems, Mechanical, and Other Disciplines. You may choose whichever discipline you want, however, most of our students choose the “Other Disciplines” exam.
For more information about obtaining AZ BTR approval to sit for the exam, go to Arizona BTR application. For information on the FE exam, go to the NCEES site: https://ncees.org/exams/fe-exam/
The BE department recognizes that the exam registration and AZ BTR application fees are expensive. We are fortunate that we have alumni who both value the FE exam AND understand the financial burden that taking the FE exam can impose. Currently, the department can help defray half the cost of the FE exam registration and AZ BTR application fees. Note that once you have completed the application, please upload it to the appropriate Assignment folder in the Biosystems Undergraduate D2L student support site.
FE exam assistance application form: PDF | Fillable PDF.