Fundamentals of Engineering exam
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In the United States, the Fundamentals of Engineering exam (also known as the FE exam) is the first of two examinations engineers must pass in order to be certified as a Professional Engineer. Other short terms for the exam include EIT, which comes from the former official name for the exam, Engineer In Training, and EI, which comes from Engineer Intern, another former name used in some states. It is open to anyone who has a degree in engineering or a related field, or is in their last year of an ABET-accredited engineering degree program. Some state licensure boards permit students to take it prior to their final year, and numerous states allow those who have never attended an approved program to take the exam if they have a state-determined number of years of work experience in engineering. Michigan allows anyone to take the exam. The exam is administered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). A selection of states allow those with ABET accredited Engineering Technology degrees to take the examination.
The exam is eight hours and is split into a four-hour morning session and a four-hour afternoon session, with a lunch break in between. The morning session is a 120-question general exam for which all examinees must sit. The afternoon session consists of 60 questions and is more discipline-oriented. Examinees choose one of the following seven tests: chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, or general engineering (similar in content to the morning exam, but more detailed).
Writing tools and scratch paper may not be brought to the testing site. Mechanical pencils are issued to all examinees, and the test booklet may be used for working problems. No calculators are allowed except for those specifically approved by NCEES; these models have no programming or communications capabilities which could allow people to cheat. The only reference material that may be used is a handbook issued to all examinees on the day of the test.
The topics covered by the general exam are covered in the courses taken by engineering undergraduates, and include (as of 2007):
- Mathematics
- Chemistry
- Computers
- Statics
- Dynamics
- Strength of materials
- Material science
- Electrical circuits
- Thermodynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Engineering economics
- Engineering Management
- Ethics
- Environmental Engineering
- Biology
A scaled score of 70 is required to pass the exam. This does not mean you need to answer 70% of the answers correctly, however. The tests are benchmarked against the October 1990 exam, where 124 out of 280 was deemed a passing score by a panel of experts. A portion of previous exam questions are then given on subsequent exams. After the exam, a statistical analysis of these questions is used to equate the new test to the benchmark test. In Oct. 1990, a score of 124 was given a 70/100 grade. This means you generally need to answer 45% of the questions correctly to pass. The score which receives a 70/100 grade on newer tests is chosen based on the average score of people who receive about a 45% on the old test questions. This makes all of the tests somewhat equally difficult. Given a probability of 1/4 of getting a question correct by guessing, one will on average pass the test while only knowing 27% of the material and blindly guessing on the rest.
Those who pass the exam are designated Engineers In Training or given an equivalent designation, such as Engineer Intern by their state's licensure board for engineers, and are partway through the certification process. After completing an apprenticeship (the length of which is set by state law and based on the type of degree received) an EIT may qualify to take the Professional Engineer (PE) exam. Certification is awarded upon successful completion of the PE exam. The standard time of apprenticeship under a Professional Engineer is 4 years of work experience for graduates of an ABET-accredited engineering program.
[edit] U.S. Patent Office
Passage of the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam, coupled with graduation with any bachelor's degree, satisfies the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's stringent technical requirements for sitting for its registration examination to become either a registered patent attorney or patent agent. The typical way the technical requirements are satisfied is by possessing a bachelor's degree in a specified technical area or at least amassing a certain number of undergraduate credit hours in a designated technical area.
