Why You Should Consider Hiring a Professional Engineer

I would say most people do not appreciate the advantages associated with recruiting an engineering company in my years of practice, even at Stonewall. It is not important in most situations, but if you are not strategic in your decision, it can cost you your business.

We outline 5 reasons why you should consider recruiting outside assistance for your product design in this post.

You must understand what it means to understand why you should employ a PE.

Professional Engineer Stamp – What Does it Signify

First and foremost, it shows that you can learn and to participate in continuous learning.

• To a customer, it means that you have the qualifications to win their confidence.
• To an employer, it shows the desire to take on a greater degree of transparency. It means you have the potential, among your colleagues, to win their respect.
• For yourself, it is a sign of the duty that you have agreed to in maintaining the public’s protection.

Becoming a Registered PE

The first step is to become an Engineer-In-Training (EIT).

Engineer in Training, or EIT, is a technical certification from the National Engineering and Surveying Examiners Board (NCEES). The term EIT defines an individual certified by the state as having two criteria fulfilled:

• At least three years of post-secondary education in an ABET-accredited engineering program have been completed.
• The NCEES six-hour[1] Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) test has been passed.

To become certified, engineers must complete a four-year college degree, work for at least four years under a PE, pass two intensive competency tests and receive a license from the licensing board of their state. Then, PEs must constantly maintain and develop their skills throughout their careers to keep their licenses.

Yet the effects are well worth the effort.

PEs help makes us healthier, keep us safer and encourage all of us to live happier lives than ever before by combining their advanced and practical skills with their high ethical standards and quality assurance.

Engineers must complete several steps to ensure their competence to use the PE seal.

• Acquire a four-year technical degree from an Approved ENGINEERING PROGRAMME
• Passing the Engineering Fundamentals (FE) test
• Total four years of progressive experience in engineering under a PE
• Passing the Engineering Principles and Experience (PE) test

Key Characteristics of a Professional Engineer

By meeting continuing education standards based on the state in which they are registered, PEs must also regularly demonstrate their expertise and retain and develop their skills.

• Only a licensed engineer may prepare, sign and seal and apply to a public authority for approval of engineering plans and drawings, or seal engineering work for public and private customers.
• PEs bear responsibility not only for their job but also for the lives impacted by that job and must comply with high ethical standards of practice.
• Licensing is not simply beneficial for a consulting engineer or a private practitioner; it is a legal necessity for those who are in charge of work, be they, principals or workers.
• Licensing for government engineers has become increasingly necessary. Certain governmental engineering positions, especially those considered to be higher level and responsible positions, must be filled by licensed skilled engineers in many federal, state, and municipal agencies.
• Before it can even be placed into operation, many designs need a PE stamp through multiple industries. Examples: Controlled Offshore Pressure Drilling Design (DNV, ATEX, CE), Separating Equipment for Oil and Gas.

Top Reasons for Hiring a Licensed Engineer

Many Professional Engineer without an engineering background have produced successful businesses focused on revolutionary products that have been ignored by larger companies with seasoned engineering teams.

Unfortunately, since their brilliant product concepts were not successfully brought from conceptualization to implementation, there are at least as many inventors who have built companies who have failed to realize their potential.

The decision whether or not to employ a PE to transform a product idea from a vision to reality is one that, even if they are not aware of making it, any company or independent inventor has to face at some point.

When deciding whether recruiting a team of outside engineers would be a necessity or a waste of money that could otherwise be spent on selling or producing their new product, there are a couple of considerations that companies must take into consideration.

1. Engineers will be expected to create a product that will not fail.

This is probably the most obvious explanation that a company may need to consult an engineer while designing its new product.

If under planned operating conditions, a product fails, it will lead to significant customer satisfaction and future litigation.

To mitigate the risk of the product failing under normal operating conditions, an engineer will define a safety factor and perform stress analysis and design test.

2. Engineers can help reduce the drawbacks of “over-designing” a device.

To make them safer or more reliable, novice inventors are often confused about product requirements and use excessively conservative measurements. With this approach, the most obvious problem is that it appears to lead to a more expensive design.

There are other issues, however, about the design of a product that might not be at the forefront of a designer’s mind.

One instance will be correlated with applications of downhole tools.

For what they think is a better and more conservative design, amateur inventors or experimenters may create a downhole tool, but it might not be able to fit into the desired casing or tubing when the device is too big and bulky.

A skilled engineer can help work within the application design threshold, ensuring that the downhole tool can withstand the functionality, but is still small enough to meet the tight design specifications fairly.

3. A PE is willing to protect the organization from future litigation.

If the company can demonstrate that it has done its due diligence and was concerned enough to employ an engineer to produce a successful design, in the unfortunate case that there is a mishap with the product, they will be able to use that as a shield.

4. Networking opportunities can be created by an engineering company.

Engineers may be acquainted with other businesses or firms that can use the products they consult with.

They may also be a good reference point for other companies and producers.

5. Brand image enhancement.

An often-overlooked advantage of recruiting an outside company is that it can have a more knowledgeable view of the company and its goods. If consumers are aware that the product was designed with the input of a well-respected engineering company, the high quality of the product would be viewed by them.

Many organizations have implemented modern technologies for their customers successfully. However, it also becomes more important for them to partner with an engineering company as the projects they work on become more complex.

To make their new technology ventures successful, a sound business team will know when it is important to collaborate with an outside team of engineers.

Conclusions

Contact us if you need help determining if you need a PE for your next project, and we will be pleased to assist you in deciding.