BY ZANA RAYBON, FBPE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & FEMC PRESIDENT
NCEES held its Joint Interim Meeting in April, with both the Southern and Northern Zones gathering in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Once again, FBPE was well represented with our Board Vice Chair C. Kevin Fleming, PE, and Board members William Bracken, PE, SI, CFM, Michelle Rambo-Roddenberry, Ph.D., PE, Kenneth Todd, PE, John Pepper, PE, SI, and Babu Varghese, PE, SI, all in attendance. FBPE Executive Assistant Rebecca Sammons and I also attended the meeting. This year’s meeting focused on the CPC Tracking System developed by the Committee on Education (see more about this in the current newsletter), credentials evaluations, exam policies, and transitioning to computer-based examinations for the PE exam.
In a couple of weeks, FBPE will attend and host the Florida Engineering Educators Summit during the FES (Florida Engineering Society) Annual Meeting. This is a great opportunity for FBPE to meet with student leaders in engineering programs from universities across the state. We will be making a presentation to the students in attendance and will be available to answer any questions they may have about examinations and professional licensure. The plan is that those student leaders will then go back to their respective schools and spread the word about licensure.
At the end of August, FBPE board members will attend the NCEES 26th Annual Meeting in Miami. This is when all the zones get together to discuss and vote on the motions made during the interim zone meetings. It is also when NCEES officers are elected and installed for the coming year. There are a lot of exciting changes taking place in the engineering industry such as the offering of the PE exam in a computer-based format. Beginning in January 2018, the Chemical PE exam will be the first exam offered in a computer-based format with a plan to introduce all the other disciplines in yearly increments so that all exam disciplines will be offered in a CBT format by the year 2020.
Once we return from our meetings, the school year will begin, and FBPE will once again be visiting colleges and universities to promote licensure among the engineering students. Be sure to contact us to schedule a visit to your engineering college. You can do that by contacting our Public Information Officer at publicinfo@fbpe.org or by calling (850) 521-0500.
Here’s hoping the rest of your summer is a breeze!