Build Reliability Engineers

Certification or Licensing

The Life Cycle Institute partners with colleges and universities around the United States to offer the reliability engineering certification credential. Candidates must complete the following three-day classes: Risk-Based Asset Management; Root Cause Analysis; Predictive Maintenance Strategy; and Reliability Engineering Excellence. They also must pass a hands-on test of their abilities. The Ohio State University, Clemson University, and other schools offer this certification program.

Voluntary certification for technicians is available from SpaceTEC, the National Science Foundation’s Center for Aerospace Technical Education. Earning this certification may be useful for aerospace technicians who plan to become build reliability engineers. Visit https://spacetec.us/about-certification for more information.

Engineers whose work may affect the life, health, or safety of the public must be registered according to regulations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Licensing requirements vary from state to state. In general, however, they involve graduating from an accredited school, having four years of work experience, and passing the six-hour Fundamentals of Engineering exam and the eight-hour Principles and Practice of Engineering exam. Those who pass the Fundamentals of Engineering examination after graduating are called Engineers in Training (EITs) or Engineer Interns (EIs). The EIT certification usually is valid for ten years. After acquiring suitable work experience, EITs can take the second examination, the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam, to gain full PE licensure. The examinations are offered by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (https://ncees.org).

One to two years of professional or internship experience (or via a student project team) in a design engineering, quality, or manufacturing role.