Nanosystems Engineers

Certification or Licensing

Certification, while not required, is available from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (board certified environmental engineer), SME (certified manufacturing engineer), the IEEE Computer Society (associate software developer certifications), the Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals (associate computing professional, certified computing professional), and other professional associations at the national, state, and local levels.

Engineers whose work may affect the lives, health, or safety of the public must be registered according to regulations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Licensing requirements vary by state. In general, however, they involve graduating from an accredited college, having four years of work experience, and passing the eight-hour Fundamentals of Engineering exam and the eight-hour Principles and Practice of Engineering exam. Depending on your state, you can take the Fundamentals exam shortly before your graduation from college or after you have received your bachelor’s degree. At that point you will be an engineer-in-training. Once you have fulfilled all the licensure requirements, you receive the designation of professional engineer. Visit the NCEES Web site, http://www.ncees.org, for more information on licensure.

Other Requirements

If you plan to seek employment at a government agency, you may be required to be a U.S. citizen and undergo a background investigation.