Sports Engineers

Certification or Licensing

Some sports engineers become certified by the association that represents workers in their specialty area. Associations that provide certification include SME (manufacturing) and the IEEE Computer Society (software development).

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. Not all sports engineers need to be licensed. If you’re providing engineering services for a new sports stadium project, for example, you’ll need to be licensed. But if you’re designing and building gear for athletes, you do not need to be licensed. Licensing requirements vary by 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 (which includes an Electrical and Computer sub exam) and the eight-hour Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam. The PE exam is offered in more than 20 disciplines, including Architectural, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Mechanical, and Structural. 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 professional engineer. Visit the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying Web site, https://ncees.org, for more information about licensure.