The US PE license is called the Fundamental of Engineering Examination (FE Examination), which is the primary examination, and the Principles and Practices of Engineering Examination, which is the secondary examination, or simply the Professional Engineer Examination (PE Examination). By passing the FE and PE exams that are held on the same day and at the same time in the United States, you can basically obtain the exam.Both exams are currently conducted twice a year, and both exams are conducted by the Japan PE / FE Examination Council (JPEC) in April and October in Tokyo under an agreement with the NCEES (National Examination Council). Is being carried out. N CEES is an organization that prepares FE and PE exam questions in the United States other than the registration work (license issuance) performed by each state.If you pass the Tokyo exam, you will need to register in the state of your choice. At this time, each state will review the applicant's educational background, work experience, and letters of recommendation.
First, the conditions for the examinees are as follows.
FE test: A graduate of a XNUMX-year science and engineering university in Japan or the United States who lives in Japan and a XNUMXth year student who is expected to graduate.However, the English name of the acquired degree is required to be (Bachelor of Engineering or Bachelor of Science in Engineering) (if the department is biological, architectural, applied chemistry, applied physics, etc., the above degree is English. It may not be the name, so you need to confirm with the university in advance).
PE test: Must have passed the FE exam.Resident in Japan (nationality does not have to be Japan).Have at least 4 years of work experience as an engineer after obtaining a degree (please understand that it does not mean 4 years after passing the FE exam, but after obtaining a degree).
The exam is a long written exam in English (because it is a US qualification, of course) for a total of XNUMX hours, XNUMX hours in the morning and XNUMX hours in the afternoon.The FE test of the primary test and the PE test of the secondary test are completely different tests.In a nutshell, the FE exam is a test to test the basics of engineering, and the PE exam is a test that covers specialized engineering.
When the application is accepted, you will receive an "important notice" (postcard), and you will be informed about the examination registration on the NCEES homepage.In addition, a separate "Examination Tips" will be mailed 2 to 3 weeks before the test, showing the schedule of the day, belongings, prohibited items, and precautions such as the calculator model number.
English proficiency: The required English proficiency is sometimes stated in Japanese guidebooks and commentary articles as Eiken Level 600 or TOEIC XNUMX points, but it is not so easy to say.Because it is an engineer exam, not an English proficiency exam.Therefore, please keep the following advice in mind.
At the examination venue, explanations on how to fill out the answer sheet will be given in Japanese.Please note that there are many mistakes in entering "Last Name" = last name and "First Name" = name.After the exam starts, you will be required to use English in principle, and if you have any questions, you must speak English.
In the PE exam, the technical terms (technical terms) may not be so uncomfortable because of your specialty as an engineer, but the technical terms in the FE exam are also quite difficult.
For example, if you say integer, imaginary number, transpose matrix in mathematics, no matter how good you are in mathematics, if you can't understand the problem, you can't answer (integer, imaginary number, transpose matrix in order from the front).This covers fields such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, electricity, mechanics, thermodynamics, strength of materials, ethics, engineering economy (economic engineering), computers, etc. Studying the term is essential.However, if you study the reference book for the FE exam, you will naturally acquire the words that appear frequently.Increasing the basic vocabulary of engineering like this will increase the basic ability that will be very positive for working in English, so those who are prepared in advance about that point Would be good.
You need to be accustomed to this speed because it is a test with a large number of questions and requires speed of processing.The speed of processing general technical problems in English is required.Taking the English test as an example, this is similar to the speed in TOEIC (the story that the person who took the TOEIC for the first time may end the test time before reaching the final question. I often hear).
As mentioned above, it doesn't make much sense to argue about what level of English should be.In particular, in the recent exams held in Japan (Tokyo), Japanese is used a lot except for solving problems, so in particular, English hearing ability is not as problematic as it used to be. ..Of course, all the exam questions are in English, but the answers are in the alternative mark sheet method.In short, technical terms can be dealt with by fully understanding and memorizing them in the process of studying for exams, and by taking a wide range of time to fully understand the general technology, and advanced grammar and long reading comprehension are not required so much.
Copy Right: 2010, Japan Professional Engineers Association (JSPE)