industrial electrical engineer
industrial electrical engineer
(OP)
Hello everybody!
I am working on an industrial plant in Portland OR as a journeyman electrician of 10 years, and recently I graduated with BSEE. The plant has 2 electricians and in OR we can do pretty much nothing without a Supervisor electrician who would run some type of a master permit program for an industrial/commercial establishment. The muster permit program can be established either with a supervisor electrician or electrical engineer that has been employed by an employer. A week ago our supervisor had quit and I see this as a good opportunity for me to try to establish an Electrical engineering position.
So my question is,
what I will need in my new department to perform my duties? What type of software, legal forms and publications, handbooks and etc. And anything you can think off would be very helpful.
I am working on an industrial plant in Portland OR as a journeyman electrician of 10 years, and recently I graduated with BSEE. The plant has 2 electricians and in OR we can do pretty much nothing without a Supervisor electrician who would run some type of a master permit program for an industrial/commercial establishment. The muster permit program can be established either with a supervisor electrician or electrical engineer that has been employed by an employer. A week ago our supervisor had quit and I see this as a good opportunity for me to try to establish an Electrical engineering position.
So my question is,
what I will need in my new department to perform my duties? What type of software, legal forms and publications, handbooks and etc. And anything you can think off would be very helpful.





RE: industrial electrical engineer
Investigate what your place has and expects.
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: industrial electrical engineer
Congrats on the BSEE. You have a great complement of experience and education at this point.
In Oregon I believe you would need a PE license to be able to fully replace a Supervising Electrician in terms of the work their license authorizes them to perform. I have been told, but never confirmed, that a EE with a PE license can do anything a Supervising Electrician is authorized to do. Not that this makes any sense to me, but it's not up to me.
I'd check with the Oregon engineering board.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
As far as plant engineers go, many do not perform design but rather hire consulting engineering firms as needed. You would then work as a project engineer with the consultant. If you feel this would be your role, you should learn about engineering services contracts and the business and project management sides of engineering instead of spending a lot of time on technical topics.
xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
This can be hard to do in a "small" office w/o other PEs. But it can be done with some foresight.
Congrats and Good Luck
RE: industrial electrical engineer
You had posted a link to the Master permit program. I had started the whole thread here because of this confusion in their words here:
" B. LICENSE REQUIREMENTS AND WORK ALLOWED
There are four different license configurations for the Master Permit that can be utilized. An
applicant may use any one or all four options as long as a separate log is kept for each one
of the four. As appropriate for the type of work to be performed, applicants must:
1. Employ one or more person(s) possessing a General Supervisor (GS) or Plant
Supervisor (PS) license or have an Electrical Engineer (EE) on staff. (A Professional
Engineer (PE) is not allowed.) Any one of these allows all other electrical licenses to
perform electrical installations under their specific license except for service
installations."
I would like somebody explain me this, ideally an EE who has/had an experience with it.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
In Oregon, a PE is allowed to stamp and seal any drawing that lies within their area of competence, but the area of competence is not indicated on the stamp, except for structural and traffic. However, "Registrants shall undertake assignments only when qualified by education or experience in the specific technical fields of engineering or land surveying involved" OAR 820-020-0020(1). So technically, though my certificate says that "having especially qualified in Electrical Engineering" if I'm qualified by experience and consider myself competent, I could legally stamp a mechanical drawing. If you look up an engineer with the "Find a Licensee" tool, you'll see you can search by branch. I think the Portland document means that they want a PE who is especially qualified in EE, and a PE without the EE branch designation will not suffice. Again, that's my opinion - call Commercial Electrical at (503) 823-7304, and ask them what they mean.
xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
RE: industrial electrical engineer
Here it is:
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/rules/oars_800/oar_820/820_040.html
Read it and you will find there are some exempts, where you do not require to have a PE registration in order to practice to some extend and that is what they, probably meant, when they had created the master permit program in Oregon.
What are your thoughts, please?
RE: industrial electrical engineer
Also, a reminder - if you and your electrician colleague are doing anything more than an LME is allowed to do during this period without a signing supervisor or an EE on staff, your your coworker, and your company could get into trouble, e.g., lose the master permit, lose licenses, face fines, etc. Get this cleared up now!
crthompson - under certain circumstances defined in the OARs and ORSs, someone with an EET degree can qualify if they're a PE in EE. Click here and go to 820-010-0225 to see the educational requirements to take the FE exam.
xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
You might talk with the Engineering Board to get their opinion, but in the end they don't have jurisdiction on Master Permits.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
You are absolutely right in everything you said in all of your posts here! Thank you very much!
I called every where I could, they want a PE with EE, but not any other specialty PE.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
I am a PE in Oregon. I would suggest you continue forward with your career path torward a PE. In Oregon that means you need to sit for the EIT or FET exam.(Engineer in Training) It is an 8 hour exam covering all areas of engineering. (mechanical, civil, strengh of materials etc) It's is best to take the test as soon as you can once you finish your BSEE. We all start forgetting the other branches of engineering once we are out of school for a while. MiketheEngineer is right, in Oregon you need to work under the direction or at least along side a PE for four years to be able to qualify to sit for the PE exam. It is also an 8 hour test with the first 4 hours covering all aspects of electrical engineering, and the second 4 hours covering your specialty. (Control sysytems, computer eng, electrical and electronics, and Power) good luck stick with it.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
They've changed the PE exam since you took it. There is no general section in the morning anymore. The test is eight hours of your specialty topic - computer, or electrical & electronics, or power - as indicated here .
They're also about to drastically change the FE exam. Beginning in 2014, it will no longer be a morning general section and an afternoon specialization - it'll be a specialization exam all day long. See here . It'll also be a computer-based test, which will allow for greater scheduling flexibility than just twice a year (year-round), and supposedly improved exam security.
ViktorMT, I agree with electrageek about taking the FE exam. If you haven't, you should. The deadline to take the October exam has passed, but you could take the April exam. The registration deadline is Dec. 1.
xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: industrial electrical engineer
Authority Having Jurisdiction to pull permits to do electrical work.
The examination for that position varies from municipality to municipality.
Therefore the exam may be one hour to seven hours. The examination tests ones understanding of the National Electrical Code (NFPA-70). Municipalities enforce some version of the NEC.
The Supervising Electrician is the person held responsible for taking out electrical permits whenever the installation electrical system is modified and the work is done in compliance with the localelectrical code.