Curious Question - PE Exam related

[whollyoke]

I graduated with a Civil Engineering degree and have my EIT, I worked 2 years in Civil design/highway design before switching work to the PG&E MAOP validation projects and got drawn into the Mechanical Engineering/Gas Transmission world, now I work with a major gas utility company as a Staff Engineer doing Pipeline design & Integrity Management. My question is, if I am planning to go further with my PE exam, should I seat for the Civil PE, which is something I am used to and went to school for or start cracking my head on Mechanical Engineering stuff and seat for the mechanical PE exam. I am due to start preparing for a PE exam and I started with the outline of courses for the Mechanical Engineering exam and its totally something I am not too familiar with, at all.

Will it matter if I seat for a Civil PE but still work as a Mechanical Engineer? Will i be valuable to my department in the pipeline design role with a Civil PE or Mechanical PE?

Your responses are highly critical and helpful.

Thanks

 

[djs]

Don't know where you are located, but in Florida a licensed PE can work in any field he feels qualified to perform engineering services. You state rules may vary. That be said I would take the exam in the field you feel most comfortable in. The PE exam is very difficult and exhausting, and taking it in a field you don't feel comfortable in would probable result in failure.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Sit for what you're most comfortable in, don't stack the deck against yourself if you don't have to. As djs said; once you get your PE you can study and practice in those areas you're competent in, you're not limited to just what you took your PE in.

Maine Professional and Structural Engineer.

http://www.fepc.us