President's Message Summer 2016

PSPE is the recognized advocate for the professional engineer in Pennsylvania.  A major factor in the ability of the licensed engineer to hold their license is a record of continuing education in their field of expertise. PA State licensing law requires completion of 24 professional development hours, or equivalent, within the 2-year renewal cycle for PE’s to maintain their license.  A priority for PSPE is to provide quality education offerings to licensed engineers to meet this requirement.
The Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers PSPE stands for:
Protecting the License
Standards for Professional Conduct
Philanthropy
Education
Education
Iowa was the first state to have mandatory continuing education for professional engineers and land surveyors, beginning in 1979. In the decade that followed, more and more states passed legislation that required continuing education for professional engineers. The issue came before the PSPE Board several times in the 1990’s and was turned away for lack of support. About a decade later, the Pittsburgh Chapter presented a detailed proposal to the PSPE Board, but again, the issue was turned away. A turning point came when New York state enacted a continuing education requirement that was onerous to professional engineers to find acceptable credits. There was a growing concern that Pennsylvania would eventually enact a continuing education requirement and the result would be like that of New York. A new, more generic, proposal was approved by the PSPE Board and became the launch-point to create language for the new law.
PSPE was the main driver in developing the key continuing education language that was put into law and in guiding the proper regulation language. The 2009-2011 renewal cycle was the first that required continuing education credits for professional engineers, land surveyors and geologists in Pennsylvania.
Planning for future education events is an ongoing process for the PSPE Education Committee. The sessions offered in the 2016 Professional Engineers Conference in Valley Forge are a product of that effort. With 2017 a renewal year for the professional engineers license, the Committee is ramping up offerings to include more education events across the state and throughout the year. Here is the event schedule to date:
September 22-23, 2016
2016 Pennsylvania Professional Engineers Conference
King of Prussia, PA
October 6, 2016
Post-Disaster Safety Assessment Program
Evaluator Training and Certification
Harrisburg, PA
October 7, 2016
Post-Disaster Safety Assessment Program
Evaluator Training and Certification
Pittsburgh, PA
May 7-9, 2017
2017 Boot Camp Central
Harrisburg, PA
June 25-27, 2017
2017 Boot Camp East
Valley Forge, PA
STAND WITH PSPE  Contact PSPE if you have ideas for credit topics, are interested in presenting a topic or are willing to join the Education Committee to plan future events.  The committee is always searching for new topics and speakers.
Email: contactpspe@pspe.org
Telephone: 717-441-6051