@JBStillFlying - “Yes and it would be interesting to know whether they had a PE or graduated from an ABET-accredited program” -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_Hounsfield
Godfrey Hounsfield, British electrical engineer (1919-2004) was a co-inventor of computed axial tomography. From the Wikipedia article:
"Shortly before World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force as a volunteer reservist where he learned the basics of electronics and radar. After the war, he attended Faraday House Electrical Engineering College in London, graduating with the DFH (Diploma of Faraday House). Faraday House was a specialist Electrical Engineering college that provided university level education and was established in 1890, before the advent of most university engineering departments. Faraday House pioneered the use of sandwich courses, combining practical experience with theoretical study.
The suggestion that Hounsfield lacked formal engineering education to the level of a Chartered Engineer does not reflect the nature of engineering education at the time when Hounsfield was a student, or the esteem in which Faraday House was held within the profession."
At that time, engineering schools in Britain were less formally established than the US. The Faraday Electrical Engineering College was specifically a school teaching EE as it existed at that time as compared to later schools that taught the interdisciplinary foundation of knowledge. Apparently, it was quite well regarded by the standards of the day. The English equivalent of PE licensure, Chartered Engineer, was established later, I believe. Licensing of engineers began in the US in Wyoming in 1907. It is interesting that the first PEs came from a non-industrial, non-technological state. In the 1800s until the early part of the 20th century, there were many failures of bridges, buildings, and steam plants (boilers) in buildings, on ships, trains, etc. that took many lives. The requirements for anyone presenting or holding themselves out as engineers were created to protect the public safety. Engineering schools in the US were also in their infancy at that time, but it became apparent that engineers must have a foundation of science and its applications in order to safely and effectively do engineering work. The first engineering schools modeled themselves after the scientific schools of Europe and got away from the shop-oriented curricula of their ancestors. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1824) was a pioneer in establishing the value of laboratory work in engineering and science, Stevens Institute of Technology (1870) a pioneer in incorporating the European scientific model and rigorous study of mathematics, physics, and chemistry in engineering, among many others.
Medical devices do not require PEs to approve their designs, since their safety and effectiveness are regulated at the federal level by the FDA (same for aircraft (FAA), nuclear reactors and equipment (NRC), automobiles (DOT and FHA), many consumer products (CPSC), and others).
“- And PE-licensed civil engineers working on traffic flow or ski-lifts are doing what, exactly?”
PEs are required to approve the designs of public works and other projects that can be hazardous to public safety if improperly designed. Bridges, highways, tunnels, public transportation systems such as trains (which are also regulated at the federal level by DOT, NTSB, and Federal Railroad Administration), airports (also federally regulated by FAA) etc. require PE approval. PEs are also generally accepted as expert witnesses in court proceedings involving engineering (particularly product liability and injuries resulting from failures). Large buildings, retaining walls, large civil engineering projects such as dams, aqueducts, mines, reinforced concrete structures, commercial building electrical and plumbing systems, etc, traffic engineering and signaling, et al require PE approval. Many public engineering positions with transit agencies, federal and state government, and local municipality engineering require PEs. A ski lift on private property likely would require some type of state inspection, but unsure if a PE is required to sign off the design and plans for one. Perhaps companies that build ski lifts have PEs on staff, as architectural and structural engineering firms do.
To get any kind of design position in a civil engineering firm, even if one is not the one “sealing” (approving) the design, is going to require a PE. Most firms hiring newly minted engineers out of undergrad school are going to require them to sit for the exam when they acquire the required experience (4 years in most states), and will require the ABET accredited degree (since it is required to sit for the exam). Engineering students in ABET accredited programs are eligible to sit for the first part of the PE exam (the Engineer in Training or EIT) as seniors in school. Most engineering firms will require that of applicants.
In the US, it is illegal for one to “hold out” as an engineer (that is, advertise engineering services to the public) without a PE license. The specific title “Professional Engineer” is legally restricted to those holding the license. In most states, firms that use the word “Engineering” in their name and holding out must have a PE on staff or available.
Engineering work for which PEs are required is regulated primarily at the state level and each state has its own licensure (which is similar to that for medical and legal practicioners). Regulations may vary somewhat from state to state, but the public safety aspect is common to all. Some states accept other states’ licensed people by reciprocity for licensure, others require one to take the exam in that state to be licensed there.
I once saw a job ad for engineers from a major automaker where a PE was listed as a requirement. They apparently felt that it eases their certification process with the federal DOT, even though it was not required by that agency.
“- My dad (now retired) is an MD/Medical Scientist who had a clinical practice as well, so I have a bit of knowledge in this area. Medical schools are known for both, by the way.” - Yes, but the average MD is not a scientist. The majority of medical school graduates intend to practice clinical medicine, not specifically do research. Those who do frequently obtain more training on top of the basic MD requirements. Some have both MD and PhDs. The garden variety physician whom you see when you are not feeling well is not a scientist per se. He/she applies the body of knowledge to diagnosing and treating your illness, not contributing new knowledge to that body.