Undergraduate

Professional Standards

Jump to a Section

• The Engineering Profession
• The Engineer's Responsibility
• The Fundamentals of Engineering Exam
• State Engineering Licensure
• Engineering Societies & Ethics
• The Order of the Engineer

The Engineering Profession

An engineering education is preparation for a vast range of careers that concern technologies of value to people.

Engineers advance humankind’s reach in any way possible.

Engineers acquire the intellectual skills, knowledge, experience, and cultural understanding that prepares them for the workplace and the world.

The Engineer’s Responsibility

With the broad reach of an engineer’s profession comes a pressing responsibility. Engineers must be responsible for how every person is affected by their work.

McCormick impresses these professional attributes on its graduates. Our alumni have established an admirable record of improving the modern world with their work.

The Fundamentals of Engineering Exam

The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam is the first step toward becoming a licensed engineer. Learn more about the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam, how to prepare for it, and how to find out when you'll need to take it.

State Engineering Licensure

Each state in the country offers engineering licensure as a way of assuring the quality of practitioners whose work affects recognized concerns for public safety. For more information on state licensure, visit the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Engineering Societies & Ethics

At the center of the engineering profession are discipline-specific societies that serve the career needs of their members, provide professional and ethical standards, and foster progress in their respective fields.

The largest of these societies is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Many smaller, but nevertheless influential, engineering societies abound.

Each engineering society has its own unique statement on engineering ethics.

• The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) A professional association that provides leadership in advancing the chemical engineering profession
• The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) America’s oldest national engineering society and has members worldwide.
• The American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) A membership organization for mechanical engineers.
• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) An organization that has advanced the theory and application of electrotechnology and allied sciences
• The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) The only engineering society that represents individual engineering professionals and licensed engineers across all disciplines.
• Tau Beta Pi The engineering honor society and the only engineering society representing the entire engineering profession.

To find additional information about professional engineering societies, visit the National Academy of Engineering website and search for a particular society.

The Order of the Engineer

Since 1970, engineering graduates have accepted the Obligation of the Engineer, the pledge of all those who choose to join The Order of the Engineer. This free society fosters pride and responsibility in the engineering profession.

In addition to societies, McCormick students are invited at the time of their graduation to participate in the Ring Ceremony of the Order of the Engineer.

In this ceremony, graduates repeat the Obligation of an Engineer, determining forever thereafter to extend to each person with whom they deal in their capacity as an engineer the utmost of respect and responsibility.

Recognition for having sworn this oath is a stainless steel ring to be worn with honor on the small finger of the working hand for the rest of their life.