Articles/Publications
Who's Using the Title "Project Engineer" Properly?
By Judith Nitsch, PE
What title does your firm give to new graduate engineers? My first title was "project engineer," which was proudly displayed on my business cards and after my name on my engineering correspondence. Of course, those letters were counter-signed by my supervisor, a professional engineer.
In the mid-'80s, I received a letter from the Massachusetts Board of Registration because I, as a professional engineer, had counter-signed a letter written by one of my graduate engineers. The board said her use of the title "project engineer" was illegal because she wasn't a licensed engineer. I argued — unsuccessfully — that didn't matter because I, as the PE, had counter-signed the letter. I then even sent a list of possible titles for a graduate-but-non-registered — engineer, but none of the possible titles — such as Assistant Engineer and Design Engineer — were acceptable to the board because they included the word "engineer." The board argued that the term implied the individual was a licensed/registered engineer and, since they weren't, we would be deceiving the public if we used it.
My firm immediately changed all of our graduate engineers' titles to "project designer." We do not feel that is an adequate title, but we have not been able to determine a better description for them.
If your firm is using a title that includes the word "engineer" for someone who isn't registered in Massachusetts, be aware that practice can garner you a letter of admonition from the Board of Registration. And call me if you've come up with a better term than project designer!
Published in Insights, the Quarterly Newsletter of the American Consulting Engineers Council of Massachusetts, Feb/Mar 2000