New professional class of “Registered Engineer” proposed

At its annual general meeting in Edmonton to be held April 22-24, the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) is going to propose changes to their Act and regulations to allow the creation of a new category of membership. They are to create the classes of Registered Geologist (R.Geol.), Registered Geophysicist (R. Geoph.) and Registered Engineer (R.Eng.). Individuals qualifying would be licensed with a defined scope of practice.
Dan Smythe, P.Eng., writes about the new membership categories in an article “Questioning Inclusivity” in the APEGGA’s newspaper, the PEGG, March 2004:
“They will be required to have a four-year university degree and four years of professional experience acceptable to our Board of Examiners. They will have to pass the Professional Practice Exam, just like every other APEGGA member, and will be subject to our Code of Ethics, discipline process and Continuing Professional Development program. They will be able to vote and serve on our Council.
“In short, they will be professional members of APEGGA, with the restriction of practicing within an individually defined scope.”
Regarding who will qualify for the new category, Smythe says they will be: “People practicing our professions with a non-conventional background.”
“We expect three main types of people will qualify,” he writes. “Immigrants to Alberta who graduated from a university that is not on the list of universities deemed to be equivalent to a Canadian univerity. Those in emerging disciplines such as biomedical engineering, where there are no accredied engineering programs, or the programs are just now being started. And finally, people who have a science degree or something similar and apply that knowledge in a professioon that looks much like engineering.”
To see the full article in the PEGG and more details, visit www.apegga.org