How to prepare for registration from GE to PE with the Engineers Board of Kenya

After working for a minimum of three years under the supervision of a registered professional engineer in good standing with the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK), a graduate engineer is eligible to register as a Professional Engineer (PE) in Kenya.

 

The process can be daunting. Previously, it has been deemed nearly impossible to achieve. However lately, there are various opportunities to obtain mentorship that further supports candidates in preparation of reports required for registration. We shall discuss these mentorship opportunities later.

 

There are two main bodies that govern the registration process in Kenya, EBK and IEK.

 

What is the difference between EBK and IEK?

 

Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) 

The Engineers Board of Kenya is a statutory body established by the Engineers Act 2011. The Board is responsible for registration of engineers and firms, regulation of engineering professional services, setting of standards, development and general practice of engineering in Kenya.

One of the functions of the Board as provided under Section 7(1)(u) of the Act is to “develop, maintain and enforce the code of ethics for engineers and regulate the conduct and ethics of the engineering practice in general.”

 

A fresh graduate is required to register as a graduate member with EBK, carry out their duties as governed by the engineers’ code of ethics and pay the annual fees to continue being in good standing with the board. After which, the graduate engineer can make an application to request consideration for registration as a professional engineer. Please note that recent guidelines require graduate engineers seeking PE registration to attend a pre-submission conference. Look out for the next conference from the EBK website.

 

Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK)

The Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) is the learned society of the engineering profession and co-operates with national and other international institutions in developing and applying engineering to the benefit of humanity.

 

A fresh graduate is required to make an application for membership as a graduate member and subsequently as corporate member at IEK.

 

 

IEK Mentorship program

The application procedure for PE registration can be found here. From this application procedure, it is clear that having a membership certificate from the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) is a requirement. Therefore, application to IEK is an important part of the application process.

 

IEK have set up a wonderful mentorship program that is free for all graduate members to join. The electrical engineering mentorship program has run for over 60 virtual sessions so far, mentoring dozens of graduate electrical engineers through the registration process. The civil engineers’ mentorship program was also launched recently and is free for all graduate members to join.

 

The mentorship program is structured such that graduate engineers are assigned a mentor; they get to join the presentations online and observe other graduates’ presentations for two sessions and are then expected to present their training and experience report by the third session. Don’t worry, the mentor assigned to you will walk the journey with you. The presentations are done twice a month, via zoom on Sunday afternoons. I applaud the professional engineers who take time off their weekends to mentor graduate engineers. During the sessions, the mentors look through the report format, structure and content and give advice on all these areas. Take this feedback seriously as it helps to improve the quality of the report and makes the registration process easier.

 

Once a graduate engineer presents both training and experience report and project report to the mentors’ satisfaction, the graduate gets a print signal to finally print and submit their reports to both IEK and EBK. 

 

NOTE: A graduate engineer is advised to make an application to IEK for transfer of class to corporate member and to EBK for professional engineer registration in parallel to the mentorship process. This reduces the time it takes to obtain the request of documents and scheduled interviews by both organisations. So do not wait for the print signal to make the application, make the application before or during the report preparation and mentorship program.

 

The following are some indicative guidelines to help in report preparation as described by one of the mentors in the program: 

 

*What you need to Prepare your T&E (Training and Experience) Report*

1. You need to have your CV since the time you graduated from university.

2. You need to make a conscious decision that you want to prepare your T&E Report

3. Transfer the details in your CV to the T&E report template in the format and language prescribed.

4. Review your new T&E report and see whether it conforms to the requirements.

5. Be happy with your work and schedule a mentorship session.

6. In case you get stuck or feel bored anywhere along the struggle, reach out for help.

7. A T&E report should take you only 7 days to have ready if you have your CV

8. Supposing you are very busy? Yes, you need to create that time since everyone is busy and everything in life will compete for your time.

* These are indicative guidelines and do not replace or represent an official position.

 

*Probable scenarios for Consideration for Project Report*

1. Understand what the Business need or requirement is.

2. Translate the Business need into a technical requirement.

3. Ask yourself, from a first principles perspective, what Electrical, Electronic, Control, Mechatronics or Telecommunications engineering concepts require to be applied without thinking about manufacturer, existing products or trade/brand names.

4. Ask yourself again, is there Electrical Engineering concepts from first principles to be applied or just a mere buy and install of material and solutions?

5. Are you able to argue your situation on the basis of known referenced and applicable stands?

 

*Common Project Areas*

a. Lack of Power Supply

b. Inadequate Power Supply

c. Unreliable Power Supply

d. Telemonitoring

e. Telecontrol

f. Automation

g. Provision of Voice, Video and Data Communication network

h. Upgrade of a Voice, Video and Data Network

i. Enhancement of features on a Voice, Video or Data Network

j. Throughput enhancement of a Communication Network

k. Intelligence enhancement on a Communication Network

l. Communication Infrastructure Monitoring and Security Enhancement

m. Latency reduction on a communication network infrastructure

* These are indicative guidelines and do not replace or represent an official position.

 

Remember to use the correct template as prescribed by both IEK and EBK. There has been a recent change of templates, be sure to follow this to reduce the time for report review by your supervisor.

 

Though the process seems tough, engineers are tougher and I believe we can grow together! All the best to all graduate engineers in this process and see you at the IEK mentorship sessions every second Sunday via zoom. (Reach out to me on the comments for more information on the GE Mentorship WhatsApp groups)

 

#Changamka #twendePE #1000GE’stoPE’s

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