Initiatives

Woman in red NCEES shirt talking to people about NCEES

Why are Outreach Initiatives Important?

Outreach initiatives are critical to the overall mission of NCEES, which is to advance licensure for engineers and surveyors in order to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Supporting K–12 initiatives and connecting professional practice with education are two of the biggest components of NCEES outreach efforts.

NCEES Outreach Initiatives

Supporting K–12 Initiatives

NCEES celebrates the professions and sponsors hands-on activities to promote careers in engineering and surveying to children, their parents, and teachers. Along with exploring career options, NCEES focuses on how professional engineers and surveyors protect the public. The organization’s support of DiscoverE is a central part of NCEES efforts to engage with K–12 students.

NCEES also supports MATHCOUNTS Foundation programs. The foundation provides competitions and clubs to empower middle-school students of all ability levels and backgrounds to reach their full potential in mathematics. In addition, the organization provides support to Trig-Star, an annual high-school mathematics competition sponsored by the National Society of Professional Surveyors.

Connecting professional practice and education

Outreach initiatives at the college level are an important aspect of NCEES’ efforts to increase the number of engineering and surveying students starting the path to professional licensure when they graduate. FE Ambassadors serve as on-campus representatives with the purpose of engaging fellow engineering students through activities such as engineering society student chapter meetings and events, licensure presentations, on-campus advertising, and social media.

The organization promotes licensure to engineering educators and students through the NCEES Engineering Education Award. The award recognizes engineering programs that encourage collaborations between college students and professional engineers.

NCEES also promotes licensure through the Surveying Education Award. The award recognizes surveying and geomatics programs that best reflect the NCEES mission to advance licensure for surveyors in order to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

NCEES staff and volunteers reach groups on college campuses through Speaker’s Link, a network of professional engineers and surveyors who talk to students about the licensure process and provide firsthand accounts of what it takes to become licensed and how doing so has impacted their careers.

Advancing licensure for public protection

As part of its virtual outreach programming, NCEES distributes a podcast series, launched in September 2020. Hosted by NCEES Chief Operating Officer Davy McDowell, P.E., Advance: An NCEES Podcast Series highlights professional engineers and surveyors across the country and their critical work to help safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

NCEES also distributes P.E. and P.S. Profiles. In this series, NCEES explores the benefits of licensure and how professional engineers and surveyors are working on a daily basis to protect the public. The profiles are featured on the NCEES website and social media channels.