Chemical Engineers in California by Tony Green

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               As a result of life circumstances after I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering I have never worked as a licensed engineer.  Therefore, laws pertaining to professional engineers should not affect my livelihood. Yet after reading one of the American Institute of Chemical Engineer (AICHE) newsletters I was amazed to read Professional Engineers (PE) would be precluded from practicing their craft on the merit on their training.

                More specifically, I discovered Chemical Engineers are not licensed to practice in California without the supervision of a Civil engineer. Based on the current words in the California State Engineers' Act, performing chemical engineer duties unsupervised may be in violation of California State Law.

The inconsistency of this law is made clearer when the Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering are examined in further detail. Civil Engineers build buildings. On the other hand Chemical Engineers produce materials through chemical and engineering principles in a variety of disciplines, ranging from biotechnology, Petroleum, food & beverage, and alternative energy just to name a few.

               How has this occurred?  In 2001 AB9002, better known as the State Engineers Act, stated only Civil Engineers could practice Civil Engineering. The stipulation which prevents Chemical Engineers from practicing without Civil Engineering supervision problem resulted when the definition of Civil Engineering was defined as including writing reports, managing staffs, mass construction, and doing work on a site which is geographically fixed. Therefore, lawmakers saw fit to include Chemical Engineering under that umbrella. With this definition, wouldn't all the engineers be covered regardless of specialty? We can assume our law makers did not study engineering during their college days.

Realistically, engineering training should not be a prerequisite for public office but shouldn’t someone knowledgeable about the profession been consulting before passing legislation which would prove to have profound effect on the livelihood of such highly trained personnel?

                The bottom line is licensed PE are precluded from practicing in California unless supervised by someone outside their area of expertise.

                The adoption of alternative energies in relation to Chemical Engineer related disciplines cannot be denied. Among the applicable technologies include lithium batteries, composite materials used in wind turbine blades, converting the silicon for use to produce solar power panel, and bio-fuels. The need for trained professional created by the rigorous Chemical Engineer curriculum is clear. What needs to done is to correct this obvious oversight.

                Granted California’s budget deficit and other woes should take are higher priority with our lawmakers than this issue which affects a small percentage of its citizens. What if it was your livelihood which was being jeopardized due to the antiquated law? California is a great to live but there are some common sense things which can be done to make lives better for everyone...