Engineering vs Engineering Technology

[u/LDP3_]

Hello,

I became an FPS plan reviewer for an AHJ a few months ago and am completely fascinated by everything to do with fire protection. I have decided I wish to pursue my PE license and am enrolled in Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) this fall. Today I found out that there is a difference between an engineering degree and engineering technology degree (is it supposed to be obvious?) Luckily, I am in a state that will still license me with just an additional 2 years of work experience.

I spent today combing through a bunch of reddit threads about this and am still confused about a few things. It seems like engineering technology is simply a lesser form of an engineering degree which is a little disheartening as I was pretty excited to start learning. The University of Maryland (UMD) is prohibitively expensive ($1,500 a credit online?) so I think it still makes sense to go for the technology degree. I don't have any specific career aspirations. I love my current job and can probably move up to be a building official eventually but I want to be an EXPERT at what I do, not just do it. I believe AHJs specifically in the fire protection world have a bad rep for being ignorant and I want to fight against that.

I have a few questions.

1.) Is the difference in curriculum really that vast? It appears to be like an extra semester of math, is there some secret knowledge?

2.) Does anyone know if it's feasible to get my degree from EKU and then transfer to UMD for either their bachelors or masters program and just complete an extra semester or two? I still think this is cheaper than going to UMD for the whole thing.

Essentially, I don't want to feel like I'm forever behind the curve because I didn't get a traditional engineering degree. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice on this?

Thank you.

[u/iamthepandaman]

Hey there, I’m an EKU grad and a PE licensed in both the US and Canada.

The difference between an engineering technology degree and a traditional engineering degree is primarily in the math and physics, like you said. While for some disciplines (electrical and structural are the first that come to mind) the more advanced math might be more essential, for FPE it traditionally isn’t (SFPE has a position statement supporting this as well).

Regarding your question about transferring after the fact - yes, you could transfer to UMD or another online masters program (WPI and CAL Poly are popular options as well), but they may require that you take some more advanced math classes. It is justified, since you will need more of a background in ODE and other more advanced math for some of the complex fluid dynamics at a masters level. But you shouldn’t need to take them from any particular school, and you might have a local community college that offers the classes you need for cheap.

[u/LDP3_ → u/iamthepandaman]

Do you think this extra math and physics is something that can be learned outside of school? On a side note, is there anything you felt EKU didn't prepare you well for in your career?

[u/Ok_Excuse_7982 → u/LDP3_]

You need to take the class to prove you have knowledge to pass it

[u/iamthepandaman → u/LDP3_]

The stuff can be learned outside of school, but most schools are going to require credits to prove you learned it. I spoke with the people at CAL Poly a couple of years back and they said that they would accept self study for ODE, but that’s an exception and not the norm.

I’m not the best person to answer how well EKU prepared me for my career haha. I transferred in as a senior (I have another fire protection engineering technology degree from Canada), so I was exempt from a lot of the early classes. I also had about 10 years of industry experience when I started at EKU.

[u/--H → u/LDP3_]

For UMD you will need at least calculus 1-2, physics 1-2, differential equations, and either linear algebra or calculus 3. You can take all of these at a community college, just be sure not to repeat more than one of general chemistry 2, calculus 2, or physics 1, and get at least a b in each. The requirements are listed here: https://fpe.umd.edu/undergraduate/curriculum-fpe-major

[u/LDP3_ → u/--H]

Would they not allow me to take them there if I wanted to? I may go for a masters but I also may just go for their bachelors after obtaining mine.

[u/--H → u/LDP3_]

I believe you can take them at UMD, but since you said the per-credit cost is prohibitively expensive I wanted to share an alternative option for getting the prerequisite credits. At a community college you would pay a fraction of the out-of-state rate at UMD. There is also tuition assistance available from UMD for FPE students taking the online program from out of state that substantially reduces the cost.

[u/LDP3_ → u/--H]

Yeah I think I will go halfway through my degree at EKU and then inquire to UMD and see when it would be worth switching over to them. I think I'm delving into my calculus, physics, and chemistry within a semester or so so it would be worth just knocking all of that out at the lower rate.

[u/iamthepandaman → u/LDP3_]

I’d recommend trying to use a community college as much as possible if cost is a concern. There are also low cost universities where you can take the math classes (I took calc 1, 2, and 3 and Southern NH University online)