Regulating Continuing Education

The Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers (IIEE) and the Borad of Electrical Engineering (BEE) of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced the return of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) effective January 2009. CPE units are requirements for renewing electrical engieering practice license.

CPE has been an issue among licensed electrical engineers and electricians in the Philippines for some reasons;

• It takes some time from their job
• It pays much
• No current local technical seminars advance what they learned in college or in practice

The certification of continuing professional growth is seen as business of IIEE by a significant majority of its members.

In the light of this issue, I am having second thoughts why CPE has to be back. With the frenzy of using the internet, there are a lot of free CPEs around the web. And not undermining the seminars that are offered at IIEE or at National Engineering Center (NEC), these free CPE on the world wide web are very practical.

The following are free CPE seminars that I find very effective and are updated frequently:

• Power System Engineering Research Center (PSERC) teleseminars
  
• Electrical Construction and Maintenance (ECM) webinars
  
• Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland (PJM) Interconnection Training
• National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
• Transmission and Distribution World webinars
• Leonardo Energy webinars

These are only some of good sites to visit when needing CPE. More so, some engineers and electricians prefer personal education. These are people who continually read books or do their own research.

IIEE/BEE must recognize the changing dynamics of giving or requiring CPE among its members, the seminars they are currently offering has been there ever since I was a student. It would be a welcome development if IIEE/BEE will render, prepare or propose seminars on designing “green” electrical systems, energy-efficiency, electricity markets, power system planning and operation in a restructured electric industry or electricity delivery technical and economic regulation.