Recently been talking to a Grade A certified prick who was banging on about being a EUR.ING. and that it was the highest engineering qualification in Europe. This made him an expert in his field. I'd never heard of it.

From reading about it on Wikipedia it seems to me that if you had an Ordinary (not even an Honours Degree) and had been in employment for four years and done a couple of knife and fork courses you would qualify for this once you paid your subscription

Am I being overly cynical or is this practically on a par with buying a title and about as credible?

Ex Stab.
I wouldn’t claim that it is a statement of the pinnacle of engineering excellence, or anywhere near to it. However, if you deal routinely with our European cousins and genuinely need to establish you professional engineering creds then I can vouch for the fact that it is worthwhile; it is recognised and respected. The Germans even go so far as it becoming a legal requirement to use the title “EurIng” once you have it. Also, when I collected mine in the mid 90s, you had to already hold CEng status nationally and be recommended by the UK Council of Engineering Institutions – things might have become more lax in the meantime. If nothing else, it is a good talking point.

PS, I do hope that the Grade A certified prick doesn’t live in Liverpool, otherwise it might have been me!

Originally Posted by Ned_Seagoon

Ex Stab.
I wouldn’t claim that it is a statement of the pinnacle of engineering excellence, or anywhere near to it. However, if you deal routinely with our European cousins and genuinely need to establish you professional engineering creds then I can vouch for the fact that it is worthwhile; it is recognised and respected. The Germans even go so far as it becoming a legal requirement to use the title “EurIng” once you have it. Also, when I collected mine in the mid 90s, you had to already hold CEng status nationally and be recommended by the UK Council of Engineering Institutions – things might have become more lax in the meantime. If nothing else, it is a good talking point.

PS, I do hope that the Grade A certified prick doesn’t live in Liverpool, otherwise it might have been me!

Would you say it is just a European wide scheme at the same level as being Chartered in the UK?

Spot on - pitched at the CEng, DiplIng, level and intended to provide a means of ensuring that the holders of those qualifications are recognised across borders without any need to go through the old, and expensive, translation/verrification of qualifications that used to happen. It is run by an organisation called FEANI which, when translated from French, is the Federation of European National Engineering Associations.

Surely you can't get CEng status with an ordinary degree? In my day, you had to have first or second class honours from an approved institution and I had heard that a Master's degree was now required. Interestingly enough, the Bachelor of Arts degrees in Engineering from Oxford and Cambridge were not approved.

Has anybody applied recently? What are the current requirements for CEng?

It's quite possible to get Chartered without a degree at all if you go through enough hoops. A mate of mine in his seventies is a member of the ImechE and only has an ordinary degree.
(I think he is chartered.

Current UK EC base educational requirements for engineering certification are as follows:

CEng - MSc or MEng
IEng - BSc or BEng
Eng Tech - HND

Obviously all must be relevent to the area in which you practice and must be UK EC approved. Having the qualification alone isn't enough, you must also have the practical skills and experience as well prior to going forward for your professional review.

Up until the early to mid 90's a BSc or BEng was sufficient for the educational base for CEng but that has changed a long time ago.