6 Popular Engineering Certification Programs

Engineering certifications can help you specialize within the broad field of engineering and develop the critical skills you need to be successful in a specific role. You can choose from engineering certification programs that help you learn new skills, or find engineering certification exams that test your current knowledge, allowing you to apply your experience or previous education to your certification. Many certifications for engineers are relevant in several fields of engineering, while others have a narrower focus and help you demonstrate your skills in a highly specialized field. 

Discover six engineering certification options spanning four of the largest fields within engineering: civil, mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering. 

Types of engineering fields

Engineering is a broad category of professional careers that involve designing, building, and improving products and systems. As an engineer, you typically combine creativity and problem-solving with math, critical thinking, science, and technical skills in your field to find new solutions to problems. 

Various types of engineering include: 

• Aerospace engineering

• Agricultural engineering 

• Biomedical engineering

• Chemical engineering

• Civil engineering

• Computer engineering

• Information technology engineering

• Electrical engineering

• Materials engineering

• Mechanical engineering

• Industrial engineering

• Systems engineering

• Nuclear engineering

Within each of these engineering categories, you can find more exact layers of engineering specializations. For example, you could become a materials engineer and specialize as a ceramic materials engineer, a plastics engineer, or a semiconductor processing engineer. If you become a plastics engineer, you may further specialize in the polymers and materials themselves, plastic packaging, or optimizing the plastic production process. 

What are the four big engineering fields?

The “Big Four” fields of engineering are typically computer, civil, mechanical, and electrical. Sometimes, chemical engineering is included as one of the major fields as well. You can explore many other engineering fields, such as aerospace, materials, or nuclear, but many engineering projects fall into these four categories.

Engineering certification programs

Engineering certifications can help you transition from entry-level engineering roles into more advanced roles. Because many certification programs require prior experience, you’ll usually already be working in an engineering job, and may even already have your Professional Engineer license, before earning certification. Then, as you gain experience and skills to move into more specialized roles, you can use certification to help you find the right career trajectory.

Explore six engineering certification programs across the four main engineering fields that may be applicable to your current or future career. 

Civil engineering certification

As a civil engineer, you use your knowledge of engineering principles to design and build infrastructure like bridges, highways, airports, and drinking water and power grid systems. Two examples of civil engineering certifications to consider include the Board Certified Water Resources Engineer and the Board Certified Geotechnical Civil Engineer, both from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). 

Board Certified Water Resources Engineer

A board certification from the ASCE in water resource engineering demonstrates an advanced specialty in managing water resources, such as planning and designing water systems and maintaining infrastructure. You will need at least 10 years of experience to qualify for this credential, emphasizing the level of mastery the certification validates. 

Cost: $350 for ASCE members and $450 for non-members [1]

Requirements: To be eligible for this certification, you need a PE (Professional Engineer) license or its equivalent and 10 to 15 years of experience, depending on your prior education level. You also need a bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field. You can substitute that with a master's degree in a relevant subject. In addition, you need 30 or more postgraduate credit hours or a certification. You can substitute this last one with 15 years of experience [1].

Board Certified Geotechnical Civil Engineer

Another option for board certification through ASCE is a Geotechnical Civil Engineer. The expected body of knowledge for this certification includes topics like depth in geotechnical engineering, experimental methods and data analysis, critical thinking, project management, risk, sustainability, ethical responsibility, and more. 

Cost: $350 for ASCE members and $450 for non-members [2]

Requirements: To be eligible for this certification, you need a PE license or its equivalent and 10 to 15 years of experience, depending on your prior education level. You’ll also need a bachelor’s degree or a relevant master’s degree, plus postgraduate credits or 15 years of experience [2].

Computer engineering certification

As a computer engineer, you design and build computer systems, including both hardware and software. Two computer engineering certification options include the Certified Software Quality Engineer from the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the Professional Software Engineering Master Certification from the IEEE. 

Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE)

The Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) offered by the ASQ validates your skills in software quality development and implementation. Engineers who pursue this certification demonstrate skills in software inspection, verification and validation, maintenance processes, and software testing. The ASQ is a member organization that offers quality management professionals resources like industry research and benchmarking tools, along with a wide range of quality-related certifications in auditing, managing, inspecting, and Six Sigma. 

Cost: $433 for ASQ members, $533 for non-members [3] 

Requirements: To qualify for this exam, you need at least eight years of experience working in at least one area of the Certified Software Quality Engineer Software Body of Knowledge, such as software quality management, system and software engineering processes, software configuration management, or project management, among others. Three of those years must be in a leadership or decision-making role. You may be able to waive one to five years of experience if you have completed a formal education program. 

Professional Software Engineering Master Certification

The Professional Software Engineering Master Certification offered by IEEE Computer Society can help you validate your knowledge in 11 key areas of software engineering: 

• Requirements

• Design

• Construction

• Testing

• Maintenance

• Configuration management

• Engineering management

• Engineering process

• Engineering models and methods

• Quality

• Engineering economics 

IEEE CS is a professional membership organization for computer engineering professionals that offers professional events like networking and conferences, as well as thought leadership in the software engineering industry.

Cost: $690 for members, $865 for non-members [4]

Requirements: You can take this exam without completing any required prerequisites, but IEEE CS recommends that you have four years of college education and four years of relevant industry experience. 

Mechanical engineering certification

As a mechanical engineer, you work with mechanical equipment to design, build, and optimize solutions for a range of applications and products, from health care to space exploration. One potential engineering certification for a mechanical engineer is the Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE) from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). 

Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE)

The CMfgE validates your experience and knowledge of manufacturing processes and best practices. This credential is appropriate for engineers working in a wide range of careers that often include mechanical engineering, such as industrial engineering, reliability engineering, and equipment and automation engineering. The CMfgE exam covers topics across eight domains:

• Manufacturing foundations

• Manufacturing process application

• Design and development

• Digital enterprise

• Automated systems and control

• Quality

• Continuous improvement

• Business acumen

Cost: $275 for SME members, $520 for non-members [5] 

Requirements: To be eligible for this exam, you need eight years of combined experience and education in manufacturing, with a minimum of four of these years being work experience. If you hold a Certified Manufacturing Technologist (CMfgT) designation, you may count that as one year toward the required eight. You can pursue your CMfgT certification with four years of combined experience and/or education. 

Electrical engineering certification 

As an electrical engineer, you work with electricity and electronic devices to design and build systems that require electricity, from small components like circuits to massive electrical or communication systems. An electrical engineering certification that can help you demonstrate your specialized knowledge is the Certified Energy Manager (CEM) offered by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). 

Certified Energy Manager (CEM)

The CEM can help you validate your skills as a professional with the knowledge and experience to optimize the energy performance of systems within a building or facility. It can be a valuable credential for energy managers, energy efficiency consultants, building owners, building managers, and professionals involved in sustainability programs, efficiency projects, or related initiatives. This certification exam covers many energy management areas, some of which include:

• Energy accounting

• Electrical power systems

• HVAC systems

• Energy storage

• Industrial systems

• Policies, codes, and standards

• Distributed generation and renewable energy systems

• Building automation, controls, and artificial intelligence systems

• Lighting system

Cost: $500 [6]

Requirements: To be eligible for this exam, you need either 10 years of related work experience or a combination of experience and education. Depending on the type of degree you've earned, you may need between three and 8 years of experience working in energy engineering or energy management [6]. 

Prepare for engineering certification on Coursera

Engineering certifications help you validate your specific skills and experience within your engineering field. Professional Certificates and degrees on Coursera can further help you demonstrate industry-relevant skills from leading companies and universities in the industry while building your skill set. 

For example, you can enroll in the Engineering Project Management Specialization from Rice University. In this three-course series, you’ll learn strategies and tools to more effectively and successfully manage projects.