Abubakr – thank you for the thoughtful reactions on the issue.
On your highlighted question – you may have some answers in your mind. In line with 4.1 Engineering Profession section of the Standards, Codes and Manuals Essay – I like to address it by asking:
What is professionalism? The answers to this question are vague and not congruently singular.
Let us attempt to answer it in a different way in simple terms. A person while viewing something, and when developed a pleasant or admirable impression of that something, may likely say: it's so professional!
This impression says a lot about professionalism. That the piece work: an engineering project, study report or structure – or a scientific investigation – or an administrative or management decision – or a literary, fine arts or intellectual analysis piece – or a judicial or political decision – is neat and smart in its presentation – resulting from such attributes as skilled workmanship, mutual trust, integrity, due diligence, aesthetics, non-biased objective view of things, responsibility and accountability, causes ↔ conditions of systems, respectfulness in dealings, etc. If the impression is different – people react unapprovingly.
Or in another context, one may say: I am a professional writer, a singer, an artist, a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, a scientist, an engineer, etc. In all these cases, people identify their profession or what they do –as a way of earning a living.
Let us ask a follow-up question. How much of this piece of work is dependent on regulatory licenses. The answer is definitely 'not much' – if one is honest in answering.
The reason for this answer is that many of the highlighted pieces of professional works or profession are the result of training – that start from childhood parental rearing to school works to our own volitional learning and pursuits. We develop certain intuition of skill, integrity, responsibility and accountability – irrespective of where we live. This intuition has nothing to do with compliance regulations.
Therefore, it is reasonable to say that professionalism cannot be ensured by some compliance guidelines or checklist – much of it depends on personal commitment to be skillful – to value respectfulness and mutual trust – to excel – to be smart.
Then, why regulations and why there is a need for Balance. Regulations are Procedural Control Structures by definition – instead of felicitation and encouragement – they are Mechanistic and inhibit Freedom, Creativity and Innovation. They are a bureaucratic, rigid and compliance framework – of impositions, constraints and hurdles.
But, a social structure cannot function without laws and regulations. Driving license regulation is a prime example. But, then the question is how much regulation is too much. Therefore, the necessity of finding a balance comes to the forefront.
As I understand it, in the case of legislative attempt in 2025 to abolish the system of individual professional engineering licensure in Florida – the intention was to streamline operations for efficient management (It's a public knowledge now, as some websites have pieces discussing the issue). It aimed to eliminate the state institution of the Florida Board of Professional Engineers – in favor of strengthening one regulatory entity, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation – in favor of business licensing by removing the layer of individual licensing. In the face of vehement opposition from stakeholders – the attempt was not successful.
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Dr. Dilip K Barua, PhD
Website Links and Profile
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-07-2026 02:20 AM
From: Abubakr Gameil
Subject: Engineers are not Professionals?
Warm greetings,
dear Professor, Barua
I share the same sense of surprise you felt when reading the article. Perhaps the writer intentionally used this style to draw readers into completing the piece - and indeed, he succeeded, while what we were left with was the surprise itself.
Regarding what you mentioned about the direction some states are taking concerning the profession, this is truly an interesting matter. It raises a question that has long occupied the professional community - not only locally, but perhaps globally as well:
Is the accreditation granted through the PE license sufficient to make an engineer "professional enough"?
The question may appear controversial on the surface, yet it is a powerful catalyst for rethinking many of the traditional concepts of the profession.
I was very pleased to read your post today, and I wish you a happy new year filled with the best of hopes and success.
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Abubakr Gameil, R. ENG, M. ASCE®️, SEI Member
Chairman & Director General
Almanassa Engineering International Co. Ltd
Khartoum, Sudan
Original Message:
Sent: 01-05-2026 07:05 PM
From: Dilip Barua
Subject: Engineers are not Professionals?
An ASCE SOURCE News Article posted on 2025 Dec 29 reveals that US Federal Gov does not consider engineers as professionals. It caught me by surprise – haven't heard this before.
When read through the article – it seems however the highlighted premise is not what it seems. The Federal definition is rather applied to categorize who can or cannot qualify for certain amount of student loans.
Nevertheless – there may be deeper issues than this – as some states are considering to abolish engineering licensure requirement altogether.
Have a read – reflect and react.
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Dr. Dilip K Barua, PhD
Website Links and Profile
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