National Fire Prevention Association

Description

The purpose of the CFPS examination is to provide a basis for determining the competency of candidates seeking the Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS) designation. Current basis for the examination is the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook, 20th edition.

Requirements

To be eligible to take the CFPS examination, candidates must demonstrate on the CFPS application that they meet one of the following criteria:

1. Bachelor’s degree in engineering, technology, or other related discipline from an accredited college or university, plus two years of verifiable work experience dedicated to curtailing fire loss, both physical and financial. Copy of college diploma or transcript AND Resume are required.
2. Associate’s degree in engineering, technology or other related discipline from an accredited college or university, plus four years of verifiable work experience dedicated to curtailing fire loss, both physical and financial.
3. High school diploma + 6 years of verifiable work experience dedicated to curtailing fire loss, both physical and financial.

Fees

• Application/exam fee – $350;  Annual renewal fee – $90; Retest fee – $125
• Download an application. (PDF, 40 KB)
• Download a retest application. (PDF, 40 KB)
• Applicant and certificate holders handbook (PDF, 436 KB)

Polls

Association For Facilities Engineering

Description

This credential is designed to validate that the certified person possesses the professional expertise and knowledge required to successfully perform plant and facilities supervisor activities.

Requirements

There are two CPE Certification Categories. The first is the CPE category A. With this certification you are eligible if you have a minimum of four years in management in plant/facility engineering or six years in the field overall with a four-year degree in engineering, architecture or a related field.

If you do NOT have a degree you must have minimum of six years in management in plant/facility engineering or eight years in the field overall.

With the CPE Category B, You are eligible if you have a minimum of four years experience as a registered professional engineer. Category B applicants are exempt from the examination. A copy of your PE license is required with submission of your CPE B application.

Fees

$275 for AFE member and $460 for non-members. Testing fee: $45 per initial exam.

Polls

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

Description

Globally preferred by employers, the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential denotes proven expertise in fraud prevention, detection, and deterrence. Members with the CFE credential experience professional growth and quickly position themselves as leaders in the global anti-fraud community. In fact, the ACFE’s 2008 Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals reveals that CFEs earn 22% more than non-CFEs in similar jobs.

Requirements

1. Be an Associate member of the ACFE in good standing.  If you are not already an Associate member of the ACFE, you must first become a member to pursue the CFE credential.

2. Submit the CFE Exam application with proof of education and professional recommendations.

3. Pass the CFE Exam. The CFE Exam is a Windows-based program that tests your knowledge and expertise in the four primary areas of fraud examination: Fraudulent Financial Transactions, Legal Elements of Fraud, Investigation Methods, and Criminology and Ethics.

• Click here to learn more about the CFE Exam and how to prepare to take it.

4. Gain final approval from the certification committee and become a CFE. You will officially become a CFE once your exam and credentials are approved by the certification committee. Those who have attained the CFE credential will be invoiced at the CFE dues rate upon annual membership renewal.

Fees

US $250

Coupled with other factors, this leads to a situation where the design team is asked to switch gears, in some cases quite drastically, in order to meet the needs of the client.  It has been my experience such change leads to the following statement from the owner “I need this minor design revision drawn in 30 days,  permitted in 30 days, priced in 30 days and built in 30 days.”

The ugly truth is, the change is major not minor (e.g. add a new elevated pool to the 15 floor).  The design should really take 60 days, the permitting is out of anyone’s control and the owner really hopes the change will cost $30,000 not $300,000.  The design team is then faced with the unenviable task of producing documents in a timely manor so as mitigate the delays to the project in progress.

Right away panic begins, as the consultants all cower to play CYA (cover your……….) with regards to design deliverables.  Every sentence starts with “I can’t get started with my portion until…..”  or when asked if they can provide components of the design in the interest of keeping the project moving forward, the moans and groans from the doom and gloom section begin their somber symphony “No, we need to design the entire system…”

With the clock ticking and the interest payments climbing the owner attempts to apply a renewed sense of urgency.  However, the momentum has stalled because design development meetings are ineffective.  Since the owner has foolishly decided to contract directly with the consultants, the architect has no leverage over the rest of the team.  This means that the mechanical engineer will not specify the size of the new chiller equipment, the structural engineer won’t design the slab to carry the weight and the architect is unable to coordinate the revised layout of the floor to house the new equipment.

The only way that this unfortunate trend can be reversed is if designers and engineers are able to assert themselves with owners, perhaps through more transparency in their service proposals and a more thorough explanation of the design and permitting process.  Owners inherently assume that drawings just appear from the clouds; courtesy the stork.  Before committing to  an owner driven change; designers need to outline a schedule.  This is no different than what would be expected of the Construction Manager tasked with implementing the design revision.  The schedule should detail the design process with tight integration of owner comments and constructability reviews.

From an owner’s perspective, those who control the purse strings must also be held accountable.  Owners need to recognise that deisgners are operating in an era under where they are under siege by liability litigation.  This leads to a level of “over cautiousness” which is inherently counter productive to the goals of rapid change.  Decisiveness from ownership on the aesthetic and programatic direction of a project is as critical as the execution of the design.

Owner’s also need to exercise their financial leverage over the design and construction teams so that owner precipitated changes don’t reset the tab, giving the designers and builders opportunities overcharge for taking the project in a new direction.

]]> http://www.qualifiedengineer.com/2009/09/100-cds-the-new-design-build/feed/ 1 http://www.qualifiedengineer.com/2009/08/senior-level-linux-professional-lpic-3/ http://www.qualifiedengineer.com/2009/08/senior-level-linux-professional-lpic-3/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:37:56 +0000 Qualified Engineer http://www.qualifiedengineer.com/?p=2131 Governing Association & Source

The Linux Professional Institute

Description

The LPIC-3 Certification program represents the culmination of LPI’s 3 Certification Programs.

LPIC-3 is designed for the “enterprise-level” Linux professional. The program has been developed with the input of hundreds of Linux professionals from around the globe and with input from some of the world’s leading technology companies. It also represents the highest level of professional, distribution-neutral Linux certification within the industry.

The LPIC-3 program consists of a single exam for LPIC-3 “Core” designation. A number of “specialty” exams are proposed as additional designations on top of the LPIC-3 “Core” certification. Proposed specialties include the following: Mixed Environment, Security, High Availability and Virtualization, Web and Intranet, and Mail and Messaging. The first such “specialty” designation, “Mixed Environment” was made available in January 2007 and “Security” was released in February 2009.

Requirements

you must have an active LPIC-2 certification to receive LPIC-3 certification, but the LPIC-2 and LPIC-3 exams may be taken in any order

Fees

Polls

One such example is the recent announcement of the HTC hero:

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_hero_joins_the_android_bandwagon_with_a_custom_ui-news-988.php

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/htc-hero-unlocked/4505-6452_7-33702036.html

There are 4 main things that make Iphone a success:

1. Apple’s marketing machine.
2. Great handset
3. Intuitive UI
4. Thousands of apps on the App Store

There are 4 main reasons that will negate the list above:

1. Since Android will be distributed through the Samsung, Sony, HTC etc…. you can expect a cumulative effort on the marketing front.
2. Apple is a closed ecosystem.  For their mobile OS to really spread it’s wings, it will need to take a lot more significant steps than previously demonstrated.   These steps could be possible if the OS was deployed on multiple handsets.
3. The App store is filled with duplicate applications and software which could hardly be construed as useful.  The open source community has been getting behind Android and I suspect we’ll see rapid deployment of Android applications, probably at a rate which would outpace the App Store.
4. HTC’s G1 and G2 aren’t great looking handsets, but we know the list below of major manufacturers have a great chance of producing at least 2 or 3 handsets which are better than the Iphone.

• Acer Inc.
• ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
• Garmin International, Inc.
• HTC Corporation
• Huawei Technologies
• LG Electronics, Inc.
• Motorola, Inc.
• Samsung Electronics
• Sony Ericsson
• Toshiba Corporation

Above all other reasons, price will ultimately sustain Android as the predominant mobile OS.   Apple does not do “cheap” or should I say “affordable”.   Even though many people reach beyond their economic means to acquire Apple products, the majority of consumers will continue to procure electronic commensurate with their income.