Conformity Magazine - January 2009 - (Page 26) The Informer Provided by the International Association for Radio, Telecommunications and Electromagnetics Headquarter News Do you know that iNARTE is an FCC Commercial Operator License Examination Manager (COLEM)? In fact, iNARTE administers FCC licensure examinations to more than 600 applicants each year. There are currently nine COLEMs authorized by the FCC to administer these various licensure examinations. A commercial operator license is needed to operate, and/ or to repair and maintain, specified ship, aircraft, and international fixed public radiocommunication stations. However, the possession of a General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL) is also considered to be evidence of a certain level of competency in electronics and telecommunications. It is increasingly common to see procurement agencies asking suppliers of electrical or electronic systems and subsystems to employ operators having their GROL as a minimum qualification. Many military personnel have had training and experience equivalent to a GROL and, as they approach discharge or retirement, studying for this credential that is increasingly recognized by commercial companies may well be worthwhile. The FCC recently held a COLE Managers meeting. Representatives from iNARTE and three other COLEMs attended this informative discussion on Part 13 rules and COLEM standards. Given today’s difficult employment conditions, iNARTE has added new validation levels to our current certification programs, designed to recognize knowledge and excellence achieved by less experienced engineers and technicians. These new certifications, “Associate Engineer” and “Associate Technician,” may be achieved through different paths, for example: • Graduation from an approved curriculum at an accredited training institute with a high GPA or equivalent; • Graduation from an approved curriculum at a nonaccredited institute, and passing an Associate-level iNARTE examination; • Providing evidence of education in a related engineering or physical science field, and passing the standard iNARTE certification examination. In the first two examples above, we would also require applicants to prepare some suitable examination questions as a further demonstration of their skill and understanding of the discipline. We would also request endorsements from an applicant’s professor or department head. In the third case, where an applicant passes the full certification examination, we would award Associate Certification while the applicant completes the other steps for full certification. Those who receive Associate Certifications will be required to renew their certification annually, which will generally require a reference from their employer. Once Associates have gained the years of experience required for full certification, they then have three additional years to complete full certification requirements. Those who fail to complete those requirements will no longer be allowed to hold Associate status. The current iNARTE Associate Member program that allows individuals to access iNARTE information solely through payment of fees will be discontinued in 2009, and replaced with an iNARTE Sponsor program. Under the new Sponsor program, individuals are not certified or endorsed in any way, but will be allowed to read and post information on “Members Only” sections of the iNARTE web site. For more information on the FCC COLE programs and the iNARTE Associate or full Certification programs, call us at 1-800-89-NARTE, or visit www.narte.org. Expanding the iNARTE Credentialling Range When NARTE was first established in 1982, following deregulation at the FCC, our only certification program was in the field of Telecommunications Engineering. In this discipline, there were different classes of competency, which have evolved through the years to include Junior, Senior and Master levels for both Engineers and Technicians. Individuals graduate through these levels as a result of their experience years or through examination. As iNARTE introduced certification programs in other disciplines, including EMC, ESD and Product Safety Engineering, the graduation model from the Telecommunications field was not followed. Instead, only one Engineering grade and one Technician grade were recognized, requiring nine years and six years of experience respectively. 2 Conformity JAnUAry 2009 http://www.narte.org
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