The Nebraska Professional

NCEES is currently seeking licensed industrial and systems engineers to participate in a professional activities and knowledge study, or PAKS, for the PE Industrial and Systems exam. The results of this online survey will be used to update specifications for the exam, which is used throughout the United States for licensing purposes.

NCEES requires a cross section of licensed professional engineers practicing industrial and systems engineering—including those working in industry, consulting, the public sector, and academia—to complete an online survey about the tasks and knowledge required of a licensed industrial and systems engineer with four to six years of experience to practice in a manner that safeguards the health, safety, and welfare of the public. The survey can be completed in approximately 30-40 minutes.

“These studies help NCEES ensure its licensing exams remain relevant to current professional practice,” explained Chief Officer of Examinations J. Lehmon Dekle, P.E. “The value of this PAKS depends on the number of people who participate, so NCEES is eager to get a large response from professional engineers across all areas of industrial and systems engineering.”

For access to the online survey, please click here. The survey will remain open until June 12, 2026. For more information, contact NCEES Exam Development Engineer William Bowen at wbowen@ncees.org.

The 2026 NCEES Engineering Education Award competitions are open for entries. All projects must be received by May 1, 2026.

The NCEES Engineering Education Awards recognize programs that have a broad and robust curriculum and best reflect NCEES’ mission to advance licensure in both fields in order to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public. The awards are intended to encourage programs to engage their students with other professionals, introduce them to new technology, and promote licensure.

For more information, please click here.

NCARB News

On January 15, 2026, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) implemented two programmatic changes designed to expand access to reciprocity through the NCARB Certificate: an update to the eligibility requirements for the Education Alternative to Certification and a refreshed Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with Canada. These updates align with NCARB’s Pathways to Practice initiative by ensuring that all qualified architects, regardless of licensure pathway, have access to national and international reciprocity. 

Updates to the Education Alternative

The first change—an update to the eligibility requirements for the Education Alternative to Certification pathway—retires a three-year waiting period between licensure and NCARB certification eligibility for U.S. architects without a degree from a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The Education Alternative allows U.S. architects who hold a four-year architecture-related degree, a community college degree, or no post-secondary education to become NCARB-certified by demonstrating additional learning through experience. 

Currently, 18 U.S. jurisdictions offer alternative paths to initial licensure that do not require a degree from an accredited program. However, 49 allow multiple pathways for reciprocal licensure, including through NCARB’s Education Alternative pathway.

Under the Education Alternative’s previous eligibility requirements, architects must have been licensed for at least the last three consecutive years in a U.S. jurisdiction before pursuing certification—an additional time-bound requirement which did not apply to architects who hold a degree from a NAAB-accredited program.

On January 15, NCARB retired this three-year waiting period, enabling architects of all backgrounds to pursue certification immediately after licensure. The retirement of the three-year Education Alternative delay follows recent NCARB changes designed to remove time-bound restrictions that aren’t aligned with competency, including the retirement of the exam’s rolling clock policy and revisions to the experience program’s reporting requirement.

Updates to the U.S./Canada MRA

The second programmatic change effective January 15, 2026, is an updated MRA between NCARB and the Regulatory Organizations of Architecture in Canada (ROAC). The agreement is based on substantially equivalent competencies obtained at the point of licensure and accepts architects from each country who have been licensed through a variety of paths—including those who hold the NCARB Certificate through the Education Alternative or International Architect pathways.

The updated agreement also removes several barriers to reciprocity that existed in the previous agreement, including eliminating the 2,000 required hours of post-licensure experience and removing requirements related to citizenship, residency, and principal place of practice. To be eligible for reciprocal licensure under the refreshed agreement, architects must: 

• Be licensed and in good standing in a participating jurisdiction in their home country,

• For U.S. architects, hold an active NCARB Certificate.

Both the update to the Education Alternative and the updated MRA with Canada were approved by NCARB’s member licensing boards at the organization’s 2025 Annual Business Meeting. 

To learn more about NCARB’s pathways to certification for architects who don’t hold a degree from a NAAB-accredited program, visit www.ncarb.org/certificate. To learn more about earning a license/registration to practice architecture abroad, visit www.ncarb.org/international. 

NCARB has released a new Future Trends Report, highlighting key aspects of architectural practice that are driving the evolution of health, safety, and welfare (HSW) in the built environment. Developed by NCARB’s Futures Collaborative, the report explores five trends shaping the future of architectural practice: artificial intelligence (AI), resource stewardship, space architecture, wellness, and the role of the architect.

NCARB’s Future Trends Report focuses on five emerging trends with far-reaching HSW impact within architecture practice: 

• The Future of AI: As architects increasingly use artificial intelligence to inform design outcomes, the Future Trends Report identifies opportunities for regulators to take proactive action to ensure AI is integrated safely into architectural practice.

• The Future of Resource Stewardship: Factors like scarcity, volatility, and environmental impact are affecting the availability of traditional design materials. To address these factors, the report highlights several opportunities to encourage a shift in architects’ stewardship of the planet’s resources.

• The Future of Space Architecture: As the space architecture industry expands, so does the question of regulatory boundaries. The Future Trends Report identifies how regulators might collaborate across industries to ensure HSW in extraterrestrial exploration.

• The Future of Wellness: New technological advancements are allowing architects to better measure the impact of the built environment on public well-being. As these metrics advance, regulators increasingly have the ability to define well-being standards in code and law.

• The Future of the Architect: As changing systems, technologies, and tools shape the role of the architect, regulators must consider how the licensure process can adapt to maintain public protection. 

To read NCARB’s Future Trends Report, please click here. To learn more about Pathways to Practice, please click here. 

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and NCARB have an ongoing collaboration to support licensure for the next generation of architects, most recently at AIAS’ 2026 FORUM in Denver, Colorado. NCARB President Edward T. Marley, CEO Michael J. Armstrong, and NCARB staff presented to AIAS members from around the world at this year’s design and career development conference.

AIAS and NCARB have also partnered to support Freedom By Design™ (FBD), a community service program that uses the talents of architecture students to radically impact the lives of people in their community through modest design and construction solutions. FBD provides real-world experience to licensure candidates through working with clients, learning from local architects and contractors, and experiencing the practical impacts of architecture and design. FBD projects are eligible—with prior approval of the AIAS chapter—for Architectural Experience Program® (AXP®) credit through the Community-Based Design Center/Collaborative opportunity.

In addition, NCARB typically hosts an open house for AIAS Grassroots attendees to tour NCARB’s offices, learn about the licensure process, and share valuable feedback on how NCARB can better support students. AIAS also supports NCARB’s architect licensing advisors’ program and appoints student licensing advisors to AIAS chapters at colleges and universities across the country. In 2025, NCARB co-hosted a series of webinars with AIAS to provide information and answer live questions on topics such as licensure for international students, completing the AXP and preparing for the Architect Registration Examination® (ARE®) while in school, and more. 

To learn more about this collaboration, please click here.