Professional Engineers Now Have Their Own Internet Domain
-- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 3/28/2005
A new Internet domain that is exclusively for professional engineers—eng.pro—was unveiled in February reports the National Society of Professional Engineers.
After several years of discussion, professional engineers can finally join the ranks of doctors, lawyers and accountants as users of the .pro Internet domain, now specifically eng.pro for engineers. This new domain is exclusively available to professionals who certify they meet the requirements of their profession and offers engineers a differentiated Web identity while providing professional credibility and secure communications.
NSPE, in partnership with RegistryPro, began offering the .pro and eng.pro domain names to licensed engineers on its website beginning February 21.
“It's a tremendous opportunity for professional engineers to clearly distinguish themselves as a discrete and select group of licensed professionals,” said NSPE deputy executive director Arthur Schwartz, CAE. “In an era when electronic communication is taking predominant importance, having the eng.pro domain will surely raise the image, prestige, and visibility of licensed professional engineers.”
Only licensed, qualified engineers and their firms are eligible to receive the eng.pro domain. To verify the credentials of engineers who apply, RegistryPro will rely on the standards set by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), local and state licensing boards and third-party databases. In other countries, local and regional associations such as the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers and the Engineering Council U.K. will be called on to approve engineers.
Registration of an eng.pro domain name includes a web address, digital certificate, professional validation, free additional services such as domain and e-mail forwarding, business card Web page, and online domain control panel. To facilitate private and confidential communications, eng.pro bundles a digital certificate with every domain name. This provides the opportunity to send encrypted and non-repudiated e-mail, thereby protecting confidential client information. Other security services such as time-stamping and electronic notarization are also possible.
“Engineers delivered the Internet,” said Michael DelCiello, general manager of RegistryPro and an electrical engineering graduate. “Now they get to use it—with their own signature on the Web.”
For more information, go to www.nspe.org.
