Fe Exam Tips

Page

1

Hec

tor

Estr

ada,

P.E

., Ph

.D.

Prof

esso

r of

Civ

il En

gine

erin

g

The Fundamentals of

Engineering Exam

Civ

il En

gine

erin

g D

epar

tmen

t

Uni

vers

ity o

f the

Pac

ific

Page

2

Out

line

The

FE E

xam

in p

ersp

ectiv

eEn

gine

erin

g re

gist

ratio

n re

quire

men

tsO

verv

iew

of

FE E

xam

Regi

ster

ing

for

the

FE E

xam

Prep

arat

ion

for

the

FE E

xam

Dis

cipl

ine

spec

ific

or g

ener

al a

fter

noon

exa

m?

Prep

arat

ion

tool

sM

ind

Body

Sum

mar

y

Page

3

Fund

amen

tals

of

Engi

neer

ing

exam

?

Page

4

Engi

neer

ing

Engi

neer

ing

is a

pro

fess

ion

like

med

icin

e, la

w,

etc.

, whi

ch a

spire

s to

hig

h st

anda

rds

of c

ondu

ct,

and

reco

gniz

es it

s re

spon

sibi

lity

to t

he g

ener

al

publ

icTo

pro

tect

the

pub

lic, w

e fo

llow

eng

inee

ring

desi

gn c

odes

and

hav

e en

gine

erin

g re

gist

ratio

nCo

des

used

to

cont

rol t

he c

onst

ruct

ion

of v

ario

us

com

pone

nts

and

syst

ems

A re

gist

er d

esig

ner

is r

equi

red

to a

cqui

re a

leve

l of

com

pete

nce

thro

ugh

Educ

atio

n, E

xam

inat

ions

and

Ex

perie

nce

befo

re s

/he

is a

llow

ed t

o pr

actic

e in

depe

nden

tly

Page

5

His

tory

of

Lice

nsin

g

1907

, firs

t lic

ensi

ng la

w w

as e

nact

ed in

W

yom

ing?

???

1928

, St.

Fra

ncis

dam

col

laps

ed –

over

400

ki

lled.

This

res

ulte

d in

Cal

iforn

ia e

nact

ing

a lic

ensi

ng la

w f

or

civi

l eng

inee

rs in

192

919

31, l

icen

sing

law

am

ende

d to

rec

ogni

ze s

truc

tura

l en

gine

erin

g tit

le19

47 c

hem

ical

, ele

ctric

al,

mec

hani

cal a

nd p

etro

leum

en

gine

erin

g re

cogn

ized

1947

, 50t

h lic

ensi

ng la

w e

nact

ed in

Mon

tana

Page

6

# o

f En

gine

ers

in t

he U

S

Page

7

Labo

r D

epar

tmen

t st

atis

tics

(~1.

6 m

illio

n jo

bs in

eng

inee

ring

in20

08)

183,

200

Engi

neer

s, a

ll ot

her

2,70

0Ag

ricul

tura

l eng

inee

rs

7,10

0M

inin

g an

d ge

olog

ical

eng

inee

rs, i

nclu

ding

min

ing

safe

ty e

ngin

eers

8,50

0M

arin

e en

gine

ers

and

nava

l arc

hite

cts

16,0

00Bi

omed

ical

eng

inee

rs

16,9

00N

ucle

ar e

ngin

eers

21,9

00Pe

trol

eum

eng

inee

rs

24,4

00M

ater

ials

eng

inee

rs

25,7

00H

ealth

and

saf

ety

engi

neer

s, e

xcep

t m

inin

g sa

fety

eng

inee

rs a

nd in

spec

tors

31,7

00Ch

emic

al e

ngin

eers

54,3

00En

viro

nmen

tal e

ngin

eers

71,6

00Ae

rosp

ace

engi

neer

s

74,7

00Co

mpu

ter

hard

war

e en

gine

ers

143,

700

Elec

tron

ics

engi

neer

s, e

xcep

t co

mpu

ter

157,

800

Elec

tric

al e

ngin

eers

214,

800

Indu

stria

l eng

inee

rs

238,

700

Mec

hani

cal e

ngin

eers

278,

400

Civi

l eng

inee

rs

http

://w

ww

.bls

.gov

/oco

/oco

s027

.htm

Page

8

Page

9

Engi

neer

ing

Regi

stra

tion

Requ

irem

ents

Page

10

Lice

nsur

e Pr

oces

s

Succ

essf

ully

com

plet

e th

e de

gree

re

quire

men

ts o

f an

EAC

/ABE

T ac

cred

ited

prog

ram

Take

and

pas

s th

e FE

exa

mTh

en, p

ract

ice

unde

r th

e su

perv

isio

n of

a

regi

ster

ed d

esig

ner

for

seve

ral y

ears

–2

to 4

Fina

lly,q

ualif

y fo

r, t

ake,

& p

ass

the

Prin

cipl

es-a

nd-P

ract

ices

of

Engi

neer

ing

(PE)

exa

m

Page

11

Rece

nt d

evel

opm

ents

in li

cens

ing

vote

s to

incr

ease

am

ount

of

educ

atio

n re

quire

d fo

r en

gine

erin

g lic

ensu

reN

ew M

odel

Law

lang

uage

Lice

nsur

e by

Exa

min

atio

n:Th

e fo

llow

ing

indi

vidu

als

shal

l be

adm

itted

to

an

8-ho

ur w

ritte

n ex

amin

atio

n in

the

prin

cipl

es a

nd

prac

tice

of e

ngin

eerin

g:

“An

engi

neer

inte

rn w

ith a

bac

helo

r's d

egre

e, w

ith a

n ad

ditio

nal 3

0 cr

edits

of

acce

ptab

le u

pper

-leve

l un

derg

radu

ate

or g

radu

ate-

leve

l cou

rsew

ork

…”

Page

12

The

argu

men

t fo

r m

ore

educ

atio

n

Agog

ino,

NAE

Page

13

Ove

rvie

w o

f FE

Page

14

Form

at

Mor

ning

(AM

) pa

rt12

0 qu

estio

ns in

4 h

ours

2

min

utes

per

que

stio

n

Gen

eral

sub

ject

s co

vere

d in

the

low

er d

ivis

ion

cour

ses

Afte

rnoo

n (P

M)

part

60 q

uest

ions

in 4

hou

rs

4 m

inut

es p

er q

uest

ion

Choi

ce o

f a

num

ber

of d

isci

plin

es, c

once

pts

cove

red

in t

he u

pper

div

isio

n co

urse

s

Gen

eral

exa

m s

imila

r to

the

one

in t

he m

orni

ngM

ust

choo

se d

isci

plin

e w

hen

you

regi

ster

for

exa

m!

Page

15

AM p

art

gene

ral s

ubje

cts

8Fl

uid

Mec

hani

cs11

Ele

ctric

ity a

nd M

agne

tism

8Th

erm

odyn

amic

s

8M

ater

ials

Pro

perti

es8

Stre

ngth

of M

ater

ials

13E

ng. M

echa

nics

(Sta

tics

and

Dyn

amic

s)10

Eng

inee

ring

Eco

nom

ics

8E

thic

s an

d B

usin

ess

Pra

ctic

es8

Com

pute

rs11

Che

mis

try8

Eng

inee

ring

Pro

babi

lity

and

Sta

tistic

s19

Mat

hem

atic

s#

of

ques

tions

Subj

ect

Page

16

PM p

art

gene

ral (

Oth

er d

iscp

l)

9Th

erm

odyn

amic

s an

d H

eat T

rans

fer

7E

lect

ricity

and

Mag

netis

m9

Flui

ds7

Eng

inee

ring

of M

ater

ials

8A

pplic

atio

n of

Eng

inee

ring

Mec

hani

cs6

Eng

inee

ring

Eco

nom

ics

3B

iolo

gy5

Eng

inee

ring

Pro

babi

lity

and

Sta

tistic

s6

Adv

ance

d E

ngin

eerin

g M

athe

mat

ics

# o

f qu

estio

nsSu

bjec

t

Page

17

PM p

art

CE d

isci

plin

e sp

ecifi

c

5M

ater

ials

6C

onst

ruct

ion

Man

agem

ent

6S

truct

ural

Des

ign

6S

truct

ural

Ana

lysi

s7

Tran

spor

tatio

n7

Env

ironm

enta

l Eng

inee

ring

9S

oil M

echa

nics

and

Fou

ndat

ions

7H

ydra

ulic

s an

d H

ydro

logi

c S

yste

ms

7S

urve

ying

# o

f qu

estio

nsSu

bjec

t

Page

18

PM p

art

EE d

isci

plin

e sp

ecifi

c

6C

ompu

ter S

yste

ms

7D

igita

l Sys

tem

s9

Ele

ctro

nics

5S

igna

l Pro

cess

ing

5C

omm

unic

atio

ns6

Con

trol S

yste

ms

4E

lect

rom

agne

tics

8P

ower

10C

ircui

ts

# o

f qu

estio

nsSu

bjec

t

Page

19

Scor

ing

Mor

ning

par

t –

1 po

int

each

que

stio

nAf

tern

oon

part

–2

poin

ts e

ach

ques

tion

Raw

sco

re is

240

poi

nts

From

exa

m h

isto

ry, a

pas

sing

sco

re is

NO

T70

% o

f th

e to

tal 2

40 p

oint

s, b

ut y

ou s

houl

d tr

y to

get

a m

inim

um o

f 70

%Ra

w p

assi

ng s

core

(to

tal o

ut o

f 240

pts

)no

rmal

ized

to

70%

Raw

pas

sing

sco

re in

the

pas

t ha

s be

en r

ough

ly

55-6

0%, b

ut m

ay b

e hi

gher

Page

20

Regi

ster

ing

for

the

Exam

Page

21

Visi

t th

e Ca

lifor

nia

Boar

d fo

r Pr

ofes

sion

alEn

gine

ers

and

Land

Sur

veyo

rs w

ebsi

te f

or

mor

e in

form

atio

n at

: ht

tp:/

/ww

w.p

els.

ca.g

ov/

Appl

icat

ion

info

rmat

ion

can

be f

ound

at:

ht

tp:/

/ww

w.p

els.

ca.g

ov/a

pplic

ants

/eit_

lsita

pp.s

htm

l

The

appl

icat

ions

can

be

com

plet

ed a

t:ht

tp:/

/ww

w.n

cees

.org

/Exa

ms/

Stat

es/C

A.ph

p

Page

22

Exam

Qua

lific

atio

ns

Appl

ican

ts m

ust

have

com

plet

ed:

Thre

e ye

ars

of c

ours

e w

ork

in a

Boa

rd-

appr

oved

eng

inee

ring

curr

icul

um (

any

curr

icul

um a

ppro

ved

by A

BET)

OR

thre

e ye

ars

or m

ore

of e

ngin

eerin

g-re

late

d w

ork

expe

rienc

e an

ywhe

re in

the

wor

ldA

ND

neve

r ha

ve b

een

conv

icte

d of

a c

rime

subs

tant

ially

rel

ated

to

the

prac

tice

of

engi

neer

ing

Page

23

Prep

arin

g fo

r th

e FE

exa

m

Page

24

In t

he P

M, D

isci

plin

e Sp

ecifi

c or

Gen

eral

?

Choo

se t

he o

ne y

ou a

re m

ost

com

fort

able

with

–

eith

er y

our

disc

iplin

e sp

ecifi

c ex

am o

r th

e ge

nera

l exa

mG

ener

al P

M p

art

Mor

e co

mpl

ex q

uest

ions

tha

n in

the

mor

ning

One

diff

eren

ce b

etw

een

the

AM a

nd P

M p

robl

ems

is t

hat

the

PM

prob

lem

s us

ually

hav

e a

lot

of e

xtra

info

rmat

ion

prov

ided

, whi

chis

NO

T ne

eded

to

solv

e th

e pr

oble

mAd

vant

age

of G

ener

al P

M p

art

is t

hat

you

will

hav

e re

view

ed

the

gene

ral s

ubje

ct f

or t

he A

M p

art

Dis

cipl

ine

Spec

ific

Part

If y

ou h

ave

take

n m

ost

of y

our

uppe

r di

visi

on c

ours

es, t

his

may

be

mor

e ap

prop

riate

, and

in m

any

case

s th

e qu

estio

ns a

re

easi

er t

o so

lve

that

the

Gen

eral

PM

exa

m

Page

25

Min

d –

Stud

ying

Revi

ewA

tten

d al

l the

rev

iew

ses

sion

sBe

fore

eac

h cl

ass

stud

y th

e Li

ndeb

urg

man

ual a

nd s

ampl

e pr

oble

ms.

Wor

k th

e FE

st

yle

prob

lem

s at

the

end

of

each

cha

pter

us

ing

the

Refe

renc

e H

andb

ook

May

tak

e ad

ditio

nal p

ract

ice

test

at

http

://w

ww

.eite

xam

.com

/Co

st is

$10

for

3 m

onth

acc

ess

View

free

FE

exam

que

stio

ns a

t ht

tp:/

/nce

es.c

onfe

x.co

m/c

reat

ingu

ser/

regi

ster

.htm

l

Page

26

Use

the

rig

ht t

ools

to

stud

y

Be fa

mili

ar w

ith t

he E

NG

INEE

R-I

N-

TRA

ININ

G a

nd L

AN

D S

UR

VEY

OR

-IN

-TR

AIN

ING

EX

AM

INEE

IN

STR

UC

TIO

NS

befo

re t

est

day

Be fa

mili

ar w

ith o

ne o

f th

e ap

prov

ed c

alcu

lato

rsH

ewle

tt P

acka

rd –

HP

33s

and

HP

35s

mod

els

Casi

o –

all F

X-11

5 m

odel

s

Texa

s In

stru

men

ts –

All T

I-30

X an

d TI

-36X

mod

els

Be v

ery

fam

iliar

with

the

NCE

ES H

andb

ook

Page

27

Refe

renc

e H

andb

ook

Know

it w

ell

Fam

iliar

with

the

sec

tions

you

kno

w b

est,

st

atic

s, m

ath,

etc

.Be

fam

iliar

with

the

Tab

le o

f Co

nten

tsU

SE T

HE

IND

EX

Page

28

Page

29

Body

Trai

n to

gai

n st

amin

aTe

st w

ill b

egin

at

8:00

amW

ill la

st a

ll da

yPr

actic

e ex

am q

uest

ions

und

er e

xam

con

ditio

ns (

get

up e

arly

so

me

days

and

sol

ve p

robl

ems)

Just

bef

ore

the

test

No

exot

ic m

eals

(or

drin

ks)

the

nigh

t be

fore

Hea

rty

brea

kfas

tEA

T LU

NCH

TH

E D

AY O

F TH

E EX

AM. B

ring

lunc

h fr

om h

ome,

w

ith a

bev

erag

e! D

on't

rely

on

scro

ungi

ng f

or f

ood

at t

he t

est

site

–yo

u an

d 10

00 o

ther

s.Br

ing

snac

ks (

quite

one

s)La

yere

d cl

othi

ng (

it m

ay b

e ho

t or

col

d in

the

roo

m)

Page

30

Sum

mar

y of

Pre

para

tion

Use

the

ref

eren

ce m

anua

lU

se F

E ap

prov

ed c

alcu

lato

r to

do

ever

ythi

ngAt

tend

rev

iew

ses

sion

sFo

cus

on s

tuff

you

kno

wTa

ke s

ampl

e te

sts

Prac

tice

unde

r te

st e

nviro

nmen

t (t

ime

of d

ay a

nd d

urat

ion)

Org

aniz

e ev

eryt

hing

in a

dvan

ce d

o no

t w

ait

until

the

nig

ht b

efor

eSt

ay n

ear

the

test

ing

cent

er t

he n

ight

bef

ore

the

exam

; m

ake

rese

rvat

ions

ahe

ad o

f tim

eG

et fa

mili

ar w

ith t

he t

est

site

; kn

ow w

here

it is

, whe

re t

he p

arki

ng lo

t is

loca

ted,

ent

ranc

es,

etc.

It

may

be

dark

whe

n yo

u ge

t th

ere

on t

est

day.

Asse

mbl

e yo

ur 't

hing

s to

tak

e' li

st.

Exam

acc

epta

nce

lett

erG

over

nmen

t is

sued

pic

ture

ID

(no

t U

OP

stud

ent

ID c

ard)

2 ca

lcul

ator

sW

orki

ng w

atch

for

tim

e ke

epin

gPa

cked

lunc

h &

drin

k (d

on't

coun

t on

hav

ing

enou

gh t

ime

to g

o so

mep

lace

& g

et b

ack

in t

ime)

Advi

l, al

lerg

y m

edic

ine,

tis

sues

Qui

et c

andy

-as

k m

onito

rs if

you

can

hav

e th

emSe

at c

ushi

on

The

nigh

t be

fore

:Re

lax

No

spec

ial f

ood

or d

rink

Mos

t im

port

antly

, get

a g

ood

nigh

t sl

eep

Page

31

Refe

renc

es

FE in

form

atio

n on

the

web

:w

ww

.nce

es.o

rgIn

form

atio

n ab

out

pass

ing

rate

s, c

alcu

lato

r po

licy

exam

dat

es,

lear

n m

ore

abou

t pr

ofes

sion

alis

m, b

rief

prac

tice

exam

ww

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com

FE r

evie

w m

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l, ta

ke p

ract

ice

exam

inat

ion

lear

n ab

out

exam

inat

ion

ww

w.e

itexa

m.c

omta

ke p

ract

ice

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s fo

r $1

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iew

Man

ual b

y Li

ndeb

urg

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t ab

out

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We

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Sup

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Han

dboo

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