NCEES conducts a comprehensive paper examination for the qualified engineers who are willing to become Professional Engineers.  Before taking the exam, I thought that after 18 plus years experience in civil structural design and professional practices I can pass the test easy.

 

After reviewing some papers, I realized that a serious effort and preparation must be carried out prior to exam and it would not be as easy as I thought. I studied about 6 to 7 hours per day as the minimum and took a note from every book or standards that I needed to review for exam. Unfortunately, at that time I could not find a good source of practice tests and examples particularly in Civil and structural design for Afternoon (PM) session. Basically, I did not know what exactly I needed for the afternoon session exam.

 

There were few samples available in public domain that only covered a few questions (not all the subjects). I studied hard and after passing the exam I decided to prepare a series of civil and structural “PM” questions along with their step by step solution based on my experiences.

 

For PE exam preparation you need tools other than your daily experience. You will be examined for a variety of knowledge, codes and standards. Good resources and classes will equip you for the exam but you need to know how to use them in an efficient manner during exam. The only way you can pass the exam is to use your time efficiently.

 

The following problems have been prepared for the candidates who have civil / structural background and are only for practices purposes. Some of the problems are very comprehensive and it may cover multiple questions. However, for training purposes it is included in one question. My emphasis is to show what you need to focus on and never underestimate any point that you may think it would not be question in exam. I hope this book can help you even a little bit for achieving your great goal.

 

Based on my experiences I advise you to treat these problems as a real test. Do not look at the solution and try to answer them within 6 minutes for each question. After comparing your solution and the solution at the end of the book mark your mistakes and see what your weakest point are and start working more on those topics.

 

Currently I’m a PE instructor and will be working on Volume 2 of PE problems in shape of tutorial and summaries the important sections that are instructed by NCEES for the future exams. 

 

All the best for upcoming PE exam.

 

K. Aliakbari