PE Application Help?? 2

[reallycoolgeek]

I could use a little help. I am filling out the Application for Professional Licensing. The Washington State Application has an area where we are required to give a detailed description of our experience in the following areas:

A: Formulating Conclusions and Recommendations.
B: Identifying design and/or objectives.
C: Identifying possible alternative methods and concepts.
D: Defining perfomance specifications and functional requirements.
E: Solving Engineering Problems.
F: Interacting with professionals from other areas.
G. Effectively communicating recommendations and conclusions.
H: Demonstrating an understanding and concern for energy/environmental considerations and sustainability of resources.

Has anbody else been through this? Can anybody help me get started? I have never been really good at "selling" myself and I can't seem to get verbally comunicate how I have met each of these items. I know you guys and gals can't really answer these questions for me but any help getting started would be appreciated since the application is due in two weeks for the April exam.

 

[ischgl99]

Start writing an outline of your past postions and include what you can remember, then move on to the next position, etc. If you have worked for the same company and have done the same job, then break it down by project. It can be very general at first, every time you reread it you will remember another point. Once you have the outline, you can put it into a better format that shows what you accomplished for each position or project.

After you have done that, ask a coworker you trust to give you an honest opinion of what you wrote and ask him/her to tell you what they would write about you if asked to write a recommendation. That will usually help in remembering some other details that could help your application.

 

[SB63]

You need to stress that you are responsible for the decision or idea and not as part of a group. The board will look more favorably on you if you can stand on your own two feet.

 

[Maui]

Examples of the work that you performed that illustrate your ability to satisfy these requirements may prove beneficial. The following is an excerpt taken from my own PE application (approval to sit for the PE was granted less than a month after submitting the application):

"During my period of employment for this endorser I worked on a variety of design projects that resulted in the construction of equipment used for experimental purposes. An example of this is an attachment that was designed and built for a Buehler diamond saw. The standard Buehler diamond saw holds specimens of various geometries in a multi-purpose clamp, and sections these materials with a rotating, thin (0.015”) diamond saw blade. The purpose in designing and building the attachment was to produce circumferential notches in cylindrical test specimens. The fixture was designed to accomplish this by clamping the specimen in a collet assembly, and then rotating the specimen about its longitudinal axis by use of a small, variable speed electric motor and belt. The motor mount was designed with the ability to adjust the belt tension to the appropriate value. The motor, belt, and collet assembly were mounted on a compact aluminum plate which was pivoted about an axle assembly mounted to the top of the saw. The axle was press fit into a set of sealed ball bearings. Various weights were added to one end of the saw attachment to bring the specimen into contact with the rotating diamond saw blade. By carefully adjusting the weight, the pressure on the saw blade could be increased to the desired amount to form the circumferential notch in the rotating specimen.

The design of this attachment was limited by the availability of space for mounting on the existing equipment, the limited budget for the Laboratory, and the available tools and equipment for fabrication. I designed each component of the assembly, and machined each of the components myself. A Bridgeport Milling Machine and a South Bend Metal Lathe were used to fabricate these parts. Mitutoyo micrometers which measured to the nearest 0.0001” and Vernier calipers were used to verify that each component was machined to the required tolerances. The most stringent tolerances that were successfully achieved were on the axle where the ball bearings press fit into position. The tolerances for the diameter at these locations were +0.0003” – 0.0000”.

After completing construction of the saw attachment, the equipment was calibrated in order to establish the depth of the notch which was produced in the cylindrical test specimens. A micrometer was incorporated into the design to control the depth of cut. By adjusting the micrometer to different depths of cut, and measuring the results by running several test specimens, a correlation was established between the micrometer settings and the final notch depth. A curve was plotted from the resulting test data which established the relationship bewteen micrometer setting and notch depth. A least squares curve fitting technique was used to generate this curve. A clear set of instructions on how to use the attachment to produce a circumferential notch of the desired depth were written and, together with this calibration curve, were attached to the saw for reference."

This should give you some idea of what they expect to see on your application form. Good luck.


Maui

 

[jsummerfield]

Use active voice words. This makes for better specification writing too. They do not want to see responsible for ... Use words like calculated, specified, designed, built, evaluated, etc. Avoid phrases like worked with, performed engineering, etc.

A: Formulating Conclusions and Recommendations.
Do you ever determine whether to use existing equipment instead of buy new? Do you prepare technical bid evaluations? ...

B: Identifying design and/or objectives.
We normally identify a project objective. Expand capacity by this much within this space for this money by this date.

C: Identifying possible alternative methods and concepts.
Here is a way to meet the objectives and save money, time, use existing stuff, etc.

D: Defining perfomance specifications and functional requirements.
Pressure/temperature ratings, capacity, horsepower, efficiency ... that do this function,

E: Solving Engineering Problems.
What are engineering problems? Everything that an engineer does is to solve a problem.

F: Interacting with professionals from other areas.
Coordinated the design by providing pump/compressor performance curves for the equipment purchased with the chemical engineers to update their design criteria for pipe sizing, flare headers, etc.

G. Effectively communicating recommendations and conclusions. Prepared presentations, reports, specifications, estimates, ...
H: Demonstrating an understanding and concern for energy/environmental considerations and sustainability of resources. Complied with OSHA 1910... EPA... requirements for closed drain design, incinerator, sound levels, ...

Think about those things that are measureable and require judgement. In the eyes of an engineering board, the application of engineering judgement separates engineers from draftspersons. This is especially true if safety or the environment are affected.

John

 

[SB63]

Follow Maui's example, it is perfect and is just like how I wrote up my successful PE application. Use situations you can describe the decisions you made and how you formulated them. I used approximately 3 situations for each past employer which was probably overkill but I wanted to get the job done the first time.

 

[1320racer]

reallycool,

just wondering if you completed your application for the April exam?

i realize you probably have not heard back from the board yet, but I am preparing my Washington application right now for the October exam, and was wondering if you might share your thoughts on how you approached the 8 sections we have to write about - whether you followed maui's suggestion or different? Did you stick with one example for each area as stated, or give more?