PE exam - October 2011

[JagdishRawat]

Hello all:

I recently came to know about this forum while searching for the tips on PE exam in metallurgical engineering. I have following questions for this exam -

1) Is anyone taking the exam in October 2011?
2) Is it really tough exam?
3) Historically, passing rate is between 50% to 65%. Is it because that it is a tough exam or because examinees take it lightly?
4) Is Transport Phenomenon still part of the exam? If yes, which book will you recommend? Does it come with solution manual?
5) I am going through the chapter on casting, forging, machining etc. Do i have to know the positives and negatives of different methods e.g. drawbacks of open die forging and/or types of hammer used in forging etc?

Thanks for your time.

Met1CO

 

[mrfailure]

Thanks! I'm with you now. And for the range chart UCL=D4*R-chart mean. LCL would mean D3*R-chart mean except N is too low so one would assume 0.

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com

 

[metengr]

Good Luck with the exam on Friday.

 

[Maui]

Let us know how it goes.

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[Maui]

Met1CO, assuming that you've recovered from the stress of the exam, how was it? Any thoughts on the level of difficulty?

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[JagdishRawat]

First of all - Thanks to all of you folks for guiding me in this process.

Last 5 to 6 months were long, hard and full of frustration but i enjoyed it. I did end up studying 450-500 hours for this exams.

I felt that the exam was easy.

In spite of lots of frustration during preparation phase, i can say one thing for sure that studying for this exam made me feel like i am a better engineer now than 6 months ago.

Thanks to all of you.

 

[racookpe1978]

That's it's there. 8<)

Congratulations.

 

[JagdishRawat]

Dear all:

I am very thankful to all of you. With your blessings, i passed the PE exam.

Thank you.

Met1Co

 

[JagdishRawat]

PE pass rate in metallurgical PE exam -

October 2011 - 53% and 46%
October 2010 - 64% and 50%
October 2009 - 56% and 33%
October 2008 - 56% and 56%
October 2007 - 52% and 45%

The second % number is for repeat takers.

 

[mrfailure]

I just found out I also passed the exam. Nice to no longer be an amateur engineer!

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com

 

[JagdishRawat]

Congratulations...Mr. Successful.

 

[Ron]

Congrats to both of you!! Glad you've taken the exam and profession seriously. Best wishes for a long and successful career.

 

[mrfailure]

I can tell from this thread that MetCO1 used the gold standard in studying approach and put in the time to take a comprehensive approach, which he can detail.

An expanded study guide is sorely needed. TMS did not reflect in the current guid the breadth of materials engineering that is in the actual test. I used the study guide this year as a jumping off point to study source texts on the principles the problems reflect.

I also went through the recommended books to refresh myself on subjects I was not so familiar with. I just started at the beginning of each and would read in detail when I needed to learn something. ASM Handbook Desk Edition is extremely valuable in this regard, but don't forget to study the other texts in Phys Met, Mechanical Metallurgy, Corrosion, etc.

Thermodynamics and energy/mass balance problems are extremely important areas of competency as you now know.

I made a point of studying for several hours a day without distraction. That is not always practical but this year I had that opportunity so I took it.

Finally, it was a huge help simply monitoring the problems people were listing on the Eng Tips forums, as these were great ways to research and learn about materials behavior in preparation for the test.

Aaron Tanzer

http://www.lehightesting.com

 

[don3]

Hey MetCO1 / Ron

Can you please guide me all the books you had, all the study matter you went through, all the test you took.

Can you also tell when you started studying? What all things necessary to pass the examination?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JagdishRawat]

Books i had -

1) Corrosion Engineering by Fontana

Comment - Great book on corrosion. One can not call himself a metallurgist without reading this book.

2) Thermodynamics by Gaskell

Comment - It is also a good book to solve problems but it might not act as a good book to clear fundamentals. Answer keys are at the end.

3) Transport Phenomenon by Geiger and Poirier

Comment - Great book. You can buy the solution manual of this book online.

4) Deformation and Fracture Mechanics by Hertzberg

Comment - The book is great but neither it comes with solution manual nor key. Solution manual are out of prints. But i think that University of Maryland has a copy in its library. I tried to get it but i am not in college; therefore, could not use the inter-library loan.

5) Mechanical Metallurgy by Dieter

Comment - Great book. It comes with answer keys. If you pay careful attention, you will find that all the answers are given where answers should be given.

6) Material Science and Engineering by Callister

Comment - Good and basic book. Easy to read. You can buy solution manual but solution manual does not contain all the solutions.

7) Physical Metallurgy Principle by Reed-Hill

Comment - Great book but some chapters are too much deep and some are quite superficial. Yet, a good book. It does not come with solution manual or key.

8) Ceramic Material by Barry Carter

Comment - I love the way author wrote this book. Quite interesting book.


9) Transmission Electron Microscope by David B Williams and Barry Carter

Comment - Another great book. I had courses in my master degree in electron microscope but never owned a book. Therefore, i bought it. But, it is really a great book. Note Barry carter also contributed in this book along with the book on ceramics. Therefore, this book is also fun to read.

10) Scanning Electron Microscope - Joseph Goldstein et. al.

Comment - Same as above for TEM.

11) Mechanical Behavior of Materials by N. E. Dowling

Comment - It does not come with a solution manual. It also does not have answer key. I contacted Professor Dowling to ask if he can send me the answer key. He said that he does not have it but he is changing that on 4th edition. The 4th edition might have answer key at the end.

12) ASM metals handbook - Davis

Comment - Very easy to read and a practical book.

Other than that, i took my FE exam in Oct 2010. I bought couple of books on Physics and Chemistry and Thermodynamics. I liked those books too and study a little bit from those books. The books are -

13) Thermodynamics - Yunus Cenegel

Comment - A great book. It must be owned by all the metallurgist, chemical engineers and mechanical engineers.

14) Physics for engineers and scientist

15) Chemistry

 

[JagdishRawat]

Forgot to mention that i also owned books on Statistics. I started studying somewhere in January or February 2011 but did not catch the speed till last week of May. After May, i was quite regular.

There are several things necessary to pass this exam but the most important is HARD WORK. Things worked out for me because i am single and have no family responsibilities.

Engineer-board.com recommends to study for at least 300 hours but i will say that study a minimum of 450 hours. So if you study two hours everyday till exam, you will be in good shape.

In the examination hall, do talk to fellow exam-takers. There were a lot of good looking girls but i was too nervous to talk to them. Now i regret....

 

[DQX1]

The 2011 PE exam was my second attempt in passing this exam. I talked to NCEES about my frustration because I felt I was not reviewing the right study material. NCEES told me that this exam is not difficult at all because all the questions are designed to answer in six minutes. The problem is that the percentage portion of the exam are ambiguous to review. Physical/Engineering Sciences contains physical chemistry, Phase equilibria, Thermodynamics, Heat transfer, and Reaction kinetics. Some of these subjects are already engineering sciences in itself, that without counting the rest of the contents. The exam in itself may no be difficult, but not having the right direction for reviewing the material is what makes people fail. I admire those who can do a quick review and pass it. Unfortunately I haven't been gifted that way and have to go through the extra effort.

 

[NCSU0165]

I spoke with Mary Samsa at TMS and they will be creating a new study guide with close to 200 problems. Did you ask NCEES why there were no available study manuals for the metallurgical and materials PE similar to the mechanical or civil PE exams? I wonder how they would answer that.

 

[Metalhead97]

I plan on taking the FE and PE exams after I finish my PhD, but I want to give it a year to recover. From what I've gathered so far is that the exam is all general knowledge and it would seem that you would get more benefit out of trying to answer the questions on this forum than reading DeHoff's Thermo book.

I have several years of experience in industry and 5 years in graduate school. However, I've never worked or studied under a licensed PE. Is that a general requirement for most states?

Metalhead

 

[metengr]

Metalhead97

Is that a general requirement for most states?

You need to contact the PE Board for the State that you reside and they will determine your eligibility to sit for the exam.

 

[DQX1]

I did talk to Samsa too, but she directed me to Nayak Subu, as far I know he is the one who put the exam together with the committee. He is sort of helping me 101 because I am researching each individual subject that is listed on the exam specification and he would let me know what would be the right thing to review. They did tell me about the new review/study guide, and mentioned that is more thorough, but did not know that was about 200 problems. Should be very good review.