The History and Evolution of Engineering Technology: Ancient Era to Modern Day Technology

When one thinks of engineering, they most likely think of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, or another division of engineering. Did you know that engineers have been around since the Ancient Era (c 2600 B.C)? Although they may have not been categorized specifically as engineers, many structures and inventions were strategically planned out and created. 

Throughout the years, engineers have been constantly evolving along with the technology that they use in their work. Check out how engineering has changed from the Ancient Era to modern Day in the History of Engineering infographic below:

Upcoming PDH Online Engineering Webinar: A Quick Dive Into Risk Management

With many state board Continuing Education deadlines approaching at the end of this year, many engineers are registering for PDH webinars and online courses in order to meet their state board's requirements. 

To help engineers in the process, School of PE has scheduled a number of interactive webinars for the next two months. One of those webinars is titled "A Quick Dive into Risk Management," and will be taught by Mr. Miller.

Mr. Miller has over 20 years of successful sales and management experience. He has taught Project Management courses for several years and has developed several Project Management courses. Mr. Miller has a proven track record of successfully coaching students in project management. 

For those who are interested in signing up for this webinar, I sat down with Mr. Miller to discuss the upcoming webinar session.

Can you explain what risk management is exactly? 

Simply put, Risk Management is the process of identifying potential risks (unexpected events), evaluating the identified risks, and prioritizing them. 

How does Risk Management tie into Project Management? 

When you are working on projects, you often have risks, such as unexpected events. An example of this would be falling behind on a project due to unforeseen weather. A project manager's work should not focus on dealing with problem, but it should rather focus on preventing them. 

Why would a webinar on risk management benefit engineers? 

People take risks every day. Everyone who gets out of bed and drives to work is taking a risk. Engineers work on projects and with those projects, there are risks. Attending a webinar on Risk Management can help engineers better understand how to identify, evaluate, and prioritize risks on a project. 

After taking the risk management webinar, what are a few main takeaways for students? 

Those who attend a webinar on risk management should walk away knowing that not all risks are bad and there are both positive and negative risk response strategies for dealing with risk.

Survival Guide 101: Preparing for the FE Exam During Senior Year of Undergrad

As an exam review course provider, we often get asked about the best time to take the FE exam. Our answer: during senior year of college. That may seem daunting, as many undergraduate seniors in college are extremely busy with final projects and internships. We get it: being an undergraduate student is stressful. 

Since undergraduates, especially engineer students, are so busy, why would we recommend taking the FE exam during a student's senior year of college? The main advantage college students have when taking the FE exam is that the information is very fresh in their minds. Many topics on the FE exam are based on concepts learned in undergraduate engineering classes. 

If you are planning on taking the FE exam during your senior year of undergrad and are stressed about balancing your course load and study schedule, check out some FE exam tips and strategies to ease as much stress as possible below:

Table of Contents

1. Create a Schedule

2. Review the FE Reference Handbook in Your Free Time

3. Watch Review Videos On-The-Go

1. Create a Schedule 

Determine when you are going to work on your school work and when you are going to study for the FE exam. Hopefully, many of your undergrad engineering courses will cover similar topics that are on the FE exam specifications, so this should take some stress off of your shoulders. Either way, try to block out two to three hours a day to specifically dedicate to the FE exam and leave the rest of your time for class work. If you begin preparing 3 months before the FE exam, you will have more than enough time to prepare. 

2. Review the FE Reference Handbook in Your Free Time 

The FE Reference Handbook is the only reference material you can use during the FE exam. You can download a free copy from MyNCEES. It is very important to have a good understanding of this handbook so you won't spend too much time during the exam trying to find specific formulas, charts, or tables. During lunch or between classes, flip through the manual to make sure you are familiar with its content and layout. 

3. Watch Review Videos On-The-Go 

Whether you are riding a campus bus or running on a treadmill at the gym, watching interactive FE exam prep course videos are the perfect tool to study with. You can watch videos on your phone, but don't forget to bring a pair of headphones!

OnDemand: The Perfect PE Exam Review Course Format for Busy Professionals

The October 2018 exam has come and gone, and now School of PE is striving to prepare PE students for the Spring 2019 exam. From PE Civil or PE Mechanical to PE Electrical or PE Environmental, School of PE provides a wide variety of PE exam review courses. If you are considering taking the PE exam, you may be wondering when you should begin studying. 

Of course, the length of time it takes for a person to grasp all of the material the PE exam goes over may differ, as some may struggle more than others, but many PE exam applicants have reported spending approximately 200 to 300 hours preparing for NCEES exams, which includes attending exam review courses, reading supplemental material, and taking practice exams. 

If you have a really busy schedule and feel that you need more time than others to prepare for the exam or just want to get started right away, School of PE offers an OnDemand format. This format is perfect for:

1. Working professionals
2. College students 
3. Parents 
4. Anyone with a hectic schedule

Our OnDemand format is the most flexible format, as it provides immediate access after registration and allows you to study at your own pace. Since registration for the Spring 2019 session is open, you can sign up today and begin studying right away! It's that easy! 

Don't put off studying for the PE exam. Nothing is worse than cramming for a big licensure exam just weeks before the exam.

Maintaining Your PE License After Passing the PE Exam

You studied for months, and now you have finally taken the PE exam. You have spent so much time thinking about the exam, but what happens after you actually pass the PE exam? Once you have earned your professional engineering license and you can finally call yourself an engineer, it's important that you understand how to maintain your PE license.

Most states have engineering continuing education requirements. In fact, 42 states do. By taking online engineering continuing education courses, participating in an engineering continuing education webinar, or attending engineering conferences, engineers earn professional development hours (PDHs), which they need in order to renew and maintain their active PE license.

Each state has different requirements for the number of PDHs engineers need to complete and how often engineers must renew their PE license. While some states require an annual renewal, others require a biennial or even triennial renewal.

Whether your state requires 15 PDHs annually like Texas does or 36 PDHs for a triennial renewal like New York does, it is important to understand what your state's exact specifications are for PE license renewal. For instance, of the 18 PDHs that Florida requires for its biennial renewal, four of the PDHs must correlate to the engineer's specific area of practice, one PDH must relate to the state's laws and rules of professional engineers, and one PDH must relate to the state's professional ethics.

You've worked hard to earn a PE license, and you shouldn't have to stress about maintaining that license. Understand what your engineering state licensing board requires of you, and start working on earning your engineering PDHs.

Registration is Open: Start Studying Now for the April PE Exam

The October PE exam was held last week, which means we are less than six months away from the April PE exam. Although six months may seem like a lot of time right now, it's not a good idea to put off studying for the PE exam. 

To avoid panicking in March, it's best to start studying now so that you can spend quality time working on practice problems, taking practice exams, and figuring out which subjects you will need to spend more time reviewing. 

Once you have an idea of which topics you need to focus on, create a study schedule. If you know that you will be busy during the holidays but will have a lot of free time in February, make sure your study schedule reflects that. However, even during your busiest weeks, set some time aside for reviewing topics and practicing problems. 

Do you plan on registering for a PE exam review course? Do your research now to determine the learning format you want and when you need to sign up. 

School of PE opened its spring 2019 registration on October 26 for Onsite, Live Online, and OnDemand courses. If you want to start preparing for the April PE exam right away, we offer the following OnDemand review courses: PE Architectural, PE Civil, PE Electrical, PE Industrial and Systems, and PE Mechanical. 

With our bundle option, you can even pay for the OnDemand course and later add the Live Online or Onsite class for only $300. This allows our students to start studying on their own now and then participate in a structured class that is scheduled closer to the date of the NCEES PE exam. This offer expires, so be sure to check out our website for more details. 

Whether you decide to try studying on your own or you want to sign up for a review course, we suggest making a plan now and start putting that plan into action. By beginning the studying process sooner rather than later, you'll be thanking yourself when you aren't forced to cram a hundred hours of studying into the two weeks before the PE exam.

Chemical Engineering: PE Exam Trends and Job Stats

Thinking about becoming a chemical engineer? To become a licensed chemical engineer, you would need to pass both the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Chemical exam and the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Chemical exam. To find out the median chemical engineering salary as well as the job outlook for chemical engineers, check out the PE Chemical exam trends and job statistics shown below: