FEATURED TESTIMONIAL - Mental Marathon

“The ME PE exam is a “mental marathon” and a major undertaking for anyone, especially someone like myself who had been out of school for 30 years. I signed up for Dr. Tom’s ME PE Review course in preparation for the exam, and passed on my first try. I attribute this to Dr. Tom’s Classroom for reinforcing basic engineering fundamentals which were lost in my mind. His encouragement, knowledge, and basic drilling of problems was invaluable in my success. I would recommend his classes to anyone who is planning on taking their PE exam.”
- Michael Sulva, PE, GE-Hitachi, New Units Engineering – ESBWR, Wilmington, North Carolina

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Are Hurricanes Putting the Brakes on the Gulf Stream?

Last fall’s hurricanes did more than cause catastrophic damage to homes and businesses in Florida and the Caribbean – new research shows they had a measurable effect on the Gulf Stream, one of the world’s largest ocean currents.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts have learned that hurricanes Jose and Maria acted as surprisingly powerful brakes on its flow. They launched an ocean glider from Miami in September and the vessel traveled at speeds of just over half a mile per hour for about three months to arrive at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Data from the glider showed that the Gulf Stream slowed significantly, by 25-40%, surprising researchers. They attribute this trend to hurricane winds blowing opposite to the direction of the current. Interestingly, this slowdown didn’t occur just at the ocean’s surface. From data collected at different depths, scientists found that the slowdown persisted throughout the water column.

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Why the Thermal & Fluids Systems Exam Is Still Dr. Tom’s ME Pick

One of the key insights I’ve discovered in my years of preparing Mechanical Engineers to take the Mechanical PE Exam is that when you look at the NCEES specifications, there is one ME exam that gives most people the greatest chance of succeeding on the exam, and that’s the Thermal & Fluids System Exam. That was true prior to the change in the exam specifications and format in 2017, but it’s even more so with the new format. To learn more about how I came to that conclusion, check out my FREE Exam Strategy Videos. - Dr. Tom

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FREE VIDEO OF THE MONTH - Civil AM NCEES Problem 135 - Geotechnical: Soil Density Testing - Proctor Testing

Problem 135 in the NCEES Civil Practice Exam for Geotechnical refers to a type of soil density test that is commonly performed in the lab called Proctor testing. We’re going to walk through why the problem gives the measurement values that it does, which should help you put this type of problem into perspective since there are no figures or diagrams provided. While soil density test calculations are not very technically complicated, they can be abstract if you aren’t familiar with the test methods so the video provides a relevant photo example that helps explain this type of density test. Give this problem a try and then watch the video to see if your assumptions about the test method and the inputs provided were correct, good luck! - Mike Batten, PE - DTC Civil Geotechnical Instructor

Mike Batten’s Solution to Civil AM: NCEES Problem 135 - Geotechnical: Soil Density Testing - Proctor Testing
https://drtomsclassroom.com/free-civil-videos/

DTC recommends that anyone taking the PE Exam purchase the NCEES Practice Exam for the exam they are taking. It is an essential exam review resource. https://account.ncees.org/exam-prep/

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3-D Printed Nanoscale Metal Structures

3-D printing could revolutionize the civil engineering industries. The potential for on-site, on-demand printing of custom parts may be possible due to a variety of research taking place across the US. At Caltech, researchers are focusing on printing nanoscale metal structures, including metal beams roughly 1/1000th the size of the tip of a sewing needle.

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FEATURED TESTIMONIAL - Exam Day Recap from a Successful DTC Review Participant

I received an email from one of our participants about his experience with the Mechanical PE Exam. He has generously allowed me to share his thoughts with you. I think he very eloquently sums up what it takes to be successful on this exam. I hope that his words will be an inspiration to anyone wanting to become a PE. With the right preparation and materials, you can be successful too! - Dr. Tom

“Good morning Dr. Tom,

I've received my results back for the exam and... I PASSED! I just wanted to thank you for all your help during my preparation. I'm extremely relieved that I don't have to take that test again. The Exam Day Companion, the PRN's, as well as your test taking tips from the videos on your website, were extremely helpful during the exam. Leaving the exam I felt like I did better than my first attempt. That time, if I came to a problem that I didn't know how to work, I would start looking for something, anything, that maybe I could use. After a few of these, panic would start to set in. This time, in the same situation I would put down "C" and move on... no big deal... don't sweat it... just like you say in your Exam Strategy videos.

In the morning section, I was through the exam the first time in about 2.5 hours, which gave me plenty of time to go back and look at the problems I breezed over. There were some questions/subjects on there that I wasn't expecting to see, so I chalked those up to "C" and moved on. At lunch, I felt I'd done well enough on the morning to at least have a shot as passing if the afternoon wasn't too horrible.

The afternoon section didn't pull any punches. The first five or six questions I had to skip but I kept cool and didn't panic. I was through the afternoon section in 3.25 hours, and during the final 45 minutes I was able to go back and work four of the problems I skipped right at the start.

I used mainly the Exam Day Companion and PRN's for the exam, although I did use the MERM, Shigley, and the FE reference manual at times. The way the Companion is set up is way more useful in the exam than the MERM. The MERM has a lot of great information, but filtering out exactly what you need can be time consuming. I used the MERM as basically a last ditch effort on problems that I wasn't sure about, trying to find anything helpful.

Thanks again for all your help. I enjoyed taking your class. It was set up in a way that wasn't grueling to get through. For me, having a plan every week and knowing what I needed to do each day was extremely beneficial since I'm not a planner. The lessons were clear and easy to follow and I liked the fact that you focused just on what we needed for the exam. Thanks again Dr. Tom!”

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Innovation in Renewable Energy - Learning from Oil & Gas Industry?

You cannot look at the photo accompanying a LinkedIn article by Jerome Pecresse, President and CEO at GE Renewable Energy, "Renewable energy: best lessons learnt in oil and gas" and not gasp. First you notice how small the vehicles on the ground are, then your eye catches the two workers out on the unit. Then you ask, "How did they get that photo?" As an engineer, you cannot but say, "What a machine!" A machine that many engineers and technicians from a host of disciplines, and most likely various companies, have a great deal to be proud of.

The article talks about innovation. Innovation in developing the renewable energy this machine produces happened because of the imagination of individuals with a dream. The power of those dreams drove dedicated people to do what no one thought possible. And to see a dream become a reality is one of the greatest rewards of our profession.

Yes, there is a great deal to be learned from the oil and gas industry about a great many things. However, there is so much more that awaits the world from the minds of innovative people who dream what is not, but could be. - Dr. Tom

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Supporting Our Military Engineers

We are very proud to support our military and former military engineers in their efforts to become Professional Engineers with a 15% Military Discount. Dr. Tom is an old Navy man, and he is particularly happy that we can offer this discount.

So if you’re active military or a veteran, CLICK HERE to find out how to get your discount.

“As a Military member taking the ME PE, I didn’t have any other ME PE’s around that could offer me specific advice on how to study or what to study for the ME PE. If you are an ME looking for a PE review course, look no farther. Initially I didn’t think I needed a review course, after all I passed the FE without studying at all and have 2 Masters in Engineering.

On my first attempt at the PE exam I gathered all the recommended materials I could find, established a system and devoted 260 hours to studying. I failed. Too much of my self directed study time was spent studying high challenge low probability material or material that wouldn’t even be on my depth portion or the exam at all.

Dr. Tom provided strategy, guidance and clarity on what to expect on the exam as well as well organized, high quality review material and videos. I re-doubled my efforts and after another 415 hours of studying I retook the exam and breezed through it.

My advice, if you are going to devote that much of your time to studying, spend the money for the review course. If I could go back in time I would spend 10 times the cost of the review course to take it from the start. I have no doubt I would have passed the exam the first time if I had taken Dr. Tom’s review course. Don’t spend 400 hours kicking yourself for trying to save a few dollars, just take the course.  After all, how much is your time worth to you?”
– Brad Townsend, P.E., MAJ USA

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FREE CIVIL VIDEO OF THE MONTH - Civil Structural PM Exam - Alternate to Frame Analysis

ACI 318-11 provides us with a quick method for determining forces and moments along a concrete frame, packing a bunch of equations into just a quarter page of text. The phrases and classifications can be confusing to keep track of, but Dr. Tom's Classroom has you covered in this video.

This video lays out an easy to follow flow chart for working through ACI 318-11's Alternate to Frame Analysis. We'll cover positive and negative moments as well as shear, discuss how the clear span length value changes depending on the value being calculated, and walk through the terminology in the section. This includes: end span, internal span, first internal span, spandrel, column, discontinuous end, unrestrained, integral, support, and face.  - Shannon Warchol, PE - DTC Civil Structural Insructor

Shannon Warchol’s Explanation of Alternate to Frame Analysis: https://drtomsclassroom.com/free-civil-videos/

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