FEATURED PE EXAM PREP TIP - 3 Keys to Success

I have spent decades helping engineers prepare for both the Mechanical and Civil PE Exams, and I’ve learned a lot in those years about what works and what doesn’t. I’ve especially learned a lot from the engineers whom I have taught. They have shared their insights, and I have worked to use those insights to make my PE Exam review courses better and more effective. I’m going to share those tips with you in regular posts, and I hope that you will find them helpful.

I’d like to start out by directing you to an article I wrote a few years back, that still holds true today: Three Keys to Passing the PE Exam. Follow these three simple strategies and your first attempt on the PE Exam might very well be the only one you’ll need. - Dr. Tom

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
DISCOUNT ENDS March 31!
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

Turning Pizzas Into Power

When the question "What's for supper?" comes up, the answer is very often "Pizza!"  However, it rarely occurs to those ordering pizza what it takes in energy to make a pizza. Turns out pizza ovens need to run 24/7/365 so as to maintain a very high constant temperature of 500 ºF. And what is more startling is that only 5 to 10 percent of the energy needed by the pizza oven actually goes into cooking pizza. The majority of the energy consumed is lost to waste heat.

According to an ASME article, a professor of mechanical engineering at McMaster University in Ontario, who came to learn about the energy lost by pizza ovens, has developed a system to recover a significant amount of the waste heat. Through properly designed heat exchangers, waste heat can be used to heat the space where people come to enjoy pizza, preheat the air going into the pizza ovens, and even run a DC microgrid to power LED's. There is a lot at stake financially as the natural gas needed to run a pizza oven for a day is about the same as providing energy to a home in Canada for a month during the winter.

Thinking about the mind-boggling number of pizza ovens that are going full blast at this very moment, potential locations for a system that could save enormous amounts of energy. It would indeed be turning pizza into power. - Dr. Tom

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
DISCOUNT ENDS March 31!
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

FEATURED TESTIMONIAL - All of the Hours Paid Off

“I participated in the 20-Week Review class for the Civil: Water Resources and Environmental exam. All of the hours put into studying and developing the materials following the Dr. Tom method paid off as I passed the Exam. One of the critical items to my success was understanding the test taking method of taking multiple passes and not allowing myself to become to hung up on any one question. Taking the 20 weeks to absorb the material and develop organized references, I believe, was also critical to my success. I will recommend anyone taking the test in the future to use the Dr. Tom courses, they were worth both my monetary and time investments.”
- Chris Bakey, PE, Cochranville, PA

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
DISCOUNT ENDS March 31!
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

Stormwater Runoff as Art

I recently ran across a (relatively) new book, “Artful Rainwater Design: Creative Ways to Manage Stormwater.” Artful Rainwater Design or ARD is a new specialty focus of stormwater infrastructure, which suggests that when effective stormwater management is integrated as a feature design element of open space, it can increase benefits to the community. Many of the examples increase green spaces, improve water quality, and look good too! As engineers we often focus on the utility and cost effectiveness of a solution, but this book encourages us to look beyond to other opportunities for added community amenities. – Beth Sciaudone, DTC Civil Water Resources & Environmental Instructor

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
DISCOUNT ENDS March 31!
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

The Clock Is Ticking, and Time Is Running Out to Get $100 Off

To help you get ahead in your career by starting your PE Exam preparation in plenty of time, we are offering $100 off when you sign up in March for any DTC 20-Week PE Exam Review for the October 2018 Exam.

There’s whole lot to learn and retain for this exam! Concepts you need to relearn, problem-solving skills you need to develop, reference materials you need to organize. All this takes time. Start too early and your familiarity with the material will fade over time. Start too late, and the information won’t sink in and you won’t get enough practice. Start without a plan, and you’ll waste precious time studying the wrong things.

Fortunately, you don’t have to figure out when or how to study for this exam. Dr. Tom has done that for you with his 20-Week Reviews. He developed his 20-Week Review Method because he found, after many years of preparing engineers for the PE Exam, that 20 weeks is the optimal time frame for learning and retaining the knowledge and skills you need to pass the exam (more on why Dr. Tom's 20-Week Review Method is critical to your success),

Dr. Tom has also honed his review into a targeted, structured review that will help you focus your efforts and make the most of the ideal exam preparation window, all with the support of a team that is dedicated to your success. If you follow the plan and do the work, you will be prepared to pass the exam.

“Dr. Tom's 20-Week course is the reason that I passed the PE. If I had chosen to study on my own, there would be no chance I'd pass. The week to week structure of the course kept me on track, so I did not run out of time days before the exam. There are so many strong points to this course I cannot name them all. I would absolutely recommend this course to anyone taking the exam"
- Stephen E. Kreidler, PE, Tulsa, OK
 
We see extraordinary things in your future! So let’s get you started on this exciting journey to becoming a licensed professional engineer with a new world of opportunities. Use discount code Early$100-20W when you SIGN UP today.

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
DISCOUNT ENDS March 31!
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

Little Known Story of the Woman Who Oversaw Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge

Emily Warren Roebling was integral to the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world. She filled in for her husband when his health failed by managing the project. She also had the honor of being the first person to cross the bridge - with a rooster in hand, for good luck. Mrs. Roebling was not an engineer, but she remarked in 1898 that “I have more brains, common sense and know-how generally than have any two engineers, civil or uncivil, and but for me the Brooklyn Bridge would never have had the name Roebling in any way connected with it!” This New York Times Article tells more of her fascinating story. - Daniel Findley, DTC Civil Transportation Instructor

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
March 1 through March 31
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work!  

It Takes Time to Rebuild Your Knowledge, So Start Early with $100 Off

To help you get ahead in your career by starting your PE Exam preparation in plenty of time, we are offering $100 off when you sign up in March for a 20-Week PE Exam Review for the October 2018 Exam.

There’s whole lot to learn and retain for this exam! Concepts you need to relearn, problem-solving skills you need to develop, reference materials you need to organize. All this takes time. Start too early and your familiarity with the material will fade over time. Start too late, and the information won’t sink in and you won’t get enough practice. Start without a plan, and you’ll waste precious time studying the wrong things.

Fortunately, you don’t have to figure out when or how to study for this exam. Dr. Tom has done that for you with his 20-Week Reviews. He developed his 20-Week Review Method because he found, after many years of preparing engineers for the PE Exam, that 20 weeks is the optimal time frame for learning and retaining the knowledge and skills you need to pass the exam (more on why Dr. Tom's 20-Week Review Method is critical to your success).

Dr. Tom has also honed his review into a targeted, structured review that will help you focus your efforts and make the most of the ideal exam preparation window, all with the support of a team that is dedicated to your success. If you follow the plan and do the work, you will be prepared to pass the exam.

“Dr. Tom’s prep course provided the structure and the solid foundation I needed to pass the PE exam. Learning to quickly identify the type of problem and using Dr. Tom’s back-to-basics approach to problem solving helped me feel confident in my ability to do well. I’ve used an in-class prep course before with no success. The quality, exam day references provided, exam day tips and confidence in Dr. Tom’s program makes it easy for me to recommend Dr. Tom’s Classroom to others I know preparing for the PE exam.  Thanks for getting me over the hump and helping me to accomplish a major goal of mine!”
- Clint A., P.E., Tulsa, Oklahoma

We see extraordinary things in your future! So let’s get you started on this exiting journey to becoming a licensed professional engineer with a new world of opportunities. Use discount code Early$100-20W when you SIGN UP today.

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
March 1 through March 31
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

When Is an Airplane like a Shark?

When I hear the word "shark" I cannot keep from hearing the chilling sounds at the beginning of the 1975 movie "Jaws." However, having a degree in aerospace engineering, seeing a NewAtlas article on how studying the skin of sharks could greatly improve the aerodynamic performance of airfoils immediately caught my attention.

Apparently, sharks have scales, called denticles, that are of a unique shape that not only help reduce drag but also, due to being tiny vortex generators, increase lift as well. Researchers at Harvard University and the University of South Carolina have used aspects of the sharks scales on various airfoils to demonstrate that an airfoil with these incredible vortex generators produced a lift-to-drag ratio that was over 300 percent greater than an airfoil without these vortex generators. Absolutely amazing. The article has some intriguing photographs of the skin of the shortfin mako shark, the fastest shark in the ocean, using micro CT scanning.

In the movie "Jaws" is the famous line said by Roy Scheider upon seeing the giant killer shark for the first time, "You’re gonna need a bigger boat." Maybe the research into the skin of sharks will cause future designers of airplanes, drones, and wind turbines to exclaim, "We can use a smaller wing." - Dr. Tom

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
March 1 through March 31
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

FEATURED TESTIMONIAL - Be Organized from Day One!

“Dr. Tom's methodical approach to preparing for the PE exam helped me to get and stay organized from the very beginning. The extra practice and challenge problems were an excellent compliment to the NCEES practice exam and MERM. I have no doubt that this class ensured my success on the exam on my first attempt.”
Nicole DiFidi, P.E., Boise, ID

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
March 1 through March 31
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

FREE VIDEO OF THE MONTH - Civil AM Exam: Structural - Sign Convention

Often when we are using statics to determine internal or external forces and moments of a member, we'll draw dummy forces and moments on our free body diagrams. In doing this, we tend to assume the forces are positive and then flip the direction of the force or moment on the final free body diagram if the value we calculated was negative. It is important to maintain a sign convention especially as we start to explore internal forces. Without a sign convention, you can quickly find yourself at odds as you start to draw shear and moment diagrams.

This video explains the typical sign convention used for beams in flexure. We'll cover the sign convention for internal as well as external forces and moments. Then we'll show how maintaining a sign convention can be used to help keep your shear and moment diagrams consistent.
- Shannon Warchol, PE - DTC Civil Structural Instructor

Shannon Warchol’s Explanation of Sign Convention

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
March 1 through March 31
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work! 

There’s Lots to Learn, So Start Early with a $100 "Get Ahead" Discount!

To help you get ahead in your career by starting your PE Exam preparation in plenty of time, we are offering $100 off when you sign up in March for any DTC 20-Week PE Exam Review for the October 2018 Exam.

There’s whole lot to learn and retain for this exam! Concepts you need to relearn, problem-solving skills you need to develop, reference materials you need to organize. All this takes time. Start too early and your familiarity with the material will fade over time. Start too late, and the information won’t sink in and you won’t get enough practice. Start without a plan, and you’ll waste precious time studying the wrong things.

Fortunately, you don’t have to figure out when or how to study for this exam. Dr. Tom has done that for you with his 20-Week Reviews. He developed his 20-Week Review Method because he found, after many years of preparing engineers for the PE Exam, that 20 weeks is the optimal time frame for learning and retaining the knowledge and skills you need to pass the exam (more on why Dr. Tom's 20-Week Review Method is critical to your success),

Dr. Tom has also honed his review into a targeted, structured review that will help you focus your efforts and make the most of the ideal exam preparation window, all with the support of a team that is dedicated to your success. If you follow the plan and do the work, you will be prepared to pass the exam.

“Dr. Tom's 20 week course helped me learn everything I needed to pass the PE Exam on the first try. The best part about the 20-Week Review is that you develop a weekly schedule of what you need to work on. Material is not crammed into a 3 or 4 week review like some other PE courses. With the 20-Week Review, you gradually rebuild and strengthen what you learned in college so you can take on the PE exam with confidence. I just wish I could shake Dr. Tom's hand and tell him thank you for everything!”
- Michael Noll, PE, Delmar Systems in Houston, TX
 
We see extraordinary things in your future! So let’s get you started on this exciting journey to becoming a licensed professional engineer with a new world of opportunities. Use discount code Early$100-20W when you SIGN UP today.

Taking the October 2018 Exam?

Start your 20-Week Review EARLY with $100 OFF
March 1 through March 31
Use Discount Code: Early$100-20W

Dr. Tom's Classroom – Helping Engineers become Professional Engineers!
Targeted Civil and Mechanical PE Exam Reviews that work!