Prepineer Digest 006
FE Exam lessons, absolute pressure, harder exam and a Chick-Fil-A Success
We are headed in to a new year, and let’s be real, it definitely feels a bit different.
I don’t know about you, but this past year there were many times that I wondered if I was going a bit crazy.
You can’t do this, or you can’t go there, or you have to do this.
Plans were cancelled, rescheduled and then cancelled again.
That was 2020 for most all of us.
The question going in to 2021 is this: Will we ever return to normal? Or is this our new normal?
There is a lot of unknown and uncertainty that is working us all up, but to keep myself from going crazy, I try to ground myself on focusing on my purpose right now, today.
If I am feeling anxious, I slow down and reflect on one thing:
What good CAN come from this time?
For me, I want to help as many people as I can.
I am up every day on a single mission – creating content, putting together workshops, YouTube videos, practice problems, tips, strategies and checking in with all of you.
Making sure at least on the FE Exam front, you feel supported with opportunities to advance in the midst of all the chaos that surrounds us.
My passion is to serve – that is where I find sustainable meaning and hope.
Where are you finding purpose and hope in these days?
Here at Prepineer, we continue to push forward on creating materials that are useful to you. Over the next few weeks, we will be hard at work putting together a special week-long series of content (more information to come) that will be delivered straight to your inbox.
No social distancing or mask required!
So if you are at that point where you recognize the opportunity that can come from beginning your pursuit towards passing the FE Exam, then this will help you get going with clarity and confidence.
And one more thing. If you have a success story you’d like to share with us, we want to hear all about it! Over this next week and in to our 2021 kickoff series, we will be sharing stories to encourage and inspire other engineers just like you.
Don’t be shy. We want to hear from you!
So for now, enjoy this week’s engineering resources, I hope they help you in some way take that next step in your journey! 🙂
Justin Dickmeyer, PE
Founder, Prepineer
The goods
What’s featured in this weeks digest
In this Prepineer digest, we are diving deep in to some of the more important components of exam prep, inching you forward, one brick at a time, towards FE Exam success – here is the rundown:
- We start off reflection on some lessons I took from the MTB trail, and yes, they are relevant: Lessons from the mountain bike trail
- Need some reps in practice, we’ve got you covered, walking you through a practice problem in Thermodynamics: How do you find the Absolute Pressure in a tank?
- What about the difficulty of the FE Exam…we have your answer: Is it possible to get a harder FE Exam than others with the new AIT problems?
- Do you need some inspiration to get going…to keep going? Read a story of one of our past students who was 15 years out of college before he decided it was time to get licensed, now he is a PE and Senior Principle Leader at Chick-fil-A: The inspirational story of David Reid, PE
Click where you’d like to start, or check out each resource individually, whichever way you go, enjoy!
Quick tip
Lessons from the mountainbike trail
This past summer, I decided to get back on my mountain bike and start riding, something that I used to do quite a bit, but set aside as the wave of “life” took me another route.
It had been nearly 5 years since I had ridden and I decided on a whim to go to a local bike park.
The place was packed with people who “obviously” never set the bike down.
I was rusty.
I was out of shape.
I was intimidated.
Had a lot of doubt with what I was capable of doing.
It was slightly defeating if I could be honest – knowing where I had been before I stopped riding.
But it was what it was – my new reality.
So what does me riding a mountainbike have anything to do with preparing for the FE Exam…welp, you’d be surprised, a lot.
Here are 3 lessons that I have been reminded of as I have gotten back on my bike.
Lesson 1: Being intimidated is OK, doubting your abilities is OK, being rusty is OK – with time and repetition, those emotions subside, your abilities return and your mindset shifts to one that is enabling rather than one that is disabling.
It doesn’t matter where you feel you are today, know you can be where you want to be, you just have to push through the initial up front friction of taking on the challenge.
Lesson 2: Challenging myself physically has helped me build grit. There is nothing like climbing the hills and feeling the legs burn, feeling your chest burn, peaking your heart rate – but pushing forth anyway.
Studying for the FE Exam is going to be challenge. There is going to be material that outright slaps us in the face, but we have a choice – and luckily, one side of that choice is to continue pushing forward anyways.
Lesson 3: Being intentional versus fitting it in – only one approach will increase your abilities long term.
There is a time for leisurely rides around the block, but it’s the times that I am riding the trails that I enhance my bike control, my fitness, my overall abilities.
It’s one thing to study here and there, to fit it in while we watch Netflix or a college football game – but that isn’t going to get us very far.
Being intentional with the time that we spend in the books is going to get us a lot further in a lot less time and with much more efficiency.
So that’s that, believe it or not, lessons from a mountain bike trail.
Happy studying y’all.
Daily Dose
How do you find the Absolute Pressure in a tank?
Atmospheric, Gage, Absolute…what gives when it comes to talking Pressure.
It’s not much of a problem type, typically easy money – but it trips students up for sure.
But this isn’t going to be your case, in this video, we jam on another FE Exam Practice Problem in the subject of THERMODYNAMICS, specifically revolving around the relationship of ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE to GAGE PRESSURE.
Enjoy! 🙂
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it possible that I will get a “more difficult” FE Exam with the new AIT problems?
One thing is for certain…there are many things we worry about going in to the FE Exam – one being whether or not it is a possibility that you get a harder exam than others taking the exam at the same exact time.
The short answer to this is, yes, it’s definitely a possibility that you will get a “more difficult” FE Exam with the new Alternative Item Type (AIT) problems, but honestly…
It doesn’t matter.
I’ll tell you why, let’s dive in to it…
Student Success
David Reid, PE
I wanted to close this Prepineer Digest with a student success spotlight on David Reid.
We love success stories, and when they come from a top dog from one of your favorite restaurants, welp, they are a tad bit tastier 🙂
David Reid is a Professional Engineer from the state of Georgia who leads the understand/imagine team of production design at Chick-fil-A.
His army of industrial engineers execute in the realm of production design with a focus on improving speed of service, space capacity, equipment capacity, and team member experience.
Like many of you, David realized he needed to get his license to enhance his career path – problem was, at this point, he was already 15 years out of school and hadn’t touched the fundamentals of engineering in as many years.
But this wasn’t a problem in reality, just an obstacle many of us feel when we start thinking about taking this journey.
David joined Prepineer in 2016, put in the work while being guided by his coach, and today, is a licensed Professional Engineer.
In the May 2020 edition of Industrial Engineering Magazine, he was interviewed about his journey in becoming a Professional Engineer and stated that he needed to “rely heavily on Prepineer” to get the job done.
I know it’s common to feel you’ve been out of school for too long, but David is a living testimony to what I keep screaming from the mountain top…it’s possible no matter now impossible it may seem.
You just have to make that first move.
You got this.
so until we meet again my friend, may God bless you and your family! 🙂
