The Civil Engineering Academy Podcast

Going through engineering school is hard, let alone passing the FE exam that comes along with it. Some engineers have taken the strategy of taking the FE exam right after school as the best option. In contrast, others get so busy with family- and work-related stuff that devoting hours to studying for the exam daily seems a barrier in itself, which causes them to postpone it — most of the time indefinitely. Today’s guest is the living proof that being out of college for a bit and in an exam setting is not that much of an obstacle. Today’s interview is with D. J. Leslie, a civil engineer who graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and has been working as a construction inspector at Volkert, Inc. for about 5 years. He started out doing some basic paving jobs, working closely with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). He then moved to a much larger project: a three-phase intersection redesign between the two major interstates in Birmingham, the I-65 and I-59/20. Earlier this year, as an engineer with a 5-year experience in the field and away from exam settings for some time, he decided to take the FE exam in October. As a way to help him recall all the content that is tested on exam day, as well as to keep him on track to get a passing grade and connected with people who know how the exam works, he enrolled in the Ultimate Civil FE Review Course. D. J. mentions some features of the course that stood out to him, such as the huge bank of problems available and the practice exams that give a realistic preview of how exam day looks like. Resources Mentioned D.J. Leslie LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-j-leslie-eit-58356a5a D.J. Leslie Email - dennisjamesleslie@gmail.com Volkert, Inc. - https://volkert.com Ultimate Civil FE Review Course - https://civilfereviewcourse.com Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) - https://www.dot.state.al.us The University of Alabama at Birmingham - https://www.uab.edu/home Secrets of Mental Math: The Mathemagician's Guide to Lightning Calculation and Amazing Math Tricks, by Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer - https://amzn.to/3mowcfx Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, on Disney+ - https://www.disneyplus.com/pt-br/series/cosmos-a-spacetime-odyssey/3AAcsJhhmU10 If you need exams, solved problems, or courses, make sure to check out our home base  - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community?  What’s wrong with you?  J/K.  Ok, go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682344491800869 Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE.  We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

The stories behind people’s reasons for getting into civil engineering are just as unique as their aspirations once they get into the field. While some of us dream about working on a particular project, whether it be building the highest skyscraper on Earth or the brand new stadium of our favorite basketball team, others visualize themselves stepping up into management roles and becoming the president of national or even multinational engineering firms. Today’s guest is a perfect example of a successful engineer who followed his passion for a specific discipline of the field and proved to everyone else that engineers do have the soft skills needed to tackle the day-to-day, non-technical tasks. Today, Isaac talks to Tait Ketcham, the current president at Dunn Associates, Inc, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the past president of the Structural Engineers Association of Utah(SEAU). After spending his childhood building things out of wood, he developed a strong interest in construction and design. Since then, he has worked on many notable projects, such as the Memphis Grizzlies stadium and the Hale Centre Theater. In this interview, Tait talks about his passion for the role that our field plays in shaping and positively impacting societies, the many different paths an undergraduate student can take in the field, given its huge branch of segments, as well as the mistakes that taught him the greatest lessons in engineering and life in general. Going through school, studying for the FE or the PE, and dealing with the day-to-day tasks of meeting deadlines and resolving issues that come up onsite may sound hard. But according to Tait, “Passion is contagious.” Resources Mentioned Tait Ketcham - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tait-ketcham-26015a77 Dunn Associates, Inc - http://www.dunn-se.com Structural Engineers Association of Utah (SEAU) - https://seau.org American Society of Civil Engineers - https://www.asce.org Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) - https://www.udot.utah.gov/connect Memphis Grizzlies Stadium - https://fedexforum.com Hale Centre Theater - https://www.hct.org/Online/default.asp If you need exams, solved problems or courses, make sure to check out our home base - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community? What’s wrong with you? J/K. Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682344491800869 Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE. We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

Everyone has a different story about how they got into Civil Engineering. While some people had a love for the problem-solving process of mathematics and physics from an early age, others discovered their passions for one specific area or discipline of the field a little bit later in life. Today, we go through the story of how someone who was pretty familiar with the military went up to an officer of the USPHS Commissioned Corps, got himself a summer job, and has been with the Indian Health Service for 18 years. Today’s special guest is Charles Thompson, the Indian Health Service Sr. Field Engineer, who studied Engineering at the University of Maine and graduated in 2005. His work involves doing providing federally recognized tribes with water, wastewater, and solid waste infrastructure projects, as well as providing the tribal utilities with utility consultation, and helping them out with the operation and maintenance of their systems. Charles, a “late bloomer” as he calls himself, talks about his experience with the PE exam, as well as how hard it can be, especially for those who haven’t dealt with school material and concepts for a long time. Therefore, he took the Ultimate Civil PE Review Course in order to take the exam — which he did in October — and, today, he explains how it helped him prepare for it. This is a must-listen episode for literally anyone. Charles really brings the civil engineering field to its core essence, which is using the technical knowledge and problem-solving skills we have to positively impact communities and society as a whole. Resources Mentioned Charles Thompson’s Email - chuck1166@hotmail.com Ultimate Civil PE Review Course - https://civilpereviewcourse.com University of Maine - https://umaine.edu The United States Environmental Protection Agency - https://www.epa.gov Indian Health Service - https://www.ihs.gov United States Public Public Health Service - https://www.usphs.gov Wastewater Treatment and Reuse: Theory and Design Examples - https://www.amazon.com/Wastewater-Treatment-Reuse-Examples-Two/dp/149876200X The Civil Engineering Handbook - https://www.amazon.com/Civil-Engineering-Handbook-New-Directions/dp/0849309581 If you need exams, solved problems, or courses, make sure to check out our home base - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community? What’s wrong with you? J/K. Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682344491800869 Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE. We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

America’s Infrastructure Report Card, produced by the ASCE, is released every four years and has the purpose of bringing to light the existing infrastructure problems and limitations in different sectors within the United States, ranging from bridges and dams to wastewater and energy. The ASCE’s committee is made up of 28 civil engineers who work closely with technical and industry experts, assessing relevant data and reports, and then assigning grades based on aspects such as current capability, future need, resilience, funding, and more. Today’s episode is all about the last report card, which was released in 2017. We focused on the energy sector, specifically when it comes to electricity. The overall grade assigned to the sector as a whole was an alarming D+, which, according to ASCE’s criterion, means that “(...) A large portion of the system exhibits significant deterioration. Condition and capacity are of serious concern with a strong risk of failure”. Isaac, as a practicing professional engineer in the energy industry working at a utility firm, is the right person to talk about this previous grade given in 2017, and how it may differ from the next one coming right up in 2021. Why do we face so many issues in the sector? Is it likely that we’ll see the same concerns appear once again in the 2021 report card? Maybe. But what are some measures we can take now to make this grade go up for the next report cards? It’s all in today’s episode! Resources Mentioned America’s Infrastructure Report Card (2017) - https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org Energy Infrastructure Report (2017) - https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/energy American Society of Civil Engineers - https://www.asce.org The National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) - https://standards.ieee.org/products-services/nesc/index.html If you need exams, solved problems, or courses, make sure to check out our home base - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community? What’s wrong with you? J/K. Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682344491800869 Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE. We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

For listeners of the Civil Engineering Academy Podcast, the transition from the usual pen-and-paper exam to a computer-based format (CBT) is not “breaking news”. We’ve all listened to episode 51 of the podcast featuring Tim Miller, the Chief Officer of Examinations at the NCEES, who oversees the development and scoring of all examinations, as well as the exam administration. In his interview with Isaac, he presented NCEES’s plan for accelerating this transition and making the civil PE exam go 100% CBT in 2022! While the reason for accelerating this move came as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications, it actually follows the trend already put into practice for the FE exam and the PE exam for mechanical engineering. Today, Mark jumps back on the show to discuss some of the new conditions announced by NCEES that will come along with such a move, and whether or not they can be considered a pro or a con, at least from a test-taker standpoint. On one hand, people will be able to take the test any time of the year, as opposed to the previous April and October time frames people used to center their studies around. On the other hand, there’s a slight possibility that questions belonging to the breadth and depth portions could get mixed up and tested “together”. To top it all off, the number of references test-takers can bring to the testing locations will be reduced to…. Listen to the show to find out! The CBT format is now, more than ever, a reality. It’s not something to be afraid of. It's just something that will require an adaptation period and a lot of discipline and effort. If you’re planning on taking the PE exam or the FE exam, do not forget to check out the Civil PE Review Course and the Civil FE Review Course to refresh your memory on all the things you need to know to ace these exams! Resources Mentioned CEA Episode 51 with Tim Miller - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/cea-51-the-ncees-chief-officer-of-exams-tim-miller-pe/ The Ultimate Civil PE Review Course - https://civilpereviewcourse.com/ The Ultimate Civil FE Review Course - https://civilfereviewcourse.com/ PPI is our partner to help you ace your FE and PE exams. Use our discount code of CIVAC and our link to get 15% off any book you order - http://www.civilengineeringacademy.com/ppi If you need exams, solved problems, or courses, make sure to check out our home base - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Thanks for checking things out!  Leave a review and let us know how we are doing!

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) releases a report on the median pre-tax annual salary of civil engineers every year, using the answers provided by respondents working within the field, from different levels of higher education, and spread out across the various disciplines of the subject. With this in mind, the ASCE just released the 2020 edition of this annual salary report, titled Civil Engineers’ Income and Job Satisfaction Continue to Rise. Today’s episode is a further examination of this report, as well as a list of the highest-paying cities in the US for civil engineers, compiled by the ASCE. According to previous reports, base salaries have been on the rise for some time, increasing by an amount of 4-6% each year since 2017, and this trend continued to happen this year. According to the report, civil engineers' median pre-tax annual salaries in 2019 was $115,000, which is an increase from $109,000 they reported last year. This positive trend of increasing base salaries is a good sign for every engineer out there, and actually, a motivation for everyone to get the PE license. The report stated that civil engineers with a professional engineer license make about $121,000, which is $31,000 higher than the median salary for those civil engineers who do not have any professional license. So, getting a PE license can really help out every engineer in the long run. If you’re serious about taking your career to the next level, The Ultimate Civil PE Review Course is the only course you need to ace that exam. Don’t forget to check it out! When it comes to the list of the best cities to be a civil engineer in the US, based solely on salary, can you guess which countries would be in the top 5? Can you guess how much, on average, practicing civil engineers at these cities are making? Listen to the show to find out! Resources Mentioned ASCE Report - https://www.asce.org/templates/press-release-detail.aspx?id=38963 The Best Places to Be a Civil Engineer (ASCE) - https://news.asce.org/these-are-the-best-places-to-be-a-civil-engineer/ The Ultimate Civil PE Review Course - https://civilpereviewcourse.com/ If you need exams, solved problems or courses, make sure to check out our home base - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community? What’s wrong with you? J/K. Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682344491800869 Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE. We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

This is another episode that will certainly empower and motivate many women out there who feel that inner passion for pursuing career positions in areas of expertise that are somewhat still mainly dominated by men. Today, we hear from Melody Gonzalez, a female immigrant from Venezuela, single mother of two kids, who made her way in becoming an engineer despite all the obstacles she faced in life. As an immigrant, she had to deal with all the changes that come with an international relocation, such as environmental and cultural changes, as well as language barriers. Since she came to the US about 15 years ago, she was proficient enough for the day-to-day basic things. However, getting into engineering school requires a more technical vocabulary and good comprehension of such technical terms and texts. The SAT was her first obstacle. After daily 12-hour study periods, she finally got into Miami Dade College, and from there, later transferred to the Florida International University (FIU). Melody is now a civil engineer for Black & Veatch, proudly working on projects that focus on water resources and infrastructure, as well as sustainable solutions for the community. One of her main pieces of advice for the generations of civil engineers to come is to love what you do, especially if it’s civil engineering. Getting through school is hard, and it doesn't get easier when you start working. That’s why working with what you love, at a company that is in alignment with your values, and alongside people that will serve as mutual mentors to each other, both professionally and personally, is the key. This conversation is a great source of inspiration not only for women but also for men. As the “dominant” genre in the area, they have the moral responsibility to help the female percentage in the field grow. Melody is a great example that obstacles are just temporary problems that require you to change in order to overcome them, but that will certainly take you to the next level as a professional and a person. Don’t forget to check out her article telling her journey in a more in-depth, detailed, and personal manner that will certainly contribute to your perspective of life. Resources Mentioned Melody Gonzalez’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melody-a-gonzalez?trk=author_mini-profile_title Melody Gonzalez’s Instagram (@melodygonzfiu) - https://www.instagram.com/melodygonzfiu/?hl=en Melody Gonzalez’s Article “How I went from a Single Mom to an Engineer: Living the American dream.” - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-went-from-single-mom-engineer-living-american-gonzalez-e-i-/?trackingId=m1%2FqKgHkSeOXGm7Vj6mLyA%3D%3D Black & Veatch - https://www.bv.com/ Florida International University (FIU) - https://www.fiu.edu/ Miami Dade College - https://www.mdc.edu/ If you need exams, solved problems or courses, make sure to check out our home base  - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community?  What’s wrong with you?  J/K.  Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682344491800869 Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE.  We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

Today’s episode is a really special one because it not only emphasizes the importance of having higher percentages of women in engineering classes and in the industry as a whole, but it also brings up the discussion of how civil engineering of the future may look like from sustainability and even space exploration (hello, Mars!) standpoint.  Today’s guest is Hannah Copeman, an amazing female engineer to join the ever-growing group of women in engineering, who got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Toronto, Canada, emphasizing on Structural Engineering. She talks about how she got into engineering in the first place, and why she decided to pursue her higher education in a different country. She also dives deeper into the aspects of being a female engineering student and how this played out during her undergraduate and graduate studies, as well as some personal obstacles she had to overcome, especially in the first two years of her undergrad. Hannah is currently working for an organization, called One Community, that focuses on building sustainable cities, specifically tackling the infrastructure industry, which accounts for more than 70% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. She’s in the civil structural team, so she oversees and helps design the lancet-arch-shaped, self-sufficient residence built out of aircrete.  Hannah is now in the process of studying for her FE exam, and she shares some tips and habits she has used in order to keep herself motivated and productive that may help literally any undergrad, grad, or young engineer out there. Nevertheless, she dives a bit into how the current space exploration and the development in the industry may allow civil engineers to work on projects to be built on Mars, using totally different technologies and techniques, but also taking advantage of some peculiarities of the once thought “uninhabitable” environment.  This is a fun and interesting conversation to listen to, which will certainly add a lot of value. It will allow you to get a lot of insights about the future of the field from a young and visionary engineer’s perspective, both when it comes to the necessity of becoming sustainable due to global warming and to the ground-breaking discoveries in planetary surface construction. Resources Mentioned (some links are affiliate links) Hannah Copeman’s LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-copeman University of Toronto, Canadá - https://www.utoronto.ca Manhattan College  -https://manhattan.edu Thornton Tomasetti - https://www.thorntontomasetti.com One Community - https://www.onecommunityglobal.org Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Jhonson - Here Bjarke Ingels Group - https://big.dk/#projects If you need exams, solved problems or courses, make sure to check out our home base  - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community?  What’s wrong with you?  J/K.  Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.ceacommunity.com Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE.  We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/newsletter

Civil engineering is definitely among those industries that have been impacted the most by COVID-19. What’s worse, not only licensed engineers have been hit by the side effects of COVID, but also those who were preparing for the PE exam. Exams got canceled, people started losing hope and motivation, refunds were requested, there was worry about the safety of test centers in future exams, etc.  Complete chaos? Not at all. On today’s show, we hear directly from within the NCEES organization about how they are navigating our current situation and the measures they are taking in order to provide exams for everyone who wants to take them. Today, Isaac talks to Timothy Miller, the Chief Officer of Examinations at the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). He oversees the development and scoring of all engineering and surveying examinations used for professional licensure in the United States and its territories. Miller also oversees the production of NCEES examinations, study guides, and exam administration publications, as well as compliance and security. Miller is a licensed professional engineer in the State of South Carolina, getting his degree from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, who had worked for more than 20 years as an engineering consultant and project manager before joining the organization. They touch on a variety of interesting topics, including questions that most examinees are really interested in, such as how the exams are made, and why there are more questions for certain disciplines than others. They also discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and adaptations of the computer-based test (CBT), when the NCEES plans on completing the transition from the old “pencil and paper” model to CBT, as well as the role the organization plays in preventing the threats to licensure. Resources Mentioned (some links are affiliate links) NCEES - https://ncees.org NCEES Records Program - https://ncees.org/records NCEES Squared - https://ncees.org/about/publications/past-annual-reports-squared NCEES State Requirements - https://ncees.org/state-links National Society of Professional Engineers - https://www.nspe.org American Society of Civil Engineers - https://www.asce.org Pearson Vue - https://home.pearsonvue.com Built To Last, by Jim Collins - Here Virginia Polytechnic Institute - https://vt.edu If you need exams, solved problems, or courses, make sure to check out our home base - https://civilengineeringacademy.com Haven’t joined up in our free community? What’s wrong with you? J/K. Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! - https://www.ceacommunity.com Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE. We even have a free resource for you! - https://civilengineeringacademy.com/join-our-newsletter Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com

On today’s episode, Isaac has an intriguing and inspiring conversation with Fernando Ceballos about the hurdles he faced in his personal and professional lives, from being a kid with divorced parents and losing his dad while still in college to how being dyslexic affected him and his preparation for the PE exam. He is a guy with humble and troubled beginnings who has thrived professionally and is now helping others overcome their own challenges. Fernando is a project engineer for Pape-Dawson Engineers, a statewide firm in Texas, working with multifamily, commercial and industrial land development, while also co-hosting the Dealing With Life Stuff podcast, which aims at young professionals and college students, trying to help them in the process of figuring out what the next steps in their lives are. The podcast is focused on career and life, and it teaches how young professionals, the millennials, can navigate through life knowing that it’s going to be hard, but they are perfectly capable of getting through and succeeding at it.  As a career coach himself, Fernando goes through the importance of mentorship in many different areas of life, and mentions the different ways he has already used to improve himself as a person and as an engineer. He also provides advice for both those who may be in the same clinical situation as him, having to deal with the hurdles posed by dyslexia, and those who may have to face other types of obstacles. We all know they come in all forms and shapes. This is an inspiring story for literally anyone and it will certainly provide you with a spark of motivation to do whatever it is that you want to do despite the obstacles, and it will also give you a ton of resources to look into in order to keep developing yourself and learning.  Resources Mentioned (some links are affiliate links) Fernando Ceballos Website - www.fdoceballos.com Fernando Ceballos LinkedIn  - www.linkedin.com/in/fdoceballos Fernando Ceballos Instagram / Twitter - @fdoceballos Fernando Ceballos Youtube Channel - www.youtube.com/c/fdoceballos/featured Dealing With Life Stuff Podcast - www.dealingwithlifestuff.com The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz  - Here The Magic of Thinking Big, by David J. Schwartz - Here The Dichotomy of Leadership, by Jocko Willink - Here Extreme Ownership, by Jocko Willink - Here The Jocko Podcast - jockopodcast.com Simon Sinek - simonsinek.com Civil Engineering Academy - If you need exams, solved problems, or courses, make sure to check out our home base CEA Community – Haven’t joined up on our free community?  What’s wrong with you?  J/K.  Ok, just go there and join a group of like-minded civil engineers! CEA Newsletter - Join over 4000 engineers like you and learn the tips and tricks to passing the FE and PE.  We even have a free resource for you! Reach out to Isaac - isaac@civilengineeringacademy.com