# Metallurgy / Materials PE Exam 2015



## Kars' Academy (Jan 6, 2016)

Hello!

Calling all Materials engineers who are interested in taking, or have taken the Metallurgy / Materials PE Exam.  I wanted to introduce myself and my team.  My name is Nikhil Kar and I am a Registered Professional Mechanical Engineer and Registered Professional Metallurgical / Materials Engineer.  I noticed that their wasn't any forum for discussion on this specific exam, nor any general review material.  I took the Metallurgy / Materials exam in October of 2015.  If you have any questions about the exam or need review material, please  check out the new courses we are offering at www.kars-academy.com 

Thank you,

Nikhil Kar, Ph.D. P.E.

Kars' Academy


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## Exengineer (Jul 25, 2016)

At the time I took my EIT exam in April 1981 there was no such thing as a Metallurgical / Materials PE exam, and that was in the day when there were many more jobs for metallurgical engineers than there are now.  Almost every Metallurgical Engineering department across North America has been terminated and some were replaced with Materials Science &amp; Engineering where metallurgy has a minor part.  Metallurgical engineering is considered an obsolete degree and profession now and no one should be encouraged to pursue a career in it, even if they can still find a university that has a department for it.  I found that all of the most valuable and marketable skills involved in metallurgical engineering such as welding inspection and failure analysis were not part of the curriculum, you had to get that knowledge on your own.  Universities are too obsessed with highly academic and theoretical subject matter to be of any practical good.  As a result I found that my education was incomplete and did not serve my needs well.  Wish I had chosen a different path such as Accounting.


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## Kars' Academy (Aug 6, 2016)

I have to respectfully disagree.  The reason for the reduction in metallurgical engineering programs is because Universities are focused on developing curriculum that encompasses the breadth and depth of the material science and engineering field that cover metals, alloys, polymers, composites, ceramics etc.  The goal of the course curriculum at the University level is to provide students with a "tool belt" that allows them to think and solve problems.  I would like to think that the best teacher in life is experience, but you also need to have qualified and experience teachers to guide emerging professionals in the field.  In terms of being a dying profession, I don't believe this is true at all.  There's always a need for metallurgical and materials engineers!  Things are failing all the time - insurance companies, attorneys, manufacturers all rely on consulting engineers to give them the facts.  They need to know why a product failed, how it failed and who is the liable party especially when it comes to personal injury cases, automotive accidents, and medical malpractice cases.  The market for Metallurgical and Materials Engineers is there, you just need to sell yourself as the expert with knowledge is specific fields.  Your lack of enthusiasm for the discipline is disheartening, I would encourage you dig a little deeper.  I don't know you, but if you are having doubts about your profession you may want to consider thinking about the statement "You can't teach a fish to fly," in the sense that maybe your lack of success as an engineer is because you weren't meant to be one.  I would be happy to discuss with you further.


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## Exengineer (Aug 8, 2016)

I was forced to leave the U.S. when I could not get suitable employment in the late 1980s, always stuck with low pay, low stability jobs in near bankrupt companies.  At that time I was thinking "I went to university for this?"  Wouldn't do it again if I could go back in time.  Now I am near the end of my working years and doing part time subcontract cargo inspections.  Metallurgical engineering was a poor choice for me and I don't even qualify for 99 percent of the jobs in that major anymore. I have to say it was a disappointing "career" and I probably should have dropped out of it before age 30.


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## Kars' Academy (Aug 12, 2016)

That's unfortunate.  In this day and age to stay competitive in the market you need to have advanced degrees (M.S., Ph.D.) plus experience and licensing.  I hope you are finding some part of your part time work interesting.


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## Dr.Dre (Aug 16, 2016)

I will be taking the Metallurgy / Materials PE exam this coming October.  Aside from the recommended study guide published by TMS, what else would you recommend reviewing?  Did you find the information published by TMS was useful in your preparation for the exam i.e. were the questions in the study guide a fair representation of questions on the exam?


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## Kars' Academy (Aug 19, 2016)

Honestly the best books for review are the basic intro to materials science book by callister and metallurgy for the non-metallurgist.  Yes, information published by TMS was useful in preparation.


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## jyshrek (Oct 27, 2016)

I have recently passed FE for Mechanics and currently planning to take PE exam on coming April. 

I am not sure whether I should be taking PE for mechanics or metallurgical/material. I have been working for EPC compant for 5 years, all in quality dept. So out of the two, I personally think metallurgy/material would be also helpful for my job, but considering future opportunities, mechanical seems more beneficial.

Since, you have license for both, I woulf appreciate your honest advise.


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## Kars' Academy (Oct 28, 2016)

It depends on your type of work, and if you want to continue to do quality department work.  I'm assuming you are doing QC as related to materials, if this is the case then a PE in Metallurgy / Materials Engineering would be a good fit.  However, if you see yourself getting into aspects of mechanical engineering in the future which include mechanical design, heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid flow, HVAC systems design, control and feedback then you may want to consider taking the PE in Mechanical.  I do believe the PE in Mechanical covers a lot of topics and in my opinion was the more difficult exam.


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## Dr.Dre (Oct 29, 2016)

Took the Metallurgy PE exam yesterday.  Left the test feeling confident (fairly certain I answered at least 60 questions correctly).  Only 3 or 4 that I straight out guessed on and 15 or so that I made an educated guess at through the process of elimination.  Now I'm going through the self doubt phase as to whether what I did was good enough to beat the cut score.

The exam was not that difficult, but some of the questions (many are part of the 15 or so that I was unsure on) are tricky in both problem statement and answers.


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## kglover (Nov 2, 2016)

I am eligible to take the PE October 2018.  I passed the FE Mechanical, but have been working as a Quality Engineer concerning fabrication, welding, industrial furnaces, etc.  I plan to take the Thermal/Fluids PE.  How do I qualify to also get registered in Metallurgy/Materials?  Is there another waiting period?  I also have my CWI.  Does this help?


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## Kars' Academy (Nov 4, 2016)

Kglover,

Because of your work experience as a quality engineer you should have no trouble qualifying to take the Metallurgy/Materials exam.  Many people who take the exam have a background in mechanical engineering (myself included) but work in the materials field.  The CWI will definitely help as well.  You will need to apply to the board with your references to take the PE exam.


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## Steel professional (Feb 15, 2017)

I'm taking PE exam October 2017. Does anybody have any ideas about resources? I have the resources suggested by TMS but looking for some booklets, notes or TMS preparation course. Does anybody has any experience with it. Works or not?

TMS course is so close to the exam (end of August each year). I wished i could get some ideas about the course and exam.


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## Dr.Dre (Feb 25, 2017)

I took and passed the exam last October and only used the TMS questions as preparation.  The TMS questions were representative of the questions on the exam.  The exam is fairly straight-forward...but some of the questions are tricky in terms of wording and/or unit conversions.  I would recommend going through the TMS questions to gauge where you are and focus you studying in the areas where you feel you are lacking.  I took a few books with me; the ASM Metals Handbook Desk Edition (must have), an intro to materials book, a mechanical behavior book (Dieter is probably the best), and physical metallurgy.  There were more than a handful of questions on non-metallic materials, so be sure to brush up on composites and ceramics.


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## Kars' Academy (Feb 27, 2017)

Steel Professional,

If you have any questions about the exam or need review material, please contact me at www.kars-academy.com, [email protected]


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