SNAME WEB PAGE P.E. EXAM STUDY GUIDE MATERIALS

for

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE-MARINE ENGINEERING (NAME)



INTRODUCTION

In the October, 1998 and April, 1999 issues of Marine Technology, articles were presented by our President, Jose Femenia, discussing various aspects of the examination for Professional Engineer Licensure in Ship Design Engineering (SDE), which will henceforth be identified as Naval Architecture-Marine Engineering (NAME). The first Principles and Practice Examination was given on October 29, 1999. In an effort to assist the Society’s membership in their exam preparation, study materials have been and will continue to be developed and presented on the SNAME Web Page from time to time that are concerned with the subject areas of the examination specification (the examination specification was published in the Marine Technology issue Volume 35, Number 4, of October, 1998).

The Society would like to encourage its non-licensed membership to consider sitting for the next PE exam in Naval Architecture-Marine Engineering (note name change from Ship Design Engineering) on April 20, 2001. NOTE: Application deadlines vary by state and are as early as six months prior to the exam. Please contact your state licensing Board to determine whether or not your state will be offering the exam, and for the exam qualifications, application deadlines, and application fees. Contact information for the state licensing boards, as well as other information pertaining to professional licensure, can be found on the website for the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying at http://www.ncees.org. In the event that your state does not offer to administer the examination, it is worthy of note that, since the examination is national in scope, the state may offer registration by comity if you pass the examination administered by any other state or jurisdiction. This information should be available from your state board.

While there are 25 subject areas in the examination specification, the study materials that will be presented may cover more than one area at a time; some presentations may be of a more general nature while problems concerned with a specific subject area will also be included from time to time. Problem solutions and reference suggestions will also be given, but not necessarily with the initial presentation of subject area materials. Thus, for those wishing to use the SNAME Web Page materials as a study guide, it is suggested that they frequently return to the Web Page for the latest additions to subject area study materials and suggested references. For those working in the area of Marine Electrical Engineering, it should be noted that the NAME exam has only about a 10 percent focus on electrical loads, distribution, energy conversion and emergency systems. Therefore, marine electrical engineers might find licensure in electrical engineering more appropriate for their needs. They should refer to the NCEES web page at http://www.ncees.org. For those wishing to have specific questions answered concerning the examination subject areas and study materials, an e-mail to btrentham@sname.org or FAX message to (201) 798-4975 at SNAME Headquarters will be responded to as soon as and to the extent possible. It should be noted that examination questions have been authored by a wide variety of the Society’s currently licensed and widely scattered membership so that it may not be possible to respond rapidly or to all questions. In order to be most helpful to all, submitted questions and responses will be added to the Web Page materials, but without attribution.
It is important to note that the examination preparation is ongoing and will continue to be so. That being the case, the P.E. membership is requested to submit to SNAME Headquarters your latest ideas and suggestions regarding subject matter and specific questions that may be suitable for use in future examinations. Any efforts will be greatly appreciated. To start with, the prospective examinee should collect the professional references already suggested in Marine Technology and elsewhere, as summarized below:


In addition to the above specific references, the examinee should have available for study and reference such textbooks as those pertaining to:

Also recommended are study guides such as for the Engineer-in-Training and the Mechanical Engineering examinations, available from or through NCEES. These should be supplemented by handbooks such as Marks’ Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, edited by E.A. Avallone and T. Baumeister, published by McGraw-Hill, 1987, or Eshbach’s Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals, edited by B.D. Tapley, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1990. Experience has shown that, to adequately prepare for a professional examination such as that for Naval Architecture-Marine Engineering, a systematic approach to study is most effective. A minimum of two to three months of conscientious study, 2-3 hours per day, in systematic review and general study is recommended and can be expected to greatly improve the examinee’s level of expertise and self-confidence, both of which are essential to success in such endeavors. As Naval Architecture-Marine Engineering is broadly practiced, nationally as well as internationally, it is important that the Naval Architect-Marine Engineer be fluent in national and international systems of units. Accordingly, the examination uses U.S. Customary, Metric and International System (SI) units as well. Thus, study materials will be presented using each system of units. It is suggested that the examinee become appropriately familiar with their proper usage.

NAVAL ARCHITECTURE-MARINE ENGINEERING EXAMINATION SUBJECT AREAS:
  Approximate
percentage of
the examination
1. MECHANICS
      Rigid body mechanics; statics; equilibrium; deformable body mechanics 		7
2. LOADS
      Axial, flexural, torsional; fluid statics and dynamics; pressure induced; fatigue;
      thermal; bearings; cargo; seaway 		8
3. WELDS/CONNECTIONS
      Connections and fasteners 		4
4. STRUCTURAL MEMBERS
      Frames; plates; stiffened elements; hull girder 		7
5. VIBRATIONS
      Solid element and fluid vibrations 		3
6. HYDROSTATICS
      Hydrostatics of floating devices 		6
7. HYDRODYNAMICS
      Hydrodynamic resistance and propulsion 		5
8. TRANSPORT PROCESSES
      Conservation of mass and energy; heat transfer; energy conversion devices 		6
9. FLUID FLOW
      Control devices and valves; pipe flow and resistance; hydraulics 		6
10. HVAC/REFRIGERATION
      Refrigeration systems and devices; HVAC systems and devices 		4
11. COMBUSTION
      Combustion of gaseous, liquid and solid fuels 		3
12. ELECTRICAL LOADS
      Analysis of electrical load		 3
13. ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION
      Design of distribution and power circuits 		3
14. ELECTRICAL ENERGY CONVERSION
      Electrical energy conversion devices such as motors, generators and
      transformers 		3
15. EMERGENCY ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS
      Emergency generators, batteries and systems 		1
16. CAE
      2-d & 3-d manual sketching; 2-d & 3-d CAD; CAE; finite element
      techniques 		2
17. SHIP BUILDING/REPAIR
      Shipbuilding and repair processes; weight controls; launching and
      dry-docking; trials and delivery and quality assurance 		4
18. ECONOMICS
      Engineering and ship economics 		5
19. OUTFITTING DESIGN
      Hull closure devices; deck equipment; outfitting equipment 		5
20. MATERIALS
      Ferrous and non-ferrous metals; plastics and composite materials 		3
21. CORROSION
      Galvanic cells; general wastage; pitting; crevice and stress corrosion 		2
22. POLLUTION PREVENTION
      Air, liquid and solid pollution and methods of preventing 		4
23. REGULATIONS
      USCG, EPA, ABS, SOLAS, IMO 		2
24. HUMAN FACTORS
      OSHA, USCG, ABS, SOLAS, IMO, STWC 		2
25. WIND AND WAVES
      Dynamic forces and motions caused by wind and waves 		2
  _________
Total 100%

At the 1999 Annual Meeting, a group of our current P.E.s developed a consensus statement of what a minimally competent ship design engineer (now named Naval Architect-Marine Engineer) should demonstrate.


NCEES NAVAL ARCHITECTURE-MARINE ENGINEERING (NAME)
Examination Standard of Minimal Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

A minimally competent naval architect-marine engineer (NAME) demonstrates sound engineering judgment in the application of science and engineering principles and practices to the design of ships, marine craft, and offshore structures. The minimally competent engineer shall:


EXPLANATORY NOTES ON EXAMPLE PROBLEMS

The problems posted to this web page are intended to convey a sampling of the content of the questions on the PE exam, and are not necessarily in the format of the actual exam. For example, the web page has a number of "Self Study Problems", which present a problem with a series of questions drawn from a single problem statement. This particular format is not indicative of the format or the average problem time requirement to be found on the PE exam.
The exam consists of eighty (80) multiple-choice questions, equally divided between morning and afternoon sessions. For the exam, an average of six minutes per question is planned for. The exam will contain a number of questions pertaining to Regulatory Body requirements, including those of the U.S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping. Questions relying on specific regulatory requirements will generally have the necessary regulation citations included with the problem text. In the October 29,1999 examination the number of questions falling into the following broad categories were: Marine Engineering-24 (30%), Electrical Engineering-8 (10%), Naval Architecture-32 (40%), Small Boat Design-8 (10%), and General-8 (10%). The pass rate for this examination was 41%, which is consistent with that for PE exams in other disciplines.
The PE exam is very broad based, with twenty-five subject areas from the ship design field. Most of the subject areas are represented in both the AM and PM exam sessions. As mentioned previously, all of the PE exam questions are multiple choice. Credit will be given ONLY for the one correct answer of the four possibilities presented.
This web page will offer only a sampling of the subject matter to be presented on the test. Problems will be added, as they become available. The reader is encouraged to review the subject areas listed above as well as the recommended list of reference materials provided in this web page.

EXAMPLE PROBLEMS FOR SELF-STUDY

The following sample problems and solutions are available in the Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). To view and print the documents you will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.
If you do not have the Acrobat Reader it can be downloaded free of charge at the Adobe web site.

Matrix of Self-Study Problems
Problem No. 1 (10 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 2 (11 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 3 (11 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 4 (13 Kb - 9/21/99)
Problem No. 5 (8 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 6 (5 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 7 (14 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 8 (8 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 9 (10 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 10 (3 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 11 (7 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 12 (5 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 13 (3 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 14 (50 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 15 (3 Kb - 8/17/99)
Problem No. 16 (13 Kb - 11/1/99)
Problem No. 17 (46 Kb - 11/1/99)

Download all Example Problems in zip archive (167 Kb - 11/1/99)