The Civil Engineering Academy Podcast

We’ve already touched on many cases of people passing the PE exam later in life, as well as on the temporary and uncomfortable conditions we may face in order to achieve something better down the road. Today’s guest is an example of both. After dealing with medical issues that caused a 75% loss of kidney function and being almost 20 years away from the civil engineering arena, Shannon Beranek can...

Regardless of the field we’re in, there will always be heated situations that tend to make us lose our temper and completely get out of the “professional mode”. It can be our boss or supervisor that is a little bit difficult to deal with, or maybe we’re in charge of a team and one of our subordinates has this unique personality trait that can make things uncomfortable. Since we cannot escape these...

For the loyal CEA audience out there that listened to a previous episode on the best resources for the AM portion of the PE exam, the School of PE is already a well-known and innovative player in the exam preparation material industry. With its recently released breadth review guide, it brought a modern feel to the industry by not only providing a different printing style but also an integrated us...

While the PM portion of the PE exam can be considered difficult because it dives deep into someone’s knowledge about a specific discipline of civil engineering, the AM portion can be just as challenging since it mixes up questions from all five major areas. Therefore, getting ready for the breadth portion of the PE exam is of crucial importance. Today, Isaac details the most common and best resour...

Even though life is full of challenges and sometimes it makes us uncomfortable with where we’re at, more often than not, these individual situations are just steps along the way to something better. Doesn’t matter if you currently are on the job hunt or working with something that you may not be as passionate about as you thought you would, our guest today — who went from bus driver to transportat...

“ New year, new me ”, the old maxim we’ve all used or at least heard of when preparing for the upcoming year every December. That’s when we stop to reflect on the things we’ve accomplished, and most importantly, think about where we want to go from there. We’re two weeks into 2021 already and that’s precisely when we start working on all the goals we set for ourselves, be it personal or profession...

According to the rules specified by NCEES, people can take the PE exam whenever they feel both financially and personally ready for it, but they can only get their license after meeting the experience requirements. Therefore, most test-takers are recent graduates in their twenties and young engineers in their early thirties, which creates the belief that those with a bit more life experience are n...

History books will definitely never let us forget the crazy year of 2020. A year that changed everybody’s ways of working, doing business, celebrating, and enjoying time with loved ones. Regardless of all the bad things that happened, we have to both recognize and be grateful for all the things that went well. In order to recognize the bright spots of 2020, as well as to prepare for a better 2021,...

With technology just getting better every single day and making it easier for people and companies to work and connect with one another, the old-fashioned way of emailing a resume, or even visiting each individual company with a printed version of it, has been replaced by professional networking platforms. The most famous one is, with no doubt, LinkedIn. As the largest online professional networki...

Today’s episode is another one on our “America’s Infrastructure Report Card Series”, so to speak. Produced by the ASCE, these report cards are released every four years with 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. Today, Mark Oakeson jumps back on to...

Civil engineers, as with all the other professionals within the STEM sector (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), are undeniably more comfortable with the “hard skills” they are required to learn in school than they are with some, if not all, “soft skills”. However, once they start working, they realize that these soft, interpersonal skills can be just as valuable for their careers...

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 inde...

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 presi...

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...

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, assess...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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. &nbs...

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...

On today’s show, we hear from two international engineers, Noah and Mostafa, about how they got into the field, their journeys, the paths they needed to go through in order to become licensed professionals in their respective countries (and how it differs from the US), as well as their experiences in the civil engineering arena, and their favorite projects they have worked on themselves. Mostafa i...

Since COVID-19 hit earlier this year, we haven’t really been able to discuss other topics. And even if we do, COVID-related procedures and measures are always part of the debate. It has disrupted all kinds of markets and has changed all different aspects of social and professional life. The civil engineering arena, which relies heavily on workers performing tasks on-site and meeting deadlines, was...

Powered by social movements all over the world, women are getting more and more space, visibility, and respect within areas of expertise that were mainly dominated by men some time ago, such as natural sciences and engineering. Today Melissa dives a bit into women in the engineering field and some things she's had to deal with.  Melissa and Isaac also dive into the details of her life as a mo...

The term Licensure refers to a restricted practice that requires individuals to have an official license granted by a licensing board before performing a certain profession or activity. The practice of this activity without a valid license may incur civil and criminal penalties. However, it’s more than common for lawmakers to categorize highly educated PEs with other professionals in totally diffe...