The Civil Engineering Academy Podcast

Long gone were the days when engineering was only about the technical work! Today, you can take your technical skills, flip it, and use it in a way that’s never been possible before — and this episode is proof of that. 👇 Today’s guest is David Jasinski, a geologist who built a career in the geotechnical industry and has done work in many, many countries that’s even hard to keep track of them all....

Civil Engineering Academy is turning 10 years old! 🎉 To celebrate it, we’re looking back at how it went from an idea after a huge frustration with the PE to helping thousands of civil engineers get licensed. Today, Mark Oakeson jumps on the show again and shoots questions at Isaac to dig into the real story and current operations behind CEA. From the early struggles and building prep materials on...

A lot of civil engineers dream of having their own firm one day and all the good things they think come with it…until they do and they’re working crazy hours to barely even make ends meet. 😟  Why? “Profititis.” In this episode, we sit down with Ben Hansen — aka The Profit Doctor. He went from Microsoft to building an eight-figure consulting business, and now works with firms doing $5–50M to help...

Licensure exams are hard, but here’s what you didn’t know — the technical content isn't the biggest challenge civil engineers say they face when they go up against them! 😧 Here’s what it is…👇 According to 64% of them, the real challenge they face to pass the FE, PE, or CFM exam is finding the time to actually sit down and study. After all, among work responsibilities, family obligations, hou...

You studied after work every day. You sacrificed your weekends to stay home studying. You even took vacation time to study even more. You literally walked into the exam knowing you gave it your all…but guess? 🤔 It wasn’t enough to pass — and that’s not the first time it happened. 😞 If you’re in that repeat taker position, this one is for you. Whether you failed only once or multiple times. In th...

Ever walked into an exam feeling completely ready…and then suddenly your heart is pounding, your mind goes blank, and even the easy stuff looks like it’s written in a foreign language? 🤔 If that sounds familiar, you’re gonna want to listen to this! In this episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on the other side of taking those professional exams — the part that’s not in specs but can tank your...

Don’t think you can become a PE years after school and without having followed the traditional path of getting a degree in civil? 🤔 Then this episode with Bill Bollman, PE will blow your mind! Bill started out as a CAD Technician who worked his way up to Roadway Production Manager over 30 years without a civil engineering degree…and has now just become a licensed PE! (Yep, you read that right. 😯...

Most people say they want to pass the PE Exam, but saying ≠ doing. This episode with Hunter McCabe gives you a perspective on what it really takes to pass — and why it’s worth it. 👇 Hunter is a past CEA student who recently crushed the Construction PE Exam while juggling unpredictable work hours and a pretty tight deadline with a wedding on the way. No pressure, right? 😅 How did he do it? By fol...

Have you found yourself working in engineering without an engineering degree…and getting passed over for jobs to someone who “is” just because of the diploma? 🤔 If yes, this interview with Scott Williams is for you. 👇 Scott is a past CEA Student with an Environmental background who came back from two failed attempts and losing a role he was perfect for because he didn’t have the degree…all the w...

If you thought the PE was tough, wait until you hear everything Brandon Dashwood has to say about the SE exam after taking it himself. (Hint: it’s not good news. 😬) Brandon is a Structural Engineer at PARADIGM Structural Engineers who’s deep in the grind of passing the most brutal exam in the civil engineering world — the SE Exam. The catch? The exam has now gone from pencil-and-paper to computer...

Picture this — you spend months working on the design and construction of a project, and next thing you know, another engineer is on the news poking holes in it for everybody to see. How'd you feel? 🤔 In this episode, we dive into a situation like this that happened in real life in a state highway project. What started as a difference in technical opinion only became a full-blown ethics inves...

Ever imagined passing the FE on the first try 7 years after school, doing the same with the PE just 2 years later…and all of this without having started out in engineering in the first place?! That’s exactly what today’s guest did! 😮 Sierra Patrick was on a pre-med track before realizing engineering suited her better. Two years ago, she joined our Civil FE Review Course to finally tackle the FE e...

Here’s a fact in the professional civil engineering exams world — most test-takers don’t fail because they're not smart enough. They fail because they study for their exams the wrong way! Over our 10+ years helping 1,000+ civil engineers crush their FE and PE exams (some after multiple failed attempts!), we’ve spotted 4 BIG exam prep mistakes most of them make…and it kills their chances of pas...

What does it take to become a successful woman civil engineer? 🤔 For multi-award winning Structural Engineer Najwa Jawahar, it all comes down to the “civil engineer” part only. Najwa is a Chartered Structural Engineer in the UK with nearly 13 years of experience. She’s worked on multiple types of projects and become one of the top voices and role models in Structural Engineering for women who wan...

Ever looked around at your career and thought, “ How the heck did I end up here? ” Yeah — and you’re not alone. But that’s because your career was happening to you…instead of you making it happen.  In this episode, we chat with Bryce Batts, a recruiter specialized in the AEC industry who’s helped over 800 professionals land jobs that actually fit their life and align with their values.  After year...

If you’re in your 30s or more and think it’s “too late” to become PE, I’d like you to meet Jimmy Draughty. He passed the most brutal PE exam on the first try…and he did it at 58 years old! 😮 Since graduating, Jimmy’s worked on massive projects around the world, collected as many licenses as you can think of, and even worked for himself for about 10 years. At 58, that’d be enough, right? Wrong! Ev...

We’ve interviewed engineers in many different fields that don’t even come to mind for those in civil engineering, and here’s a brand-new one you’ve never heard of — spill prevention plan! Our guest today is Travis Keener, aka the Spill Plan Man. He’s a licensed PE in 42 states who’s built his entire career around what’s called Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans. Today, he r...

If you’re in the floodplain management arena and want to build a successful career in it, then this episode with Scott Pelath, CFM, is a must-listen! Here’s why. 👇 Scott started his career dealing with public affairs related to Water Resources. Then, he transitioned into one of the highest positions in floodplain management in his area — the Executive Director of the Kankakee River Basin and Yell...

Outdated education with low pay, but worn out infrastructure and sustainability needs? 🤔 These are the two sides of civil engineering today — and nobody has lived and breathed the field as much as Dennis D. Truax to know the right way to look at it. 👇 Dennis is a civil engineer who has spent decades shaping the profession in leadership positions. From leading Mississippi State University’s civil...

Most people kick the PE exam down the road when life gets busy, but Mudasir Gulzar?! He did the opposite! He pulled his exam date forward, leaving him with only one month left to study with…wait for it…a baby on the way! 😮 Crazy? Maybe. But it worked!  In this episode, he dives into his “rushed” journey to pass the tough, code-heavy Geotechnical PE Exam…while sharing the hard-earned lessons he le...

After passing the FE after 5 tries, Ryan Turley circled back to CEA for the PE exam…and knocked that one out too! 🥊 In this episode, Ryan shares his tips and experience to pull this off. 👇 If you’re taking the FE or have just got it done, he shares what happens in between the two exams. He organized himself to start studying for the PE. Why (and how) he chose the Water Resources PE over Transpor...

We know. Failing the PE Exam stings. 😬 Especially after hours of studying and no-fun weekends. When this happened, you wanted to jump ship and switch to another discipline, right? 🤔 That’s everybody’s knee-jerk reaction, but here’s the kicker — that move might actually set you back instead of moving you forward! 😨 In this episode, I dive into my hot take on one of the most common questions we g...

Here’s one of the biggest decisions in a civil engineer’s career — do you keep the hard hat on and stay technical…or swap it for a suit jacket and go full-on manager? 💼👷‍♂️ In this episode, we’re diving deep into the details of the “Engineer vs. Manager” post we did on LinkedIn that racked up almost half a million views and hundreds of shares. 😲 The main point of the post? Most engineers think...

No engineering project is a success without one crucial aspect. What is it? 🤔 According to our guest, a powerful leadership tool most people neglect. 👇 Today, we chat with W. Jeff Williams, a civil engineer turned mayor of Arlington, Texas. If you think of some of the biggest projects in the state, he’s the guy behind them. Either working on them as a civil engineer or bringing them to the state...

Double-digit, billion-dollar investments into infrastructure projects going down the drain with them? 😨 In this episode, Mark Oakeson joins us again to dive into the wave of mega infrastructure projects built by China across the globe that are already cracking, leaking, and flat-out shutting down.  These are massive, government-funded projects that were supposed to last 50+ years…but instead, the...