SE Exam October 2023 4

[SteamedHams]

Alright everyone, how was it?

I just took the bridge exams (vertical and lateral). Both morning sessions were absolute disasters. The afternoons were glorious though.

 

[BulbTheBuilder]

Thanks a lot, you all!! I'd have re-evaluate my reasons and how to navigate my career path. Thanks for sharing your two cents, @SE2607.

One thing I used enjoy was MATLAB programming, but I haven't been able to do any since I left school due to the license. It's not worth paying so much for it when I will barely use it for any of my work and I have heard of Octave after I lost touch with my programming skills. But it never later, I think I am going to channel my energy into programming (python, grasshopper-rhino, Revit-dynamo). I have watched a couple of videos on those, and it always make my eyes glow! It is certainly something that I find pure joy in and makes me happy.

 

[SE2607]

Bulb - feeding your passion certainly has value.

 

[Eng16080]

Bulb - I was recently contemplating taking the SE, but due to the cost of the test, cost of prep courses for the test, and the recent change to a computer based test (now 4 separate sessions, I believe), I decided to hold off for the time being. The state I live in plus the nearest 3 surrounding states don't require the SE, so I would be taking the test primarily to learn areas of the profession where I might be lacking.

I currently spend a fair amount of time writing software for structural engineering. There are few better ways to gain an in-depth understanding of a particular topic than writing software for it. Beyond that, there's the additional benefit of slowly building a set of tools to use in your day to day design work. Writing software can be overwhelming at times, but it's pretty cool when you finally get something to work, especially when you know it just saved you half a days worth of work.

If you're just getting your feet wet with this, python is a great language to learn on. Try to start with something simple which also has a practical application for you. Try to avoid the tendency to make it do too much and thus become too complicated. Finally, before using any software that you write for critical design tasks, be sure to test it a lot! I simply don't trust any lines of code that I write which are not thoroughly tested. Best of luck if you decide to venture down this path!

 

[BulbTheBuilder]

@Eng16080 (Structural), can you share some resources on programming for beginners? Preferably on python. That will be of great help!

 

[Eng16080]

Bulb - To be honest, I don't know the best current resources for learning python as a beginner. I got into python a little over 15 years ago, and I don't remember exactly how I got started aside from there being a lot of good online resources. Also, I haven't used python very much recently, rather C++. I did find this book on my bookshelf which I recall using some:

Probably most books or online tutorials that you come across will be adequate, so I wouldn't be too concerned with trying to find the perfect one. It's more important to jump in and start doing stuff.

Maybe I'd start here:

https://www.python.org/about/gettingstarted/

Also,

https://stackoverflow.com/

is a great programming resource. It's like the eng-tips of programming. In general, the internet is probably your best resource. I don't think there exists another field with more high quality information found online. I know trying to google certain structural engineering problems can often lead to questionable results. This is less the case with programming. I suppose this makes sense given that the system is founded on programming.

For mathematical and scientific applications, the "numpy" library is great. If you're interested in getting into desktop development (windows user interface design), I'm a fan of "wxPython."

Really, the sky is the limit with this type of stuff. With enough effort, it seems like almost anything is possible.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling. I think there are probably people on here more knowledgeable than myself with python, so it might be useful to create a new thread concerning "Python for Structural Engineering" or something like that. I bet you'll get some good responses. Also, I noticed on the reddit structural engineering subreddit that somebody has been posting about teaching python for structural engineering, so you might want to check that out too. Hope that helps!

 

[BulbTheBuilder]

Thank you so much. I will check them out

 

[dauwerda]

As far as I know, the SE test itself is pretty much recognized everywhere. Some states will not recognize it to use to get licensed as a PE - you must take a PE test, while others will recognize it (this is really only an issue if it is the only test you have taken and that state doesn't license SE's). In all the states that I have looked into getting the SE designation, they all use the same NCEES test, some might have other specific requirements - like California discussed above, and I think Washington or Oregon had something about engineering on buildings over 100ft tall or something like that, but they all would recognize the NCEES test no matter what state it was initially taken in.

While I don't believe that everyone should be rushing out to take it, if it is something that you want to do I would definitely recommend it, I certainly don't have regrets for doing so.

I do believe it is a smart thing to do, especially if you are near the beginning of your career, while not many states require it now, it has certainly been trending that direction in recent years (Oklahoma and Georgia being examples of this). Having the SE definitely makes you much more marketable as well (may or may not matter), I can tell you from first hand experience, there is a huge demand for licensed SE's by consulting firms that do work all across the country. If you do have your SE, I feel like you could go get a job anywhere in the US that you may want (though this might be true for PE's too).