FE Exam Categories and Handbook to Change, Starting July 2020





Intro

NCEES, the entity in charge of handling licensure for engineers in the US, has recently announced that it is updating the FE exam specifications, changing each exam's categories and the reference handbook for FE Exam test takers starting July 2020.

In other words, the questions seen by July 2020 and after test takers will be different than the questions seen by June 30, 2020 and prior test takers.





This blog post focuses on changes for the Civil, Mechanical, Other Disciplines, Environmental, and Electrical and Computer FE exams. The July 2020 and after FE exam adds and removes a lot of content asked by the prior exam, so it’s to your advantage to not waste time studying for topics that aren't applicable to you. Because these changes were just announced, you will find that a lot of the textbook FE prep material includes topics that might not be in the new exams as some of the textbooks are now outdated. Log in into your NCEES account to download the free pdf version of the latest FE Reference Handbook. You will be using this pdf during the actual FE exam.

While specific topics may have been removed from listing in the most recent FE Exam Specifications, they may still be topics that are covered in other, broader categories. In particular, if a topic is still present in the FE Reference Handbook, be ready for it to show up on the FE exam. Be sure to keep this mind while reviewing these changes from July, 2020.

Skip to Civil changes

Skip to Mechanical changes

Skip to Other Disciplines changes

Skip to Environmental changes

Skip to Electrical and Computer changes

To those of you using PrepFE to prepare for your FE exam: we've updated our site and iOS apps so that you may prepare for the appropriate version of the exam you are taking. You can change this at any time in your Settings.



View of the PrepFE dashboard. Your answer to this question determines which types of questions are shown to you.





Civil Engineering FE - Changes Starting July 2020

Computational Tools



Removed topics about computational tools. Entire section removed.

Geotechnical Engineering

Removed topics about drainage systems, flow nets, and geology

Construction Engineering



Added topics about interpretation of engineering drawings

Removed topics about construction safety

Surveying



Removed topics about closure

Dynamics



Removed topics about impulse momentum

Math

Removed topics about root of equations

Combined math and statistics into one section

Statistics

Section combined with the math section

Statistics content remains unchanged

Mechanics of materials



Removed topics about composite sections

Topics about column analysis were moved to the structural engineering section

Environmental Engineering

Section is now part of the water resources and environmental engineering section

Hydraulics and Hydrologic Systems



Section is now part of the water resources and environmental engineering section

Content remains unchanged

Structural Analysis

Section is now part of the structural engineering section

Content remains unchanged

Structural Design

Section is now part of the structural engineering section

Content remains unchanged

Ethics



Content remains unchanged

Engineering Economics



Content remains unchanged

Statics



Content remains unchanged

Materials



Content remains unchanged

Fluid Mechanics

Content remains unchanged

Transportation Engineering

Content remains unchanged





You can find all the question types for all the FE Civil Engineering categories in much more detail here.









Mechanical Engineering FE - Changes Starting July 2020

Math

Math content remains unchanged

Math section combined with the computational tools section

Added topics about pseudocode

Removed topics about spreadsheets

Probability and Statistics

Added topics about mean, mode, standard deviation, and confidence intervals

Added topics about weighted average in decision making

Ethics and Professional Practice

Removed topics about agreements and contracts

Added topics about intellectual property

Mechanics of Materials



Added topics about stress and strain caused by temperature changes

Added topics about statically indeterminate systems

Material Properties and Processing

Removed topics about surface conditions

Added topics about creep failure

Thermodynamics

Removed topics about thermal efficiency and enhancements

Removed topics about coefficients of performance

Heat Transfer



Removed topics about thermal resistance

Removed topics about boiling and condensation

Measurements, Instrumentation, and Controls

Added topics about transducers

Mechanical Design and Analysis

Added topics about engineering drawing interpretations and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)

Engineering Economics

Content remains unchanged

Electricity and Magnetism

Content remains unchanged

Statics

Content remains unchanged

Dynamics, Kinematics, and Vibrations



Content remains unchanged

Fluid Mechanics

Content remains unchanged





You can find all the question types for all the FE Mechanical Engineering categories in much more detail here.









Other Disciplines FE - Changes Starting July 2020

Probability and Statistics

Added topics about expected error in decision making

Removed topics about mean, mode, variance, and standard deviation

Removed topics about probability distributions (discrete, continuous, normal, binomial)

Chemistry

Removed topics about the periodic table (nomenclature, metals, nonmetals, atomic structure)

Removed topics about gas laws (Boyle's and Charles' Laws)

Engineering Ethics and Societal Impacts

Removed topics about NCEES Model Law and Model Rules

Added topics about societal impacts

Safety, Health, and Environment

Added topics about confined space entry and ventilation rates

Added topics about hazard communications

Statics

Added topics about free body diagrams

Added topics about weight and mass computations (lb, kg, slug, etc)

Strength of Materials

Added topics about loads and deformations (axial-extension, torque-angle of twist, moment-rotation)

Added topics about principal stresses (Mohr's circle, max normal stress, Tresca, von Mises)

Electricity, Power, and Magnetism (now called Basic Electrical Engineering)

Removed topics about three-phase power (motor efficiency, balanced loads, power equation)

Heat, Mass, and Energy Transfer (now called Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer)

Removed topics about mixtures of nonreactive gases

Removed topics about phase equilibrium and phase change

Materials

Added topics about material selection

Fluid Mechanics and Dynamic of Gases

Content remains unchanged

Section is now part of the fluid mechanics section

Fluid Mechanics and Dynamic of Liquids



Content remains unchanged

Section is now part of the fluid mechanics section

Engineering Economics

Content remains unchanged

Math

Content remains unchanged

Instrumentation and Controls

Content remains unchanged





You can find all the question types for all the FE Other Disciplines categories in much more detail here.









Electrical & Computer Engineering FE - Changes Starting July 2020

Mathematics

Added topics about ordinary differential equations

Probability and Statistics

Removed topics about estimation for a single mean (e.g., point, confidence intervals, conditional probability)

Engineering Ethics and Professional Practice

Added topics about safety (e.g., grounding, material safety data, PPE, radiation protection)

Properties of Electrical Materials

Removed topics about mechanical (e.g., piezoelectric, strength) and chemical (e.g., corrosion, ions, diffusion)

Added topics about semiconductor materials (e.g., tunneling, diffusion/drift current, energy bands, doping bands, p-n theory)

Engineering Sciences

Entire section and its topics were removed

Linear Systems

Removed topics about 2-port theory

Signal Processing

Removed topics about convolution (continuous and discrete), difference equations, and Z-transforms

Electronics

Removed topics about solid-state fundamentals (e.g., tunneling, diffusion/drift current, energy bands, doping bands, p-n theory)

Electromagnetics

Removed topics about electromagnetic compatibility

Control Systems

Removed topics about root locus and state variables

Computer Networds

Added topics about network intrusion detection and prevention (e.g., firewalls, endpoint detection, network detection)

Digital Systems

Removed topics about data path/controller design

Computer Systems

Removed topics about architecture (e.g., pipelining, cache memory)

Software Development

Removed topics about software design methods (structured, object-oriented) and software testing



Engineering Economics

Content remains unchanged

Circuit Analysis (DC and AC Steady State)

Content remains unchanged

Power Systems

Content remains unchanged

Communications

Content remains unchanged





You can find all the question types for all the FE Electrical & Computer Engineering categories in much more detail here.











Environmental Engineering FE - Changes Starting July 2020

Mathematics

Added topics about trigonometry and algebraic equations

Removed topics about root of equations

Probability and Statistics

Removed topics about expected value (weighted average) in decision making

Engineering Ethics and Professional Practice

Added topics about public health, safety, and welfare (e.g., public protection issues, licensing boards, professional liability)

Added topics about compliance with codes, standards, and regulations (e.g., CWA, CAA, RCRA, CERCLA, SDWA, NEPA, OSHA)

Removed topics about agreements and contracts

Fundamental Principles

Brand new section

Added topics about reactors

Environmental Chemistry

Removed topics about ecology (e.g., Streeter-Phelps, fluviology, limnology, eutrophication)

Health Hazards and Risk Assessment

Added topics about occupational health (e.g., PPE, noise pollution, safety screening)

Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics

Added topics about fluid dynamics

Added topics about steady and unsteady flow

Thermodynamics

Removed topics about hear transfer and mixture of non reacting gases

Water Resources

Section removed and its content was instead moved to other sections. Content remains unchanged.

Water and Waste Water

Added topics about water conservation and reuse

Air Quality and Control

Added topics about ambient and indoor air quality (e.g., criteria, toxic and hazardous air pollutants)

Added topics about indoor air quality modeling and controls (e.g., air exchanges, steady-and nonsteady-state reactor model)

Removed topics about chemical principles (e.g., ideal gas, mole fractions, stoichiometry, Henry’s law)

Solid and Hazardous Waste

Added topics about energy balances

Added topics about solid waste management (e.g., collection, transportation, storage, composting, recycling, waste to energy)

Groundwater and Soils

Content remains unchanged

Energy and the Environment

New section

Added topics about energy sources concepts (e.g., conventional and alternative)

Added topics about environmental impact of energy sources and production (e.g., greenhouse





You can find all the question types for all the FE Environmental Engineering categories in much more detail here.





