I have a BS in Mathematics and a Physics Minor, and I’m currently working on an MA in Math at my alma mater. I’ve decided that I want to become a fire protection engineer. Before college, I worked as a licensed and NICET-certified fire alarm technician (inspector) for a couple of years. I’ll finish the MA Math August 2016 and plan to start the MS in Fire Protection Engineering at Cal Poly University immediately after.
I want to begin studying for the FE exam. I have not taken any engineering courses, only math and physics. Among others, I’ve taken:
Mechanics, Thermal Physics, Modern Optics, Modern Physics
Cal I-III, Advanced Linear Algebra, Vector Analysis, Differential Equations, Statistics, Probability, Complex Analysis, etc.
My questions are: what are some good FE preparatory exam books and what in particular should I do to prepare given that my background is not in engineering? Thanks!
Let me provide some more information. I’ll take the “Other Disciplines” exam. If it’s not a silly question, is there a sensible order in which I should study these topics? For example, I should study statics before dynamics and fluid mechanics.
http://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/FE-Other-CBT-specs_with-ranges.pdf
You will probably find some topics similar to what you know from physics, but others are new to you. You may want to start by estimating how much self study you need on each topic. If you can fit in an applicable elective course to cover any new to you topics, so much the better.
I might be able to take this graduate-level selected topics “Advanced Fluid Mechanics” course offered by the Mechanical Engineering Technology college. I’m about to email the professor. I assume that it won’t be as rigorous as a standard mechanical engineering graduate fluid mechanics course, but because I’ve never taken a fluid mechanics course, it would be a huge benefit for me.