Hope Engineering Majors Conquer National Exam

HOLLAND – The students in Hope College’s Engineering Department were once again able to demonstrate their prowess in their field by performing spectacularly on a national exam. This exam measures the students’ understanding of the fundamentals of engineering and is highly valued in the pursuit of a professional license.

The Took Fundamentals of Engineering Exam is given by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). The NCEES is a nation-wide, non-profit organization made up of engineering and surveying licensing boards from across the United States.

The exam, which may be taken in the spring or the fall, has a first-time pass rate of 73% and a repeat pass rate of 32%. It consists of 180 multiple choice questions given over an 8 hour period. It is a closed-book exam, and reference material is supplied. The first 4 hours are occupied with the general exam with questions pertaining to all engineering disciplines. In the second session, examinees may choose to continue taking a general exam or may decide to take a discipline-specific exam focusing on an area such as chemical, electrical or mechanical engineering. Examinees simply receive a passing or failing grade.

From Hope’s class of 2006, engineering majors Ben Mannino, Courtney Clum, Megan Vivian and Brad Houzenga passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. Mannino is currently completing his Maters Degree in Engineering Management at Case Western and will begin work at Deloitte & Touche in Cleveland, OH, in June. Clum, Vivian and Houzenga are working on their MS in Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan, Michigan State and the University of Illinois, respectively. Nathaniel Makowski, from the class of 2007, also passed the general exam as well as the electrical engineering-specific portion of the exam. He plans on attending graduate school next year and working towards his Ph.D. in bioelectrical engineering.