A new study guide by a University of Missouri-Rolla associate professor may help engineering students earn their professional engineering license by reviewing the basics of industrial engineering, common mistakes, and sample problems found in the industrial engineering portion of the national Fundamentals of Engineering exam.

"Passing the FE exam is the first step in becoming a professional engineer," says Dr. Susan Murray, associate professor of engineering management at UMR. "The eight-hour test can be very daunting. This study guide will give students who didn’t take some of the courses covered on the exam or those that want to review them the chance to learn the material and get over their fear of the exam."

The FE exam consists two sessions, explains Murray. In the morning, everyone takes the same general exam. In the afternoon session, students choose from six discipline-specific engineering exam areas, including chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, industrial and mechanical.

Murray wrote the third edition of "Industrial Engineering: FE Exam Preparation" based on her classroom and real-world experiences. Published last month by Kaplan Education, it’s the only study guide written to specifically review and explain the 10 industrial engineering topics found in the afternoon portion of the exam. The study guide is available online from Kaplan’s website at www.KaplanAEC.com as well as from other online booksellers.