Dr. Z’s Corner

Dr. Z

Ahmet Zeytinci, P.E., Ph.D., Fellow-NSPE, Fellow-ASCE is an award-winning professor, structural engineer, author and mentor living in Washington, D.C. Since joining academia, "Dr. Z", as he is known by his students and colleagues, has distinguished himself on campus and beyond. He is passionate about engineering, gifted in teaching, and is a true champion for professional licensure. Dr. Z. has extraordinarily high standards; has produced award-winning designs; is prolific in professional service; and infects others with these same values. He is the recipient of numerous local, regional and national awards, including recent national awards from the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Since 2014, he has been regularly writing monthly articles for “Dr.Z’s Corner “ and offering hundreds of engineering problems, for free, every month for students, engineers and engineering educators worldwide. Dr. Z. also offers pro-bono Saturday classes for students and engineers; his free classes are open to all in the greater Washington metro area and cost nothing, nada, zilch! Starbucks coffee is always a must have for Dr. Z.

ASCE-2016 Centennial Celebration:
Dr. Z’s Corner & Exciting New Features

By Ahmet Zeytinci, P.E., F-NSPE

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Problems

Our readers may know by now the “Outstanding Website Award” winner, the NCS is celebrating its 100th year in 2016. Accordingly, all activities, including our column, will have a centennial focus this year. You may have already noticed the new look and user-friendly functionality of the new Dr. Z’s Corner. This major overhaul was the result of a great teamwork of many individuals at the NCS, the Board members, Scott, Chris, Ranjit, Rachel, L.J., and my good friend Prof. Dr. Vagelis Plevris from Greece. I would like to thank each of you for your dedication to the profession and commitment to engineering students and practicing engineers not only in the Washington metro area but also in the nation and around the globe.

Now with the new features of Dr. Z’s Corner, our readers will have easy access to all timeless articles, past issues, hundreds of original problems, solutions, tips, and applications with a click of a mouse. Once www.asce-ncs.org is entered, the readers will see the NCS’s beautiful centennial logo on the top left of the menu bar and “Special Features” on the right. As soon the cursor is placed on the “Special Features,” Dr. Z’s Corner will welcome them in no time with its debut issue published in June 2014.

This holiday season, as we reflect on 2015, I would also like to congratulate the students from all engineering schools in the metro area. This includes UDC, Howard, UM-College Park, George Mason, Catholic, Morgan State, Virginia Tech, and Villanova, who read our column, downloaded hundreds of problems from this site for free, tirelessly attended our pro-bono Saturday classes and finally “conquered” the FE and PE exams. We have to add; some of our readers were not as fortunate and could not make it on their first attempts. Still, they have graciously sent us thank-you notes as well. I will never forget the note that I received from an engineering student from CUA who not only diligently attended to our Saturday classes, but also brought several students with her from her school week after week. She wrote:

Dear Dr. Z,

I hope all is well with you. With finals approaching and the semester almost over, I won’t be able to stop by your Saturday classes before the year ends. Although I did not receive your email, my friend told me that you have sent us an email asking about the FE exam results. Unfortunately, I was not able to pass the FE exam… I apologize Dr. Z., for letting you down! I know that you had faith that I will pass…. However, my goal is still to pass the exam before I graduate this coming May, so I’m planning on retaking the exam probably on February. I will be working on the problems on Dr. Z’s Corner during the holiday break. Despite failing, I would want to thank you for all your help in our preparation for the exam. I also look forward in going to your Saturday Classes, if you still have them early next year. Sincerely

I want this outstanding engineering student to know that she did not let Dr. Z. down at all. Just the contrary, considering her full-time work to support herself and pay her bills, her course work to finish and the finals, she did remarkably well on her first try. I am confident; we will support her and she will pass her exam in February. Our promise has always been “we’ll never rest our case, until all our students who read Dr.Z’s Corner and attend our pro-bono Saturday sessions conquer their FE & PE exams.” For this month’s problems click here.

Finally, I want to wish each of you a joyous holiday season with peace & cheer in the New Year!

Until next time,

Ahmet Zeytinci, P.E., (Dr. Z.)
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