PE Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
The NCEES Principles and Practice of Engineering examination in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering licenses engineers who select, process and qualify engineering materials. It is a closed-book computer-based test taken with an electronic reference handbook, and the specification organises the paper around material structure, in-service performance, processing routes, and the characterisation and property measurement that connects the three. Performance and processing carry the largest share between them, which reflects the working reality that most professional judgement concerns how a material will behave in service and how it is made rather than crystallography in isolation. Questions require calculation, phase diagram interpretation and failure reasoning.
This exam is for metallurgical, materials and process engineers holding an EIT or EI certification who work in primary metal production, heat treatment, foundry and forming operations, failure analysis, or materials qualification for regulated industries, and who need a professional licence to seal that work.
Study directly from the PE Metallurgical and Materials Reference Handbook, because the phase diagrams and property tables it contains are the exact ones available during the exam and locating them quickly is part of the test. Weight the plan towards performance and processing, which together make up the majority of the paper, but do not neglect characterisation, since those questions are often the most tractable marks available. Work failure-analysis problems from the evidence backwards, which is the reasoning pattern the exam rewards, and practise reading phase diagrams under time pressure rather than deriving them.
NCEES allocates 11 to 17 questions to Structure, about 16 percent of the paper, making this one of the blocks that decides the result. The published knowledge areas include Structures of metals, ceramics, and polymers, Diffusion and phase transformations, Fractography, Materials chemistry. Work these directly from the reference handbook supplied in the exam, because the tables and figures on screen are the ones you must be able to find quickly under time pressure.
NCEES allocates 23 to 35 questions to Performance, about 33 percent of the paper, making this one of the blocks that decides the result. The published knowledge areas include Environmental performance of meta ls, Environmental performance, w eathering, and aging of nonmeta, Mechanical performance, Thermal performance. Work these directly from the reference handbook supplied in the exam, because the tables and figures on screen are the ones you must be able to find quickly under time pressure.
NCEES allocates 19 to 29 questions to Processing, about 27 percent of the paper, making this one of the blocks that decides the result. The published knowledge areas include Deformation processing, Casting and molding, Coating applications, Cold work, stress relief, and annealing. Work these directly from the reference handbook supplied in the exam, because the tables and figures on screen are the ones you must be able to find quickly under time pressure.
NCEES allocates 17 to 26 questions to Characterization and Properties, about 24 percent of the paper, making this one of the blocks that decides the result. The published knowledge areas include Structural analysis techniques, Chemical analysis techniques, Polymer characterization techniques, Corrosion testing. Work these directly from the reference handbook supplied in the exam, because the tables and figures on screen are the ones you must be able to find quickly under time pressure.
Expect a closed-book appointment with the electronic handbook on screen and the identification requirements set out in the NCEES Examinee Guide. Plan the scheduled break in advance so it does not eat into working time.
No. Every NCEES computer-based exam is closed book. An electronic reference handbook is supplied on screen at the test centre, and it is the only reference you may use, which is why candidates are advised to study from that handbook rather than from a textbook.
NCEES publishes a range of questions per domain rather than a percentage. The percentages shown here are the midpoints of those published ranges, normalised across the domains so they total one hundred percent. The published question range is shown alongside each domain so you can see the original figure NCEES actually states.
NCEES makes the current reference handbook available to download from your MyNCEES account, and a printed edition of some handbooks is sold separately. The handbook is licensed for your personal use and may not be redistributed, so obtain it from NCEES directly rather than from a third party.
The NCEES Examinee Guide sets out the identification, arrival and test centre rules that apply to every NCEES exam, including what you may bring and what happens if a test centre closes. Read the current edition before your appointment, because the requirements are enforced strictly.
Verified 2026-09-05