Much of the MeyerFire.com concept started as a simple website around P.E. Exam preparation – that is – helpful articles, resources, and a book to help us all pass the Fire Protection Principles & Practice of Engineering Exam (P.E. Exam). We still support that effort today, now about nine years later. We have a book (the PE Prep Guide, now in it’s 8th Edition) and the PE Prep Series (20 weeks of online practice questions). I’m very excited to announce today that we’re upgrading that experience in a very big way in incorporating and upgrading our PE Prep Series into a complete exam prep experience inside MeyerFire University. WHY ADD PE PREP TO MEYERFIRE UNIVERSITY? Everything for the PE Prep space has simply been listening to you. I personally was very frustrated with the lack of quantity of materials when I took the Fire Protection P.E. Exam in 2014, and the following year sold maybe a dozen copies of a formula sheet I put together to help organize and clarify different formulas. Well, in listening to those who used it – the next year we added 100 questions and wrapped the formulas into the first edition of the PE Prep Guide (2016). That book was rough! Very rough. We had something like 20 to 30 different errata updates all based on questions and feedback about the book. But – we listened, improved, and with a lot of community help – the book improved. In 2017 there were still many updates that needed to be made. Every mistake was like a little knife jab in my side – I felt every one. But I listened, re-wrote, published the errata and updated the book each year. The PE Prep Guide has turned into the #1 selling book in the Fire Protection PE Prep space. You might recognize it on the shelf of someone who’s taken the exam in the last few years. It’s helped many people pass the exam. We did the same with the PE Prep Series. It came about in 2018 when feedback kept coming back about more practice – more questions – more immediate feedback. That, and, we wanted a fun way to know where we stand as things progressed. That’s where the PE Prep Series came from. And now? REAL-TIME ANALYTICS, GUIDED STUDY, BETTER PRACTICE Again, based on your feedback – we’ve sought ways to give you real-time analytics across the different subject matter. We’ve sought ways to help guide your study to be more productive and see more immediate improvement in weaker areas. We’ve sought ways to help you build towards the PE Exam at any time, rather than a couple months out of the year. Why couldn’t an EIT be working towards the PE all the time? Over the course of a few years without a major time burden, but rather be learning, growing, and increasing understanding all the time? What if someone coming out of school could immediately see a path to the PE? And, at any time, know where they stand and the likelihood of them passing the exam today? That’s the line of logic where we ventured – and the answer is that we have that data. We now know what the odds of passing look like based on how you prepare and grow. And we can give that right back to you with each step along the way. That’s where I’m excited to announce that we’ll have an entire PE Prep Series (learning content, practice questions, guided self-study, worked solutions, live analytics, leaderboards, and exams) right inside MeyerFire University – at no extra cost. In the next few months be on the lookout for course material specific to the Fire Protection PE Exam with MeyerFire University. Our current timetable is to have all of our added content on MeyerFire University by the end of September 2024; plenty of time to learn and grow for the April 2025 Exam. BUT JOE - I’M NOT INTERESTED IN THE PE? Maybe the P.E. Exam, specifically, is not of interest to you. That’s OK! The hope of having the prep material available (again, at no additional cost) and living inside of MeyerFire University is that you can access it. You can test yourself against FPE’s and FPE candidates. You can learn as much as you want in that space. The exam? It’s a credential. A big one – but it’s just that – a credential. If you want the knowledge, the understanding, the personal growth? Well – that’s our whole goal of MeyerFire University to begin with. Unlimited learning. If you’re in the back corner of the office and aren’t exactly getting the opportunities to grow or train or be mentored – well, we’re calling your name! We want you here; learn what you want to learn, when you want to learn it. Challenge and invest in yourself. That’s entirely the point of creating the platform to begin with. I am beyond excited about creating a resource like this – it’s exactly what I would have wanted to prepare for the exam. To challenge myself, know my standing (immediately), see a path to pass, and have a little fun with it along the way. WHAT ABOUT NICET? What about NICET? We love NICET; and we hear you when you’re asking for more and more in that space. We’re listening, and we’re working towards it all the time. There’s not a timetable that we’re ready to announce just yet, but do know that if it’s what you want to see, then it’s what we want to create. A BIG THANK YOU A big thank you, as always, for the ideas, tips, constructive feedback, and community support. This entire platform wouldn’t exist without you and the passion that we collectively have for the fire protection industry. We’re excited to push the envelope and help us all do great work in fire safety in the world. Thanks! - Joe Conventional training tends to be boring. I don't know that this is really news to anyone. I know it to be true because if you tell a stranger on an airplane that you're in training, their eyes start to glaze over before they go to use the restroom and never return. I won't say whether or not this has happened to me. Well, the learning, skill, and real knowledge part of what training should be is extremely important. With our shortage of skilled professionals and the ever-increasing demand for better fire protection, we need it now more than ever. What doesn't fail to keep our attention? Video games. It's engagement. Interest. Interactivity. That's the inspiration behind what we've put over 1,200 hours and counting into our latest 360-degree simulated environments. It's learning by engaging; yet accessed anywhere at any time. New Fire Pump Room Simulator on MeyerFire University On this coming Monday at the NFPA Expo in Orlando, we're debuting our latest 360-degree simulation that'll also run live on MeyerFire University. It's an immersive virtual fire pump room where you can control valves, see the supervision, see voltage and amperage loads, flow hoses through the test header, check fire alarm supervision, and even test yourself in three different challenges inside the environment. We're excited, and this is just the beginning of what's to come in the learning space. What's the #1 best way to learn? Go out in the real world with a skilled mentor, walk the jobsites, see the tests, and get firsthand experience. What's the second-best way to learn? Spend that same time and go to ten or twenty different virtual job sites and challenge yourself in ways that are impractical or impossible in the real world. We want uninhibited, engaging learning - because that's the only way for the information to 'stick' and transition from 'hearing' to 'knowing.' New Fire Pump Room Simulator on MeyerFire University NFPA EXPO
If you're in Orlando next week for the NFPA Expo, check it out and play it with us at Booth #404. I can't wait for many of you to see it in person. If you're not attending and are already at MeyerFire University, look for your update email Monday morning with links to the new simulation. Then, let us know what you think right on the 'Discuss' page for the simulation. We can't wait to hear your thoughts. MEYERFIRE OPPORTUNITIES Related to this, now's probably a great time to iterate that we have multiple ways for you to get more involved in what we do in the learning space - writing, editing, teaching, modeling - by joining us in paid roles. Are you all about impacting the industry? Are you a detail-oriented person? Are you the creative type? Good at mentoring? Like creating games? Like to write fiction on the side of reviewing suppression or alarm systems? Great at modeling (... the fire systems stuff)? Great at writing? If any of those strike a chord, you might be a great candidate to help us out in part-time roles. Learn more about what we have open today at www.meyerfire.com/openings. Thanks, as always, for your interest in bettering the industry and for being part of the community you've helped build here. Have a great rest of your week. - Joe First - thank you to all the feedback, comments, and emails that made this possible. This community of professionals looking to help improve the industry is second to none. I very much appreciate the time and input in building this together. A BASIC, OPEN-SPECIFICATION CONCEPT One of the frustrating aspects of bidding a fire sprinkler job in North America is when you're reviewing a job and the specifications that accompany it are simply terrible - boilerplate, don't actually provide any useful information, are conflicting, include irrelevant content, or clearly haven't been updated in decades (list no longer manufactured products). One of the ideas we kicked around and now delivered is essentially an "open source" specification. One that we build and curate together and post for open use. We explicitly do not intend for this specification to replace consultant's specs who already update and care for the industry. The beauty of consulting is providing unique value to your clients - this is absolutely not intended to be the only specification available. Rather, we would hope that it could help provide a baseline open-source template where specifications could at least be of this quality level. OUR GOAL From our collaborations, posts and discussions thus far, we're all really wanting something that is:
There are other goals too, but those seem to be the reoccurring themes. THE DOCUMENT I have highlighted GREEN and BLUE areas where a specific selection needs to be made (one or the other). I have highlighted YELLOW additional alternatives which may be less common than a typical, mid-size commercial job. All portions of this specification would be editable, though the highlighted areas would be of particular concern to change and update job-to-job. DISCLAIMER A very important note here, as is with all tools and resources for the fire protection space. Any information presented should not be relied upon as a replacement for sound engineering judgment. Use only at your own discretion. While we build these to help improve aspects of the industry, we are not and cannot be assume responsibility for use of the specification. For more on our Terms of Service, please visit: https://www.meyerfire.com/terms
Another big thanks to everyone who helped make this happen. If you're looking for a baseline set of specifications for comparison, for a basic project, or for a consultant who asks - we now have something to share. Towards a better industry - thanks! - Joe |
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+ Unsubscribe anytime AUTHORJoe Meyer, PE, is a Fire Protection Engineer out of St. Louis, Missouri who writes & develops resources for Fire Protection Professionals. See bio here: About FILTERS
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January 2025
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