Achieving the Extraordinary for Ten Years

A Passion to Help People Pass the PE Exam

Dr. Tom’s Classroom began its quest to help engineers pass the PE Exam in 2009 when Dr. Thomas H. Brown, PE (a man with an exciting vision of teaching an online Mechanical PE Exam review) met a team (Jimm Barnes, Kim DeCoste and Neil Howell) who had a great way to get courses online. From the very beginning, we were guided by Dr. Tom’s passion for helping people pass the PE Exam. We understand the life-altering effect that becoming a PE can have for our participants, and we are committed to doing our very best to help them achieve that goal.

“Dr. Tom was instrumental in my preparation for the PE. When I began working toward engineering licensure I had been out of school for some time and had not yet taken the FE. Dr. Tom always had time to help and was truly invested in my success. I cannot thank him enough for the time and attention he gave me during my preparation for the exam.” 
– Matt Murray, PE, Advanced Energy, Raleigh, NC (2013)

Improving Our Courses with the Dr. Tom Method

The first year or two, we only had a handful of participants in our courses, but they liked our courses and gave us invaluable feedback that helped us refine and improve the courses and develop our tried and true “Dr. Tom Method.” We believe that it’s  not enough to just teach the engineering topics and problem solutions, so our method provides you with a plan and real strategies that you can apply throughout your review and on the exam. With the success of that method, the number of folks taking DTC courses grew each year until we were helping hundreds of mechanical engineers pass the PE Exam.

“Dr. Tom’s course had a solid plan and he was always available to answer questions. By the time exam day came around, I was very prepared and I took the exam using Dr. Tom’s strategy. I was able to finish with enough time to check my work, and I passed. I would recommend this course to any mechanical engineer who is serious about giving themselves the best chance possible to pass the P.E. exam.
– Brian, PE, Taylor Machine Works, Starkville, Mississippi (2015)

DTC Expands with Civil PE Exam Reviews

In 2016, we decided to expand our course offerings, applying the Dr. Tom Method to the Civil PE Exams. Creating the courses for all five Civil discipline was a huge undertaking, but we were fortunate to assemble an amazing team of instructors for the course (Dr. Daniel Findley, PE, Dr. Beth Sciaudone, PE, Mike Batten, PE, Jason Savage, PE, and Shannon Warchol, PE), each with expertise in their discipline and the same passion for teaching as Dr. Tom. Since the launch of our Civil PE Exam reviews in 2017, we have helped hundreds of civil engineers pass the PE Exam.

“I participated in the 20-Week Review class for the Civil: Water Resources and Environmental exam. All of the hours put into studying and developing the materials following the Dr. Tom method paid off as I passed the Exam. Taking the 20 weeks to absorb the material and develop organized references I believe was also critical to my success. I will recommend anyone taking the test in the future to use the Dr. Tom courses, they were worth both my monetary and time investments.”

– Chris Bakey, PE, Cochranville, PA (2017)

DTC Meets the Challenge of CBT Exams

The latest challenge we’ve faced is the conversion of the PE Exams from the pencil-and-paper format to Computer-Based-Testing. This new format, which allows no outside references during the exam, presents a whole new exam experience with new challenges. With the Mechanical PE Exams converting in 2020, we have created all new courses with an all new Dr. Tom Method designed specifically for the CBT format exam. We’ll be doing the same when the Civil Exam converts in 2023.

“Change is indeed here, and the new format is going to present you with an exam experience that is more challenging and one for which carefully preparing and choosing your exam references will no longer give you an advantage. A new approach is needed, and that is exactly what my team and I have been developing for some time.”
– Dr. Tom
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It has been an extraordinary 10 years, and we are grateful to our participants for allowing us to be part of their journeys to achieve the extraordinary by becoming PEs. Their success is what keeps us going, and we truly appreciate the many kind words and thanks that we have received from our participants. When we were looking for a way to celebrate 10 years of Dr. Tom’s Classroom, we decided the best way would be to help more people achieve that goal by offering lower prices and longer access to our course.

It’s our way of saying thank you for choosing us to help you prepare for the exam!