| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 5

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

Graham Wood Prize Winner 2009 - Mark Hamer
Awarded to Mark Hamer, age 29, of Skelmersdale, who submitted a design solution
of the highest standard, designed primarily in structural steelwork. Mark, a Technical
Director for Sanderson Watts Associates based in Wigan, has been involved in a wide
range of commercial and nuclear building projects with contract values ranging from
1/4M to 250M.
General reflections
The Institutions CM exam is one of the toughest exams I have undertaken. Clearly its designed
to test your ability as a structural designer which incorporates natural creativity, technical
competence, drawing ability and written communication skills, but most of all its a test of
your experience and your exam technique. I cannot stress enough the importance of good
preparation to develop a suitable exam technique which will give you the platform to demonstrate
your ability as an engineer and will ultimately be the key to your success.
Exam preparation
The following items made up the bulk of my preparation of the CM examination.
Attendance of an Institution CM examination preparation course
Collated personal structural design reference file
Reviewed exam guidance notes and personal reflections
Completed past papers under exam conditions (essential!) and discussed design
solutions with senior colleagues.
The key to passing the exam is the work you put in before the exam. I believe there is no
substitute for practising past papers when it comes to refining your exam technique. I completed
five past papers under exam conditions in the three months prior to the exam. Section 1 one
weekend, Section 2 the next, in between the football of course. These were the hard miles which
I believe were the key to my success.
I also collated a personal building design reference file containing all the material which I thought
would come in useful on the day. The reality is I only recall opening this file or any other reference
book a few times on the day, but in preparing this file it had served to refresh my mind on many
design procedures, typical details etc. The temptation is to simply copy other prep files entirely. I
would urge you collate your own, as this is a key part of your preparation.
Im convinced that if your preparation is good and complete, the exam day should take care of
itself. Remember - fail to prepare, prepare to fail!
The Exam
I believe that in completing Section 1 well, you are more than half way there. Make a mess of
it and there wont be the time to go back and correct your mistakes. Section 2 should then be
justification of the mornings work. So it is imperative that you read, pause and consider, before
selecting the question.
3 Golden Rules
Stick to the plan Develop a timetable which you are comfortable with. Remember, one mark every
four minutes, so dont get bogged down and stick to the timetable.
Provide two distinct schemes I defined distinct as being - different primary materials, geometry,
loadpaths, stability systems and substructure solutions.
Stability! Stability! Stability! - Providing a safe and economic design solution is the name of the game.
Provide stability statements accompanied by loading and force diagrams clearly highlighting how
both vertical and lateral stability is achieved for each distinct scheme.
Finally, I would to advise anyone sitting the exam not to stress too much. Youve got the right
experience (your portfolio proves that) and your preparation is complete. All you can do now is try
your best. And remember, we are structural engineers because we enjoy designing buildings, so
relax, take it easy, if possible enjoy the experience, and take from it as much as you can.
Good luck!

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 6

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

AE Wynn Prize Winner 2009 - William Wong
Awarded to William WONG Wan-Kei, age 28, of Hong Kong who submitted a solution
of the highest standard designed primarily in structural concrete. William, a structural
engineer for Arup, has been involved in a wide range of buildings projects, including the
Macau Venetian Parcel 5 and 6 Hotel Resort Development project in Macau.
The seven hour-long CM examination is definitely the toughest and longest exam I have ever
done. Doing a weeks work in a single day is really exhausting and stressful. The best thing
to do after walking out of the examination hall is to stop thinking about the exam and relax!
Unfortunately for me, I met three other colleagues and we started discussing the work we had
done. As we were talking, we all found that we had made mistakes and we started worrying that
we wouldnt pass the exam. Luckily we all satisfied the examiners and passed the exam at the
first attempt. I will be so glad to have my Easter holiday back next year!
I started my preparation work right after January and the first thing I did was to prepare my
folders. I managed to collect a reference file from my colleagues who had recently passed the
exam and I spent couple of weekends going through the notes, tidying them up, and figuring out
what sort of questions I might be asked in the exam. I would say being well prepared is a key to
pass this exam, and here are some of my tips for future candidates.
Reference folder
As many previous successors have said, most of the notes brought into the exam will not be
used (but rather they come to rescue when something you are not too familiar with comes up
in the question). So, to minimise the time looking through information in the big box folder, I
eventually prepared two folders: a small folder containing all the useful information/design charts/
key points/ letter templates/checklists which I knew I would definitely use in the exam; and a big
box folder with all the other notes/ work reference/ sketches etc.
Past paper, exam CD and report
I attempted a lot of past papers. My approach was to pick two to three past papers and copy the
answer, familiarise myself with the format and the workload before doing the paper under exam
conditions. Try to do as many questions as possible under exam conditions because this really
helps you to build up the speed and technique you need for the exam. I also suggest reading the
examination report because they tell you what the examiners are looking for, and why people fail
in this exam.
The exam CD also contains a lot of useful information. I learnt a lot by reading their suggested
solutions, especially how to present the schemes and sketches in a presentable format.
Work and talk with others
I would say forming a study group (two to three people) is a very effective way to study for this
exam as you can learn a lot from each other. I worked with one of my friends and we did a lot of
mock exams together. We marked each others work and discussed the answer afterwards. I
found myself learning a lot through the discussions and fortunately both of us passed the exam!
I also discussed the question with my seniors and people who had recently passed, asking for
their comments on my answers.
So for the real exam, here is my advice:
Read the question
Make use of the first 15 minutes to read the question. Choose the one you feel confident with
as you wont have time to change it. All the information written in the question is useful and it
means something, so make sure you cover these points in your answer or else you will miss the
clients requirements. My approach is to highlight all the information and put it down in the design
appraisal.

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Distinct scheme
As I learnt from the seminar, one of the easiest ways to provide two distinct schemes is to choose
different material for the building. I therefore proposed RC vs Steel structure as my two distinct
schemes, and I choose the RC scheme for the detail design. Check carefully with the design
appraisal so that both of your schemes can satisfy the clients requirements.
Good handwriting, sketches and drawing
Decent handwriting will give the examiners a good impression, so make sure your hand writing
can be easily read. Secondly, use more sketches to show the schemes and load transfer. This
not only helps the examiner to understand the scheme better, but it saves time not having to
write it word for word.
For the drawing, think carefully of the scale you are going to use and what you are going to draw.
Do not draw everything on a floor plan, save some time for the critical elements, such as transfer/
hanger structures.
Stick to the timescale, finish every part
My timetable was to finish both schemes, the letter, and part of the calculation in the morning
section, and complete the calculation, drawings and method statement/program in the afternoon.
You should prepare your own timetable. Stick with it and make sure you attempt every part of the
question.
Check the work
Leave yourself 15 minutes to check the work. Check both schemes to ensure it can fulfill the
clients requirements, such as minimum headroom, column spacing, column free zone etc. Make
use of this last 15 minutes.
Finally, go celebrate and relax after the exam, and try not to discuss it!
Good luck to you all!

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 8

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

Cass Hayward Prize Winner 2009 - Cheung Hang Shan
My preparation:
Setting a detailed revision timetable is the most important step for you to get through Part
3 of the examination. Some candidates are reluctant to set a timetable for themselves in the
beginning, and claim that no matter how carefully the timetable is prepared, they would fail to
follow it.
In fact, setting a timetable is not aimed at forcing you to follow it to the letter. Rather, it is a
chance for you to understand your situation more clearly, including your available study time, the
area required to be studied, and the relevant material that needs to be prepared. Therefore, it is
more important for you to list out all the related items, and decide your own time arrangements
for each item.
Basically, you could divide your exam preparation into three parts:
1 Collecting material
You may not familiar with the format and scope of the examination. Therefore, in the beginning,
you should try your best to collect all kinds of related material, as well as seek advice from your
seniors. The following are some examples:
a) Reference material about bridge construction (e.g. different structural forms of bridge,
design criteria of bridges, functions of bearing and movement joint, etc)
b) Past papers and examiners reports (collect at least 10 years of past papers, or over 20
years is preferable)
c) Reference answers done by past candidates (remember that these answers may not be
correct. They are NOT model answers!)
d) Reference file prepared by past candidates
2 Background preparation
After collecting the material, you needed to have a brief understanding of the material and then
organise it. The background preparation should include:
a) Revise background knowledge
You should do the revision before you study the past papers. It will refresh your mind
and help you to get into the examination papers more quickly afterwards. Some candidates
do the reverse and soon found that they wasted a lot of time struggling on different and
unfamiliar technical problems.
b) Analyse past papers and examiners reports
To familiarise yourself with the scope and format of examination questions, it is
worth studying past examination questions in detail. I spent several weeks summarising
different key points of the past papers. Together with the examiners reports, you will soon
clearly understand what the questions were asking, and what kind of answer
the examiners are looking for.
c) Study reference answers done by past candidates
As mentioned before, the answers done by past candidates are certainly not the model
answer. You should compare the answers with the examiners reports and identify which
reference answers are useful.
3 Practising
In my opinion, I would suggest concentrating on one part of a question until you feel completely
confident. For example, you could spend three weeks practising Part 1(a) of a question from
different years until you are happy about working out most of the solutions of different structural
forms of bridge.
At the same time, you could start preparing your own reference file. Try to make the reference
file simple to use. Finally, you could choose several years questions to work on.
The whole preparation process is not a one-way process. You should not imagine the preparation
process is as simple as: collect material background preparation practising.

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 9

Some gaps in knowledge will be found after practising the past papers. You should prepare to
restart your background preparation work and adjust the reference file frequently. The following
diagram shows how the actual preparation works:

Collecting material

Revise basic
knowledge of different
kind of bridge

Analyse past papers

and Examiners Reports

Background
Preparation

Study reference answer

done by Past candidates

d
n

Preparing your own

reference file
Practicing
Practising Past papers
(by sections of question)

Practising Past papers

(by years)

Tips for answering the questions:

1 Part 1 (a)
Part 1(a) is always the most important part of your answer. Some information must be
illustrated clearly to the examiners, such as load path and stability.
Dimension is important. Try your best to estimate the basic dimension of the bridge,

such as the total span, depth of section and foundation size, etc. Numbers always attract
the examiners and make them believe that you are confident of your solution.
Sub-structure is important. It is obvious that most candidates would concentrate on the
superstructure design. In fact, the most difficult part of the question is usually about the
design of sub-structure and foundation. Try to study more special types of sub-structure,
such as L-shape retaining wall abutment, pipe pile wall abutment and mini-piles, etc.
2 Part 1 (b)
Usually, you are writing to answer questions from your client. Therefore, you should concentrate
on the views of the client and express your willingness to solve the problem. In addition, translate
the structural impact into the simple changes required, such as concrete volume is required to
be increase xxx, and the cost will be increased for xxx.

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 10

3 Part 2 (c)
There are so many hints from the examiners report for this part. You must remember not to
repeat the most common mistakes. For example, sub-structure design is as important as the
super-structure design. You should spend the same amount of time on both of them.
4 Part 2 (d)Plan, elevation and section are the key parts of your drawings. Try to study more
typical bridge drawings to find out which components must be shown. Moreover, a good quality
typical detail, such as bearing detail and connection detail would help you to gain more marks.
5 Part 2 (e)
In my opinion, Part 2(e) answer is one of the best chances for you to show your ability to the
examiners. This is because most of the candidates use up all their time to work on other parts
and usually dont perform well on Part 2(e). If you can present a better solution, it will give the
examiners a very good impression.
To conclude, Part 3 is a combination of showing your professional knowledge and your
examination skills. Try your best to start preparation early and GOOD LUCK!

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 11

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

AE Wynn Prize Winner 2008 - Chris Townsend
Awarded to Chris Townsend, age 29, of London who submitted a solution of the highest
standard designed primarily in structural concrete. Chris, a senior structural engineer for
Arup, has been involved in a wide range of buildings projects, including an Art College in
Chelsea, the refurbishment of the London Coliseum and a Foster-designed winery
in Spain.
Walking out of the exam, my overriding emotion was of relief that it was all finally over. Unable to
change anything, I resolved not to think about it again. The last thing that I wanted to do was to
have to write anything about it! Unfortunately, it was not to be, so here I am reflecting on the day.
I think that in a slightly perverse way I actually enjoyed sitting the exam. After three months of
evening courses and lunchtime meetings and working through past papers, I was definitely glad
that the end was in sight, and that I was only a few hours from having my life back.
There is a huge amount of advice around on how you might prepare for the exam. Rather than
re-iterate all of this advice, Ive tried to think about what I did with the advice, and which key
things I feel helped me the most. Please take it all with a pinch of salt - everyone I know prepared
differently, and in many ways the exam is about playing to your strengths.
Make a reference file
Like everyone else, I collated a reference file of everything that I thought I might be asked. I also
had a 12-page summary of the file, with key points, checklists, and references to the rest of my
file, which I referred to constantly during the exam.
Do past papers
I looked at a lot of past papers, some for 10 minutes, some for a full 7 hour mock exam. Doing
questions helped me to understand what might come up, but doing a practice paper under
exam conditions taught me far more about sitting the exam, and was an essential part of my
preparation. In the end, I did three mock papers.
Talk to people
I talked to anyone who might be able to help, both other candidates and more experienced
engineers. I discussed the questions Id done (and the ones I couldnt do!), reviewed what was
(and wasnt!) in my file, and asked about the areas I knew that I was weak in.
Prepare a timetable
There are plenty around, but I wrote my own after doing a couple of practice papers. By
then, I knew that I could answer the written parts of the question much more quickly than the
calculations and the drawings, so I put all of the written parts (1A & 1B, 2E) into the morning, and
left the calculations and drawings for the afternoon, even though this didnt split the marks evenly.
Understand the question
A bit of a clich, but everything in the question is important and cannot be ignored. In the exam, I
listed each piece of information on the first page, and noted the possible implications.
Remember the design appraisal
When I first looked at questions, I spent a long time concentrating on my two distinct solutions,
and often struggled. Eventually I decided that the best way for me to do this was to concentrate
on the design appraisal part of the question, before looking for solutions.
I listed everything relevant to the question, and discussed each point in turn. By the end of this,
I found that I had two possible solutions for most problems, and generally pros and cons for each
as well. This made the two solutions, and the choice of scheme, relatively straightforward.
In spite of all the preparation that I did, once I was in the exam I found myself wishing that I had
another three months to prepare. However, I carried on, and I got stuck into the problem at hand,
and before I knew it time was up and all the hard work was summarised on the few sheets of
paper in front of me. Fortunately this was sufficient to convince the examiners to pass me, and
Im now very happy to be both a Member of the Institution and a Chartered Engineer.

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 12

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

AE Wynn Prize Winner 2007 - John Wickham
Awarded to Mr. John Wickham of Royceton, Dublin who submitted a solution of the
highest standard designed primarily in structural concrete.
Friday 13 April 2007 was the daunting date of this stressful examination but I decided to fully
prepare myself to make it through this time. I was confident that my technical skills were
already well qualified to make me pass this examination; but what I needed was the necessary
examination technique and the time control to tackle the problem. As most of the Hong Kong
candidates would agree, the design appraisal is the most challenging part of the question which
demands a high level of engineering competence and sound presentation, sufficient preparation
work is a must to tackle this part of the question with confidence.
A structure of the answer format that would be both effective and presentable should be
designed. I then identified the gist of the question and filtered off those excessive writings that
would cost you a lot of time but only gain you a few marks. Personally I would clearly list out the
main points and the clients requirements at the beginning of the questions and provide brief
solution to them. This gives an overall idea of what you have to plan to do subsequently. I would
use freehand sketches with annotation to convey my ideas to the examiners in the schematic
section. This saves you more time than using rulers. Collaterally, a good freehand sketch will
show your confidence in your design presentation.
I did some trial runs on the examination and I would then let my seniors comment on my finished
work. This is weighed as the most essential part of my exam preparation, as he or she can tell
you your weaknesses and things you missed in your paper. I find it is most advantageous to
allow a half hour thinking time before you write anything down on paper. This is a time-pressing
examination but a half hour delay of starting to write will certainly not cost you a failure. Instead,
you can organise your writings in a more legible and presentable way to the examiners.
Let yourself relax the day before the exam. It is important to retrieve some freshness and energy
to face this day-long challenge. Finally, words of good luck to all those sitting the examination in
2008!

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 13

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

HK Cheng Award Prize Winner 2007 - Choy Hon Kee
The HK Cheng Award was given to Mr Choy Hon Kee, the candidate with the highest
marks who sat the examination at a Hong Kong Centre.
Friday 13 April 2007 was the daunting date of this stressful examination but I decided to fully
prepare myself to make it through this time. I was confident that my technical skills were
already well qualified to make me pass this examination; but what I needed was the necessary
examination technique and the time control to tackle the problem.
As most of the Hong Kong candidates would agree, the design appraisal is the most
challenging part of the question which demands a high level of engineering competence and
sound presentation, sufficient preparation work is a must to tackle this part of the question
withconfidence.
A structure of the answer format that would be both effective and presentable should be
designed. I then identified the gist of the question and filtered off those excessive writings that
would cost you a lot of time but only gain you a few marks. Personally I would clearly list out the
main points and the clients requirements at the beginning of the questions and provide brief
solution to them. This gives an overall idea of what you have to plan to do subsequently. I would
use freehand sketches with annotation to convey my ideas to the examiners in the schematic
section. This saves you more time than using rulers. Collaterally, a good freehand sketch will
show your confidence in your design presentation.
I did some trial runs on the examination and I would then let my seniors comment on my finished
work. This is weighed as the most essential part of my exam preparation, as he or she can tell
you your weaknesses and things you missed in your paper. I find it is most advantageous to
allow a half hour thinking time before you write anything down on paper. This is a time-pressing
examination but a half hour delay of starting to write will certainly not cost you a failure. Instead,
you can organize your writings in a more legible and presentable way to the examiners.
Let yourself relax the day before the exam. It is important to retrieve some freshness and energy
to face this day-long challenge. Finally, words of good luck to all those sitting the examination
in 2008!

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 14

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

Graham Wood Prize Winner 2007 - Andrew Fairminer
Awarded to Mr Andrew Fairminer of Addlestone, Surrey who submitted a solution of the
highest standard designed primarily in structural concrete.
I attended an IStructE one day seminar in London which was most informative and formed the
basis of my exam technique. It cannot be emphasised enough that approximately 4 minutes =
one mark. You must have a time structure appropriate to the marks for each part of the question.
I proportioned a little additional time into the scheme stage to enable thinking time and enable
me to assess all the various aspects of the question. This reduced the allowable time in the
second part of the question but by then you should have the solution clear in your mind and for
me the drawing and method statement can be completed slightly quicker. Thats not to say its
easy because there is a lot of information to get on the paper, details and notes may be forgotten
and a mistake on the drawing may earn you a failure.
I believe the emphasis of the exam is to produce a stable robust structure to show your
knowledge of how to resist lateral and vertical loads. Out of the 8 questions in the paper I
personally looked at the steel or concrete questions which may have given me the choice of 3 out
of the 8. At the outset I would be looking to see the complexity of these questions and whether
two distinct schemes could be easily identified, if not I would discard the question and whittle the
choice to one. Remember there is only 15 minutes to assess the questions rather than hours you
may have in the office.
As a mature student with 30 years experience within the industry my approach to the exam and
problems encountered were slightly different to that of a younger student. As a Project Engineer,
my working role involves scheme design, attending meetings with other consultants and
checking work prior to issue. With this in mind I had to revise some of the more finer details of
design in both concrete and steel to remind myself of design which I do not use on a daily basis.
One of the problems that I did not anticipate was the hand writing of text for the two schemes.
In the age of the computer I found that I could not write at least two pages of text quickly and
legibly and had to practise until the cramp had subsided.
Many candidates including myself take an inordinate amount of books and information into the
exam. I have probably never used 90% of that information but you never know and 1 or 2 marks
gained from quickly looking something up could be invaluable.
Finally this is an exhausting exam, I made sure that I had plenty of food and drink to keep the
brain active all the way to the end. You need to be alert all through the exam to keep to the
timetable to give yourself a chance of passing.

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 15

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections Cass Hayward Prize Winner 2006 - Steven Jenkins
Awarded to the candidate who offers a solution of the highest standard for the bridge
question. Attaining Chartered Membership of the Institution of Structural Engineers
can be an important step in the career of a professional structural engineer and is an
internationally recognised benchmark.
The Part 3 examination is regarded as one of the toughest in the industry and passing is an
immensely rewarding experience. The seven hour exam tests broad abilities of the candidate to
conceive and evaluate designs, calculate structural proportions and effectively communicate their
design intent in writing and by sketching and drawing. Its a gruelling day at the office but you
should not be unduly daunted by the task ahead.
In this paper, I reflect on my preparation for the exam. It is a mixture of what I really did and in
retrospect, some of the additional things I could have prepared better. Whilst preparation will be a
personal matter, I hope this may be of some use to future candidates.
Success in the Exam
Passing the exam is a benchmark of ability however failure does not always imply the opposite
to be true and many competent engineers are unsuccessful in their first attempt. The examiners
reports make interesting reading and a pattern emerges of reasons why candidates are not
successful. Among the topics that come up every year are;
1. Poor exam technique and time management resulting in sections being missed or rushed
2. Not answering or modifying the question
3. Problems with stability
The good news is that a bit of preparation can help avoid these major pitfalls. In the candidates
favour, the exam format has changed little over the years. It is possible to have a clear picture of
the stages involved and how to structure the day to give you the best chance of passing. Time
allocation is therefore just a matter of familiarity and practice.
It is suffice to say that it may be a good investment to read the question over a number of times. I
attempted the bridge question and found in each exam there is often one key technical problem
to address. This might be difficult soil conditions, constructing under water, a construction
sequence problem and so on and in general it is likely to be a subject in which you have no
specific experience. I expect the other questions are similar and this is an opportunity to
demonstrate your skills by dealing with the problem head on.
My feeling was that the examiners are particularly interested in an intuitive feel for the structure, its
stability, and behaviour and in exercising engineering judgement. In describing the two scheme
proposals you have the opportunity to demonstrate these skills and to that end I allocated
significant time in the exam describing the global behaviour, load paths and so on.
Initial Investigation
First off I began investigating what was involved in taking the examination to see what I had
let myself in for. In the December before the exam I read through a few past papers and the
examiners reports, took some advice from colleagues who had recently passed or failed, read
some of the numerous advice notes and started to layout the contents of my reference files.
My conclusion was that the exam was going to be tough but that with adequate preparation I
could be confident of having a good attempt. I found it useful to get a feel for the style of exam
early on but only gradually ramped up the intensity of my preparation. Starting early gave me a
better opportunity to use my daily work to get my files together, practice drawing and so on.

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My Exam Preparation
We each develop a style of exam preparation that works for us during school and university days.
One thing to acknowledge is that the Part 3 exam is different to any other I had previously sat and
I realised I would need to change the way I prepared for it. Exam technique plays a big part in
your chance of success and the best way to familiarise yourself with the format is to practice with
past papers and then review the examiners reports. The approach I used is outlinedbelow.
1. I started by quickly running through a couple of past papers, answering the questions in bullet
points then compared what I would have done against the examiners comments. This was pretty
useful and I quickly saw where I had missed what the examiners were looking for.
2. Next I spent a few hours at a time completing individual sections in one sitting. From this I got
used to an answer format, the time to invest and reasonable amount of ground to cover in each
section. The gaps in my reference file started to be filled in and I got used to working with it.
3. In the final weeks before the exam I tested my time and format plan by setting up a couple of
mock exams. My plan didnt work out too well the first time and I modified it before a final run
through in one sitting.
The only thing that will properly prepare you for the exam is a trial run on a question you have not
seen before under strict time conditions.
Several people I know joined a study group to share ideas and experiences. I was on
secondment during this time and not able to do so but it is something I would otherwise
haveconsidered.
Reference File
After working for a few years I had collected a reasonable amount of reference material so my
main task was to tidy this up into a single file and to plug the holes and strip out excess material.
I spent a great deal of time on this and in the event made little reference to my files however the
act of preparing it left much of the material fresh in my mind and I had confidence that I wouldnt
be missing that one gem of information on the day.

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Here are the contents I put together to help me with the bridge question.
Section

Title

Example Contents

1.

Exam check list

Time plan and bullet point reminders for each section.

2.

Rules of thumb

Structural forms, typical spans and proportions.

3.

One pagers

Concept design calculation methods.

4.

Datasheets

Geotechnics, structures, materials and maths data books.

5.

Loading and design

Code extracts for load combinations and member design.

6.

Foundations

Types of piles, methods of ground improvement.

7.

Steel composite

Scheme design charts, typical details

8.

Precast beams

Precast beam catalogues and typical abutment details.

9.

Supplier datasheets

Cables, tendons, bars, bearings, joints, drainage

10.

Parapets

Typical pedestrian and highway parapet details

11..

Construction

Erection methods, equipment, crane sizes and lifting ranges

12.

Cost estimate

Typical rates

13.

Special structures

Articles on jacked boxes, moving bridges

Final thoughts
The points below are pretty obvious however if I was restricted to a few words of advice they
would be as follows;
1. Start preparing early and make a study plan even if you dont stick to it
2. Seek out advice from colleagues and tap into their knowledge bank
3. Consider joining a study group with peers
4. Prepare a concise reference file and get used to using it
5. Practise, practise, practise all elements of the exam
6. Have a clear idea of how to spend your time on the day
7. Attempt every part of the exam
8. Demonstrate your intuitive understanding of structures to the examiner
9. Take advantage of that key technical problem in the brief and demonstrate your skills by
tackling it head on.
10. Be confident and enjoy a day of having complete creative freedom
Good luck!!

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 18

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

Andrews Kent Prize Winner 2005 - Damian Rogan
Awarded to Damian Rogan, who has worked as a structural engineer in the USA and the
UK, who, in the CM exam, offered a solution of the highest standard, designed primarily
in structural concrete. He said of his accomplishment, Becoming a Chartered Structural
Engineer is one of the most important benchmarks for our profession. I am delighted that
all my hard work has paid off.
April 2005 was my second attempt at taking the CM exam, though in 2004 I didnt even make
it past the interview. Determined not to suffer disappointment again, I thoroughly prepared for
my second interview and convinced my reviewers that I was prepared this time around. After
making it through my interview, I needed to find the best way to prepare myself. I read the CD
containing the past papers, picked three or four years and read all of the questions, then read
the examiners reports for those same years. I read these reports with some shock and a little
amusement; time after time the examiners wrote, in a rather uncharitable tone, of engineers
who had completely missed the point of the question or who had failed to address fundamental
aspects of the buildings in question. This taught me the first lesson of sitting the exam: read
thequestion.
It was clear that it would be a better use of my time to read and re-read the question rather than
dive in and spend my time solving calculations. As I continued to read the questions, a second
lesson became apparent: prepare for a variety of building types.
I knew I couldnt be certain that there would be any questions that involved a building type I
was deeply familiar with. Furthermore it seemed that many engineers prepared for one type of
question - whether a material or particular building type - and prepared only for this. And while
I didnt have he experience to tackle a bridge or offshore question, I would prepare myself for
buildings of all shapes and sizes.
On that basis I picked two more years off the CD and went through every problem, listing out
what challenges I expected the examiners were looking for me to address. I effectively outlined
my section 1 answer without any specific discussion of framing schemes or member sizes. This
way I tried to understand how I could approach each problem and at least attempt an answer,
even if I hadnt faced a similar problem in my career. Two colleagues and I set ourselves a
question each week and prepared our section 1 answer to each, comparing notes and taking
hints from eachother.
When exam day came, I nervously read through the exam hoping to find a long-span roof
or some other structure type I have seen many times in the past. There wasnt one. In fact,
not a single one of the questions was a type I had designed before. Determined not to be
discouraged, I started back at the beginning and re-read each question in more detail, writing an
outline answer in my head for each building, eventually spending 30 minutes before picking up
mypencil.
I settled on the general question because it was the one for which I could compose an outline
answer quickest in my head. Once again, this wasnt a problem I had come across directly in
my experience, but it seemed reasonably straightforward what the examiners wanted me to
address in my answer. I created a column on my paper and listed out each structural element
- foundations, floors, columns, stability, roof and each of the additional challenges - nearby
railway embankment, car parking below, column-free space required, limited areas where
bracing possible.
I then listed two ways to design each structural element and overcome each challenge in an
adjacent column. I then converted this list into my Section 1a answer, splitting the alternatives
into two schemes and arranging them specifically under stability, load transfer and functional
framing headings and drawing a diagram for each; I also expanded my discussion of the
challenges, discussing the pros and cons of each scheme in dealing with these challenges.
Where possible, of course, I loaded one scheme with my preferred solutions - ones that showed

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 19

some design flair and creative thinking. Most of all I was conscious that I had limited time to put
my answer on paper so I kept my preferred solution as simple as possible.
I wont say much about the Section 2 calculations, drawings and design programme except
that I spent less than half the exam on these. I felt that these would fall into place if I handled
the Section 1 right, and in fact they did. The challenge was to understand the question, identify
the obstacles, and break the problem into familiar tasks. And while I think engineers should not
underestimate the importance of technical ability, I would recommend that the best preparation
is to read as many past questions, answers and examiners reports as possible and get into
the mind of your examiner. In a way that is the strength of the CM exam - it challenges you to
consider the whole of the problem and deliver the solution that is right for the task. And this, after
all, is exactly what we should be striving to deliver in practice.

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 20

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

HK Cheng Award Winner 2005 - Simon Lee Kin Man
The HK Cheng Award was given to Mr Simon Lee Kin Man, the candidate with the highest
marks who sat the examination at a Hong Kong Centre.
With less than four months to go until that daunting April day and sitting in the site office, I was
engaging myself in a series of recollections over what I had really learned over the past few
years. Scheme, detailed design, tall buildings, simple bridges, steel and concrete structures,
foundations, some letter/report writing appears that I have covered good scope but not sure if
in sufficient detail for the 7-hour exam.
Regarded by most as one of the toughest engineering tests of both competence and stamina
and having to crash a weeks work in one day, I decided to go about setting my plan of attack
Based on advice from past successful candidates and some further thought, I managed to come
up with several tips, which may be useful for future candidates:

Bring into the exam only several box files of extracted notes and with your own clear
referencing system. There will be no time to flip through books in search for information.
Solid exam trial run on past papers. Do not overdo, as excessive trials might lead to

standard solutions, which the examiners do not want to see.
Reading through the examiners comments for past papers will help understand the gist
of each question. Structure may not be the focus of all questions some may focus on
geotechnics or dynamics.
Pay more attention to parts of the question which often escape the common eye such as
letter writing and method statement. (Together they account for 20 marks and could well be
the difference between pass and failure!)
Less essay-type and more tabulated/diagrammatic/bullet point presentation will be more
succinct and easier to comprehend.
Remember that each question involves a structure serving a specific purpose, and your
structure should somehow be fit for purpose. A degree of common sense as an end-user
would be extremely useful.
Lastly, assess your own strengths thoroughly and drill on your weak areas in your revision.
Examiners want to see well-rounded ability fit for a structural engineer design,

communication, drawings, presentation, and common sense.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank Dr H K Cheng for his generosity and continual support to
the profession.

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 21

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

Sir William Atkins Prize Winner 2004 - Martin Tucker
The award is for the candidate in the Chartered Membership examination who offers a
solution of the highest standard for the offshore question.
It was easy to find the examination centre, you only had to follow people carrying heavy
suitcases or pushing trolleys brimming with lever arch files and textbooks with yellow stickers.
At the risk of stating the obvious, anyone taking this exam should prepare well for it. There is not
much time to backtrack or make significant changes once you are a way into it. I had prepared
for it over the preceding months but, even so, on the morning of the exam I was thinking that I
could have found more time and that I should have done more past papers etc. The message is
that you can never do too much preparation.
Anyway, my preparation included:
Obtaining the Examinations CD, familiarising myself with the advice and reminder notes, going
through past papers and reading the examiners reports.
Obtaining a copy of the Notes that accompany the course of preparation for the Exam
(Dr Peter Gardner and Mr David Lowe) which I found invaluable.
Attending evening preparation class, organised by the Surrey Branch of the Institution.

I felt reasonably confident that I would be able to tackle some parts of the question, such as the
design calculations and general arrangement drawings and detailing, based on my experience.
However, I decided that my potential weakness was in presenting two viable alternative solutions.
A frequent criticism of the examiners is that often the alternative scheme is only a minor variant
of the first proposal. So when reviewing the past papers, I had concentrated on how I would
approach this.
The following rules are not original but, having now taken the exam, I would suggest that
candidates make sure that they:
Read

the notes to candidates and the reminder from the examiners at the beginning of the
exam paper. You may have read them many times before but it does not take long to remind
yourself what the examiners are looking for.
Read the question carefully. All the information is given for a reason. Try to make use of, or
take into account, every bit of information. Dont in any way change the brief.
Keep control of the time. This was emphasised to me by just about everyone. I used the
following timetable:
a. 9:15 Read exam paper - choose question. (Remember you are not allowed to mark the
paper in any way.)
b. 9:30 Start
c. 9:30 - 10:00 Read question again/ highlight main points/prepare 2 schemes
d. 10:00 - 10:45 Write scheme 1
e. 10:45 - 11:30 Write scheme 2
f. 11:30 - 12:00 Recommendation
g. 12:00 - 12:30 Letter to client
h. 12:30 - 13:00 Commence design calculations
i. 13:30 - 14:15 Complete design calculations
j. 14:15 - 15:30 Draw general arrangement
k. 15:30 - 16:00 Draw details
l. 16:00 - 16:45 General question
m. 16:45 - 17:00 Check through work
(These times are given as a typical timetable in the Notes by Peter Gardner and David Lowe.)

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On the day, I was determined to spend adequate time on the last part, the general question. This
involved description of the installation of the offshore structure. I thought that I could probably
give a reasonably good answer here since I have been working for an installation contractor for
the last two years: you have to make the best of any advantages like that.
All in all, it was a hard working day. Although 7 hours seems a long time, there was no time to
spare in my case. I was immersed in the task and later, when my wife mentioned that it had been
the warmest, sunniest day of the year so far, I realised that I really hadnt noticed.

| Personal Reflections | Chartered Members | 23

Chartered Membership - Personal Reflections

AE Wynn Prize Winner 2005 - Peter Brunner
Awarded to Peter Brunner, age 29, of Dublin who submitted a solution of the highest
standard for the chartered membership concrete question. Peter, a project engineer for
the Riverside 2 Complex, has been involved in a wide range of other buildings projects
including the Kings Waterfront Arena and Conference Centre in Liverpool. Peter said
of his achievement, I am absolutely delighted to win this prize, especially as it is such a
highly esteemed exam. I am now a chartered structural engineer, and have laid the best
foundation on which to build my career!
The Institution of Structural Engineers chartered membership examination is renowned for its
difficulty, for testing a candidates technical expertise under intense time pressure. It is because
of this high standard expected of the membership that the examination is held in such high
esteem. Passing this exam is a very satisfying experience. You will know you have achieved
something important. The following information is a synopsis of what I found to be some of the
most important elements of preparation for the examination, of course this will vary for different
people but I hope it will benefit some of you for the coming years exam.
The successful sitting of an examination of this kind cannot be approached as one might a
university examination. It will examine whether you as an engineer have a comprehensive
understanding and feeling of structural engineering and are capable of making suitable
schematic decisions under great time pressure. It also examines whether you are able to convey
these decisions in a precise and legible fashion.
A lot of my preparation involved discussions with chartered colleagues and their experiences of
the exam. Someone who has been successful in the exam has not done so by chance, and the
knowledge and experience they gained from doing so should be tapped into. Everyone will have
their own little gem of information that will be invaluable to someone facing the daunting task.
My exam preparation was undertaken in a few different stages which I would like to broadly
outline as follows:
Portfolio preparation
Review of past papers and examiners report
Exam format and presentation
Exam condition trial runs
Portfolio Preparation
In order to be able to access information at speed, you should prepare a portfolio of information.
This should include data relating to the different structural forms, materials, and design
proceduresetc. It helps here to be organised, you will not have time in the exam to rummage for
a scrap of paper that holds the key to space frame design! Everything should be labelled and at
your fingertips.
It is helpful to have the information compiled as you will access it. Your first requirement once the
question has been selected and thoroughly read is initial considerations and schematics. Prepare
a list of initial thoughts and considerations that could apply to structural schemes, for example,
flotation, suitable bearing strata, whether wind will be a major design criteria, access etc. The
structural schematics, stability systems, foundation options for different ground conditions and
loadings could follow this section.
You could then include your more detailed design information for the various structural forms and
materials. This should include all the major design checks, but need not go into the finer points
of detail. Most of you will probably have these portfolios in the office, it may be a case of tidying
them up and maybe reducing them in size.

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Review of past papers and examiners report

Choose some past papers and read all the questions for each year. Try and get a feeling for what
the examiner is looking for in each question. There are generally some particular points for each
question that require explicit attention, but need not be particularly difficult to address.
Highlighting the main points of the question to be addressed and then reading the examiners
report should soon get you into the rhythm of what most questions are looking for. You will soon
see that a lot of the questions down the years are looking for very similar solutions. Train yourself
to seek out these crucial design criteria that need to be addressed.
Exam format and presentation
The format of the exam is very similar every year. It is important that a pattern for addressing
each part of the question is borne out. Outline the way in which you would like to address each
part of the exam on paper. My format was such that initial considerations were first outlined, then
possible solutions were suggested and then the two distinct schemes were shown indicating
clearly in sketch format and in writing the stability aspects of both schemes individually. You
should convey to the examiner what you are thinking by word and sketch.
Every year the examiners report complains about poor drawing skills of the candidates. If
you dont already know how to draught/sketch, then start practising now. It will take time to
teach yourself how to do so in a legible and quick manner. The earlier you start the better. It is
important to get this part (as any other part) of the exam done quickly and neatly.
Exam condition trial runs
The only thing that can really prepare you for the IStructE exam is to do a number of trial runs
using past papers that you have not seen before under the strict time constraints of the actual
exam. It will soon focus the mind in regard to how quickly you will be required to address each
element of the question. You will need to prepare a timetable for the exam that will allocate time
to each part of the question. You should try to stick to it as close as possible. After a few trial runs
you should have trained yourself to automatically move on to the next part of the question as the
time elapses. My own opinion is that this part is the most important, if you havent spent enough
time in preparing before this, a trial run will hit home what you are lacking in. Getting a colleague
to review your trials should be valuable feedback.
After having done a number of trial runs, I reviewed my portfolio material and filled in some blanks
and removed some excess material. After that, it was a case of reading over past papers again
and reviewing on each question what the examiner is looking for, and providing viable solutions
for same. Then it was important to read over the examiners report to confirm that what was
provided as a solution was indeed what was expected. Anything that was missed at that stage
needed to be investigated in detail.
Finally!
I took the day before the exam off. You will need all the energy you can harness for the real
thing. A good nights sleep is a good idea. Try and be there early to set up. Roll on the exam
and if theres an ounce of energy in you afterwards, congratulate yourself for having sat it
andcelebrate.
Good luck!