This article is dedicated to celebrating the success of a student of Illinois Tech named Mohit Rathi, who pursues civil Engineering from our college. I got to interview Mohit when he reached out to us to celebrate his achievements.
What were his achievements?
Mohit Rathi took up the PE civil structural exam only when he was nineteen and became the youngest known candidate to pass the PE civil structural exam. This exam is known to be one of the difficult licensing exam in engineering which is designed to decide whether someone is ready to take full professional responsibility for structural design or not, says Mohit. Mr Rathi also added it covered a huge range of topics, from analysis of materials to maintaining safety codes and measures of a building structure which most engineers only take up after years of work experience.
What were his struggles and how did he overcome them?
When asked this question, Mr Rathi added he faced trouble as there was a sheer amount of content that he had to master in a very short span of time, while also working as a civil Engineering intern, which was something that he struggled with. He suggests that, even though his times were hard, sheer consistency and passion towards his subject helped him carry on the undying pressures of his day
He states that he has learnt a lot of valuable lessons which he would’ve otherwise never learnt, including how consistent studying patterns always helped rather than cramming for lessons and how one should know to protect their time. This way, even when his motivation failed, his persistence carried him through. He highlighted how when people set their minds on a goal, irrespective of others telling them it can’t be done, we should still set our minds tightly onto it.
A small piece of advice Mr Rathi would like to share with his peers is, “To set bold goals early, break them into smaller daily tasks and consistently work upon them.”
Mr Rathi adds that his greatest ambition is to grow into a prominent structural engineer and contribute as much as possible to projects that will last for a long time and benefit every part of our community. His passing the PE exam at such a young age was a major milestone, but he says it is only one step on a much longer path of building expertise and leadership in the field.