Mat Leclair’s Commitment to Aiding the Next Generation of Professional Engineers
Mat Leclair, Stormwater, Houston, dedicated more than 10 years helping aspiring engineers pass the Professional Engineering (PE) exam, stepping down this summer as an instructor to put even more emphasis on his family at home.
His impactful teaching career began in March 2013 when he delivered his first class on open channel flow in Houston. He then taught weekend classes in multiple cities in Texas as well as online classes to people all over the country on hydrology, pipe flow hydraulics and open channel flow for the Civil PE Exam. Additionally, he taught hydrology classes for those prepping for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam.
Over the years, Mat taught thousands of students in-person, online and to those who watched his pre-recorded on-demand videos. His approach focused on simplicity and building a solid foundation before diving into technical details while providing practical advice and techniques that students could immediately implement. He reinforced the content with his carefully crafted example problems which challenged students with variety and to be swift thinkers – just as they would need to be on exam day.
“Taking a simulated practice exam under similar time constraints was a huge tip, and knowing the exam specs was the other major tip,” Jeremy Dixon, Stormwater, Dallas, who took Mat’s PE prep course, said.
Although Mat may no longer be formally teaching the prep course, he keeps a close eye on the PE exam to stay up to date on things, posts exam tips on LinkedIn from time to time and still enjoys helping others succeed by sharing tips and knowledge of the exam to colleagues about to embark on their own PE exam journeys.
“I hope my classes made you feel empowered with the skills and tools needed to be successful,” Mat said. “I hope my content and teaching style helped keep you engaged and gave you the confidence you needed to crush things. And I hope I made you feel heard and cared for by answering all of your questions during the anxious and stressful time that studying for the PE exam can be.”
The most rewarding moments for Mat were receiving emails and messages, as well as conversations with former students at conferences sharing the good news – they passed the grueling exam and that his classes helped them along the way.
- “I PASSED!!!! 15 years out of school and a little intimidated to take the exam but your awesome notes and practice questions helped me through it!!!!”
- “Big thanks for helping me pass. The lectures you gave were very well done and gave me all the confidence I needed. Thank you”
- “Thank you for helping me prepare for the PE Exam, I passed. Your topics helped me really firm up the concepts I use every day for design.”
- “Thank you for being such a great teacher. I took the Water Resources and Environmental exam and was fortunate enough to pass. I owe a lot of credit to you and your teaching style; you instilled a much needed confidence in me and my peers going into the test.”
