A good overview of the ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) exam including subjects covered, subjects requiring special instruction, tips for test preparation, and resources for training.

1. The Certified Quality Engineer
Exam Given by American Society
for Quality
© Quality Minds, Inc. June 2009

2. Professional Development Paths
Using ASQ Certifications
CQA CQM
CCT CMI CQT CQE SSGB SSBB
CRE
CQIA
Typical Starting Points:
1. CQT
CQPA
2. CQE
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3. CQA

3. Subjects Covered on Exam by
Approximate Number of Questions
Certified Quality Engineer (CQE)
Approximate Number of Questions on
50
45
40
35
30
Exam
25
20
15
10
5
0
Quantitative Process and Continuous Process and Management Quality System
Methods and Product Improvement Product and
Tools Control Design Leadership
Sections of Exam
The exam lasts five hours, is open book, and consists of 160 multiple choice questions.
You have approximately 1.88 minutes per question. 3

4. What Makes or Breaks a Certified
Quality Engineer
• Basic Statistics
– Probability
– Descriptive Statistics In my experience, most
prospective CQEs have never
• Statistical Applications heard of these subjects or
– Control Charts know very little about them
– Process Capability
– Z Values
• Advanced Statistics Again, in my experience,
these subjects can’t be self
– Confidence Intervals
taught. You need help to
– Tests of Hypothesis learn them.
– Regression Analysis
– Analysis of Variance
– Design of Experiments
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5. Preparing for the Exam
• Over the years, in my opinion, these seem to be key factors for exam
success:
– Textbook
• Quality Council of Indiana: The book is well written and designed for test preparation. I
have never heard anyone say it was not appropriate for the exam.
– Study time
• Develop a routine for studying-I suggest studying every day at a certain time, whatever
works best for you.
– Working problems
• “Practice makes perfect”
• Don’t get behind on the homework
• Work extra problems
– Equipment
• Bring no more than one other reference material-I suggest the Juran Handbook
• Have a good statistical calculator-see next slide
• Plenty of # 2 pencils
• Plenty of scratch paper for working problems
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6. Calculator
• You will need a statistical calculator for the
exam. You can get a good one for less
than $50 at most retailers.
• Here are the critical keys you will need to
use. We will cover these during the class:
∑+ X σ x σ n−1 x
nPr nCr n!
x
e 6

7. Calculators
Calculator Where to Buy Retail Price (per the
website)
CASIO FX 200 Staples $8.95
Solar (see next
slide)
TI-30X II5 Walmart $14.58
TI-36X Walmart $22.44
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8. Example of Calculator
x
e
σ x σx n−1 X
nPr, nCr
8

9. Exam Taking Strategy
• There are three types of problems on the
exam
– Easy
– Moderately difficult
– Difficult
• Avoid panic!
– Work easy problems first
9

10. Contact Us
• For on site or online preparation training for the CQE
exam, contact Stephen Deas:
– sd@qualitymindsinc.com
– (843) 814 3864
• To register for online training, go to:
– www.cpionlinecourses.com
– The CQE course is designed to be 16 weeks and costs $240
– You pay online and receive a link to videos covering each
subject. Each video is a Powerpoint presentation with narration
from Stephen Deas
– Stephen is President of Quality Minds, Inc, a process
improvement and human capital development firm located in
Charleston, South Carolina.
– Stephen was certified as a Quality Engineer in 1991 and as a Six
Sigma Black Belt in 2003.
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