ASP Fellowship I cheat sheet

Fiduciary duty: act in the client's and public's interest above personal gain; disclose any conflict of interest in writing before accepting an engagement.

Competence rule: accept only work within your education, training, and experience; document qualifications and obtain specialist review when outside your scope.

Confidentiality persists after the engagement ends; exceptions are legal compulsion, imminent harm to persons, or client-authorized release.

Conflict of interest test: does a reasonable observer perceive bias? Perception alone triggers disclosure and, if material, withdrawal.

Signing and sealing certifies personal review of the work; never seal drawings, reports, or calculations prepared by others without verified supervision.

Whistleblower duty: report conditions that endanger public safety or violate law to the employer first, then the regulator if unresolved.

Plagiarism and data fabrication are grounds for license revocation; retain raw data and calculation files for the statutory retention period.

Gift and payment limits: nominal courtesy gifts are generally acceptable; anything that could influence judgment must be declined and recorded.

Hierarchy of authority: statute > regulation > incorporated standard > guidance; a conflict resolves in favor of the more stringent enforceable requirement.

Standards are incorporated by reference into regulation, so the edition cited in the regulation governs, not the newest edition.

Compliance audit trail: every regulated activity needs a dated record linking requirement, responsible person, evidence, and closure.

Permit conditions are enforceable obligations; operating outside a permit limit is a violation regardless of intent or actual harm.

Regulatory inspection rights: inspectors may enter, sample, and copy records; refusal can itself be a separate violation.

Change management: physical or procedural changes that affect a permitted activity require review and often prior approval before implementation.

Recordkeeping periods differ by regulation; the longest applicable retention period controls when multiple rules apply.

Noncompliance response sequence: stop the activity, contain impact, notify the regulator within the required window, then root-cause and correct.

Hierarchy of controls, most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then PPE.

Risk score = likelihood × severity; use the matrix consistently and re-score after each control is applied.

Hazard communication requires labels, safety data sheets, and training for every hazardous chemical in the workplace.

Permissible exposure limits are time-weighted averages over an 8-hour shift unless the standard states a ceiling or short-term limit.

Confined space entry requires atmospheric testing before entry and continuous monitoring, an attendant, and a rescue plan.

Environmental release reporting is triggered by reportable quantities; notify the authority immediately and follow with a written report.

Waste hierarchy: reduce, reuse, recycle, treat, then dispose; hazardous waste manifests track cradle-to-grave custody.

Incident investigation seeks root causes via the chain of events and contributing factors; blame-based reporting suppresses future disclosure.

Conservation of mass: mass in − mass out = accumulation; apply to every unit operation before solving energy balances.

Energy balance: Q − W = ΔU + ΔKE + ΔPE; for steady flow use enthalpy, and neglect kinetic and potential terms only when justified.

Ideal gas law PV = nRT; deviations grow near the critical point, where compressibility factor Z must be applied.

First-order decay: C = C₀e^(−kt), half-life t½ = ln2/k ≈ 0.693/k.

Reynolds number Re = ρvD/μ; below ~2,000 flow is laminar, above ~4,000 turbulent, between is transitional.

Heat transfer: conduction q = kAΔT/L; convection q = hAΔT; radiation q = εσA(T₁⁴ − T₂⁴) in kelvin.

Pump power = ρgQH/η; system curve intersects the pump curve at the operating point.

Significant figures reflect measurement precision; carry extra digits through intermediate steps and round only the final answer.

Control loop anatomy: sensor, transmitter, controller, final element; loop tuning sets proportional band, integral, and derivative terms.

Fail-safe design: on loss of power or signal, the final element moves to the position that protects people and the environment.

Redundancy types: active (parallel running), standby (cold or warm), and diverse (different technology) to avoid common-cause failure.

Relief device sizing is based on the worst-credible overpressure scenario, not normal operating conditions.

Preventive maintenance intervals derive from failure history or manufacturer data; condition monitoring shifts work from calendar to evidence-based.

Piping and instrumentation diagrams show equipment, lines, and instrumentation; isometrics add dimensions for fabrication.

Lockout/tagout isolates all hazardous energy sources; verify zero energy state before work begins.

Commissioning sequence: mechanical completion, then check-out, then functional testing, then performance test, then handover.

Accuracy is closeness to true value; precision is repeatability. Bias shifts accuracy; scatter reduces precision.

Calibration establishes the relationship between instrument output and reference standard; traceability to a national standard is required.

Measurement uncertainty combines Type A (statistical) and Type B (manufacturer, calibration) contributions in quadrature.

Control charts: points beyond control limits or nonrandom runs indicate special-cause variation; do not react to common-cause noise.

Sampling must be representative; grab samples describe a moment, composite samples describe an average over time.

Root cause tools: 5-whys, fishbone, and fault tree; verify the cause by reproducing or removing it.

Detection limit is three times the standard deviation of blank measurements; quantitation limit is typically ten times.

Audit types: internal, external, and third-party; findings are classified as major or minor nonconformities with corrective action deadlines.

Project constraints: scope, schedule, cost, and quality are interdependent; a change in one forces adjustment in the others.

Critical path is the longest duration path through the network; delaying it delays the project finish.

Earned value: CV = EV − AC; SV = EV − PV; CPI = EV/AC; SPI = EV/PV; index below 1.0 signals adverse performance.

Risk register entries carry probability, impact, owner, and response strategy: avoid, mitigate, transfer, or accept.

Delegation requires matching authority to responsibility and confirming competence and resources.

Written communication standard: state purpose, audience, key message, evidence, and required action in that order.

Constructive feedback is specific, behavioral, timely, and paired with an actionable next step.

Stakeholder mapping by influence and interest determines engagement depth; high-influence, high-interest parties need active involvement.

Life-cycle assessment quantifies impacts from raw material through disposal; system boundary choices drive the result.

Digital twins require validated models, sensor data quality control, and documented uncertainty before decisions rely on them.

AI-assisted analysis must be explainable and human-reviewed; retain model version, training data provenance, and validation records.

Climate adaptation integrates projected extremes into design margins; historical records alone may understate future loads.

Circular economy design prioritizes material recovery, repairability, and design for disassembly at the concept stage.

Cybersecurity for operational technology follows segmentation, least privilege, and patching with operational risk assessment.

Integrated practice requires interface registers between disciplines; unassigned interfaces are the most common source of failure.

Emerging regulation moves faster than standards; treat draft rules as early warning and build compliance margin into design.