structural engineering grad school: which courses?
structural engineering grad school: which courses?
(OP)
I'll be going to a Master's program in structural engineering with the intent of joining a practice in a year. I'd like to seek your advice as to which courses are most helpful for someone like me who hasn't yet decided between highrise building design and infrastructure (bridges, tunnels).
The program I'll be going to (UC Berkeley) offers a wealth of courses and only requires structural dynamics, earthquake resistant design, and analysis courses (aside from the sheer number of required credits). In addition, I'll certainly take advanced steel and concrete design. This leaves me with another 3 courses or so of my choosing.
Which courses do you wish you'd taken when you were in grad school? Or what do you find most helpful in your day to day practice? For example, should I take finite element methods, or advanced mechanics of materials, or materials course, or a geotech course?
Thanks
The program I'll be going to (UC Berkeley) offers a wealth of courses and only requires structural dynamics, earthquake resistant design, and analysis courses (aside from the sheer number of required credits). In addition, I'll certainly take advanced steel and concrete design. This leaves me with another 3 courses or so of my choosing.
Which courses do you wish you'd taken when you were in grad school? Or what do you find most helpful in your day to day practice? For example, should I take finite element methods, or advanced mechanics of materials, or materials course, or a geotech course?
Thanks





RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
As for the three optional courses it kinda depends on what you go into, but I recommend taking a materials course in concrete and steel. Also, plastic design of metals. Connection design course if you want to go the building route. Geotech course could be useful for tunnel design, but from talking to friends in the class they're going WAY more in depth than a structural engineer would ever care to go in geotech design. Same with pile and soil dynamics geotech courses.
Mechanics and Finite at my school aren't practical enough so I'm shying away from them.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
I actually planned not to go the thesis route. I have the option of doing a coursework only MS. Why would you recommend doing a thesis?
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
My advice concerning coursework, if you intend a career as a design enginer, is to take as many design related courses as you can. Advanced steel and concrete, masonry, wood, and a bridge course. Even if you end up primarily doing buildings, it's good to have some bridge design background.
That's my $0.02.
-Jack
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
The downside of thesis, of course, is that you're the professor's bi**h for 1 1/2 years....getting paid for 20 hours and working 50, etc.
I'm into my second semester thesis route and it's not too bad.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
I agree, but from my experience going back to school I've found a lot of students only have a fuzzy picture of the real design world and what they feel is important.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
You've identified precisely the reason for this post. I enjoy taking classes and I love my field. In fact I'm thinking of staying 3 semesters in the grad program rather than the required 2 just to take a few more classes before I leave school for good. But just as you said, I have a poor idea of what will be useful to me at work (other than soft skills and the ability to learn). My past internship experience has been in construction, a research assistantship and a little geotech, none of it in design. I found it impossible to get an internship with a structural design firm as an undergrad, so I've committed myself to a profession without getting a foretaste of it first.
Thanks to everyone for your replies.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
I took it as an undergraduate class and even though I don't use directly that often, it really pounded home a lot of fundamental structural engineering principles. I know a lot of places offer it as a graduate class.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
I'd take at least one class in the major structural materials, FEM, structural dynamics, advanced structural mechanics, things that will help you understand codes and the "why" of things, even if you don't use the knowledge directly. I've found that alone is extremely valuable. Personally I would call those fundamentals for a graduate degree, but that's only my opinion.
Beyond that, take what interests you personally. You may have interests that you study and research yourself that you will never do at work. Just because you don't use it at work doesn't make it not worth learning. You never know if you might need it. Besides, you should develop what interests you anyway, and not just what can make your boss money.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
This is the reason real work experience should be a prerequisite for a MS Civil degree.
I find it hard to believe no structural engineering firms would hire you on as an undergrad intern. You're cheap labor for grunt work. All the firms I knew hired plenty of summer help.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
My most useful courses were structural dynamics, advanced mechanics of materials, prestressed concrete and plastic design of steel. Plates and shells was good too. I would focus less on design and more on the theoretical. Design is more of an art that you need to learn from people actually doing design, not professors. 20 years older now since I got my MS (man that is scary), one thing I wish I would have taken courses in: Metallergy.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
Never, but never question engineer's judgement
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
Don't toss the option of doing a thesis, especially at Berkeley, it's a research school after all. If I were in your shoes I would definately do the thesis option if you can find some research you are interested in.
Actually in this economy I would consider doing a Ph.D. You'll come out of school a couple of years later, but that will give the economy time to recover.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
IMHO, learning design methods from those who built the code has been much better than those who just know how to follow it.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
Specifically, I enjoyed FEM, Stress analysis, and Fracture & Fatigue (none of which were computer analysis based). They were all mechanical classes, but provided the basis for understanding what I do on a daily basis.
Design classes are nice and will give you a leg up when you get into practice, but you can always pick up design practices on the job. The more esoteric items you can probably only learn in grad school.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
i didn't take FEM. was in it for two weeks and just didn't feel like it anymore. i wish i would have.
mine was 10 courses as well.
if you're going to TA, make sure you TA basic mechanics. you'll use it everyday.
IMO, anyway.
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
RE: structural engineering grad school: which courses?
No, no courses specifically on codes are part of the grad program, although they're probably reviewed to some extent in advanced design classes.
My understanding is that it's quite common for employers to pay for their employees' PE/SE preparation classes if they pass the test.