Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic, and environmental concerns, but they may also consider aesthetic and social factors. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty discipline within

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

, but it can also be studied in its own right. In the United States, most practicing structural engineers are currently licensed as

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

s, but the situation varies from state to state. Some states have a separate license for structural engineers who are required to design special or high-risk structures such as schools, hospitals, or skyscrapers. In the United Kingdom, most structural engineers in the building industry are members of the Institution of Structural Engineers or the Institution of Civil Engineers. Typical structures designed by a structural engineer include buildings, towers, stadiums, and bridges. Other structures such as oil rigs, space satellites, aircraft, and ships may also be designed by a structural engineer. Most structural engineers are employed in the construction industry, however, there are also structural engineers in the aerospace, automobile, and shipbuilding industries. In the construction industry, they work closely with

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

mechanical engineers Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture ...

, electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, and construction managers. Structural engineers ensure that buildings and bridges are built to be strong enough and stable enough to resist all appropriate structural loads (e.g., gravity, wind, snow, rain, seismic (

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

), earth pressure, temperature, and traffic) to prevent or reduce the loss of life or injury. They also design structures to be stiff enough to not deflect or vibrate beyond acceptable limits. Human comfort is an issue that is regularly considered limited. Fatigue is also an important consideration for bridges and aircraft design or for other structures that experience many stress cycles over their lifetimes. Consideration is also given to the durability of materials against possible deterioration which may impair performance over the design lifetime.

Education

The education of structural engineers is usually through a civil engineering bachelor's degree, and often a master's degree specializing in structural engineering. The fundamental core subjects for structural engineering are strength of materials or solid mechanics,

structural analysis Structural analysis is a branch of Solid Mechanics which uses simplified models for solids like bars, beams and shells for engineering decision making. Its main objective is to determine the effect of loads on the physical structures and their ...

(static and dynamic), material science and

numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of numerical methods ...

Reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

composite structure Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...

, timber,

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

and

structural steel Structural steel is a category of steel used for making construction materials in a variety of shapes. Many structural steel shapes take the form of an elongated beam having a profile of a specific cross section. Structural steel shapes, si ...

designs are the general

structural design Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and c ...

courses that will be introduced in the next level of the education of structural engineering. The structural analysis courses which include

structural mechanics Structural mechanics or Mechanics of structures is the computation of deformations, deflections, and internal forces or stresses (''stress equivalents'') within structures, either for design or for performance evaluation of existing structures. ...

, structural dynamics and

structural failure Structural integrity and failure is an aspect of engineering that deals with the ability of a structure to support a designed structural load (weight, force, etc.) without breaking and includes the study of past structural failures in order t ...

analysis are designed to build up the fundamental analysis skills and theories for structural engineering students. At the senior year level or in graduate programs,

prestressed concrete Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted ...

design, space frame design for building and aircraft, bridge engineering, civil and aerospace structure rehabilitation and other advanced structural engineering specializations are usually introduced. Recently in the United States, there have been discussions in the structural engineering community about the knowledge base of structural engineering graduates. Some have called for a master's degree to be the minimum standard for professional licensing as a civil engineer. There are separate structural engineering undergraduate degrees at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is ...

and the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Geodesy, Sofia, Bulgaria. Many students who later become structural engineers major in civil, mechanical, or aerospace engineering degree programs, with an emphasis on structural engineering. Architectural engineering programs do offer structural emphases and are often in combined academic departments with civil engineering.

Licensing or chartered status

In the United States, persons practicing structural engineering must be licensed in each state in which they practice. Licensure may usually be obtained by the same qualifications as for a Civil Engineer, but some states require licensure specifically for structural engineering, with experience specific and non-concurrent with experience claimed for another engineering profession. The qualifications for licensure typically include a specified minimum level of practicing experience, as well as the successful completion of a nationally administered exam, and possibly a state-specific exam. For instance, California requires that candidates pass a national exam, written by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), as well as a state-specific exam which includes a seismic portion and a

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

portion. Most states do not have a separate structural engineering license. In Alaska, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, there is an additional license or authority for Structural Engineering, obtained after the engineer has obtained a Civil Engineering license and practiced an additional amount of time with the Civil Engineering license. The scope of what may be designed by a Structural Engineer but not by a Civil Engineer without the S.E. license is very limited in Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington and is reserved entirely to S.E. licensees in Hawaii and Illinois. The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

has one of the oldest professional institutions for structural engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers. Founded as the Concrete Institute in 1908, it was renamed the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) in 1922. It now has 22,000 members with branches in 32 countries. The IStructE is one of several UK professional bodies empowered to grant the title of Chartered Engineer; its members are granted the title of Chartered Structural Engineer. The overall process to become chartered begins after graduation from a UK MEng degree, or a

BEng A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Ba ...

with an MSc degree. To qualify as a chartered structural engineer, a graduate needs to go through four years of

Initial Professional Development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensive ...

followed by a professional review interview. After passing the interview, the candidate sits an eight-hour professional review examination. The election to chartered membership (MIStructE) depends on the examination result. The candidate can register at the

Engineering Council UK The Engineering Council (formerly Engineering Council UK; colloquially known as EngC) is the UK's regulatory authority for registration of Chartered and Incorporated engineers and engineering technician, holding a register of these and providing ...

as a Chartered Structural Engineer once he or she has been elected as a Chartered Member. Legally it is not necessary to be a member of the IStructE when working on structures in the UK, however, industry practice, insurance, and liabilities dictate that an appropriately qualified engineer be responsible for such work. In the United States, application for license exam is allowed four years after the candidate graduated from an ABET-accredited university and passing the fundamentals of Engineering exam, three years after receiving a master's degree, or two years after receiving a Ph.D. degree.

Career and Remuneration

A 2010 survey of professionals occupying jobs in the construction industry showed that structural engineers in the UK earn an average wage of £35,009. The salary of structural engineers varies from sector to sector within the construction and

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ...

industry worldwide, depending on the project. For example, structural engineers working in public sector projects earn on average £37,083 per annum compared to the £43,947 average earned by those in commercial projects. Certain regions also represent higher average salaries, with structural engineers in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

in all sectors, and of every level of experience, earning £45,083, compared to UK and EU countries where the average is £35,164.

References

* National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (www.ncsea.com)

External links

A day in the life of a structural engineerIABSE (International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Structural Engineer * Building engineering Engineering occupations

Education

Licensing or chartered status

Career and Remuneration

See also

References

External links