CAREERS IN ENGINEERING

STRUCTURALENGINEER

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CAREERS IN ENGINEERINGSTRUCTURAL ENGINEERIF “HUMPTY DUMPTY” FELL OFF HIS WALL TO DAY WHAT WOULD HAP PEN TO HIM?Who would come to his res cue? Who could put him back to getheragain? An en gi neer, of course! More spe cif i cally, a struc tural en gi neerwho would look at Humpty’s over all de sign and then an a lyze it: whatpart of the de sign came up short; too round, too pointed; whatver ti cal and lat eral forces failed to func tion; was the wall struc ture atfault, and on and on.

En gi neer ing is the field that com bines sci ence and math e mat ics to cre ate, an a lyze, de sign, de velop, test and im ple ment so lu tions toprob lems crit i cal to so ci ety’s needs. En gi neers are among the mosthighly ed u cated and best trained pro fes sion als in the world, as well as

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among the high est paid. From the very first pyr a mid built around 2700 BC, to the world’s tall est struc ture now un der con struc tion in Dubai,en gi neer ing as a spe cial ized field has slowly evolved from the stonema sons, car pen ters, mas ter build ers and early ar chi tects to thetech no log i cally-skilled en gi neers and the en gi neer ing pro fes sion weac knowl edge and rely on in the 21st cen tury. En gi neer ing, in someform, touches al most ev ery as pect of our lives from home, to work, toplay.

En gi neer ing is a large and di verse field – more than 1.5 mil lionen gi neers work in the United States. The en gi neer ing pro fes sion isdi vided into many spe cial ized ar eas from aero space to pe tro leum. Civil en gi neer ing is one of the old est dis ci plines in this field be cause itcov ers the de sign and con struc tion of build ings, bridges, tun nels,roads, dams, wa ter sup ply and sew age sys tems, air ports, etc. Thein fra struc ture in our cit ies and towns from coast to coast and aroundthe world, at test to the his tory, the cre ativ ity and im ple men ta tion ofthe work of civil en gi neers. And, there are more spe cial ties within civilen gi neer ing, in clud ing struc tural, con struc tion, trans por ta tion, wa terre sources, en vi ron men tal and geotechnical en gi neer ing.

Struc tural en gi neer ing is the spe cialty of civil en gi neer ing thatdeals with the de sign of struc tures – phys i cal ob jects and sys tems –and their main func tion of re sist ing loads and dis si pat ing en ergy. Thisin cludes the de sign of build ings and non-build ing struc tures, as well as ma chin ery, air craft, med i cal equip ment, fur ni ture and a va ri ety ofve hi cles. Struc tural en gi neers can fur ther spe cial ize in ar eas such asbuild ing en gi neer ing, pipe line en gi neer ing, bridge en gi neer ing, andin dus trial or spe cial struc tures.

While a few other en gi neer ing dis ci plines can touch on this field,the pro fes sion als agree that it is the struc tural en gi neer that is thede signer of choice for all struc tural ob jects and sys tems re gard less ofsci en tific or in dus trial ap pli ca tion.

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STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DEFINED

THE TER ROR IST AT TACKS ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, SPE CIF I CALLY ON THE WORLDTrade Cen ter twin tow ers, opened up a di a logue that is still go ing onabout the struc ture of the build ings and how they could havecol lapsed as they did. En gi neers from around the world will con tinueto study vid eos of the col lapse of each build ing, fo cus ing on the pointof en try of each plane, and how each struc ture re acted to the im pact.The po si tion ing of the col umns, beams and other de sign el e ments willbe care fully an a lyzed and dis cussed, and then fu ture de signs will beim proved to be able to with stand such an out side force.

A ma jor bridge col lapsed in Min ne sota in 2007, with loss of life,and cut ting off the ma jor trans por ta tion ar tery be tween Min ne ap o lisand St. Paul. Im me di ately, cit ies and towns across the coun try be ganin spect ing bridges, and the re sults were alarm ing. Too many bridgeswere found to have struc tural de fi cien cies. In the state of Il li nois, forex am ple, there are about 26,000 bridges, and 2,400, al most 10per cent, were clas si fied as “struc tur ally de fi cient” ac cord ing to fed eraltrans por ta tion re cords. But Il li nois is be low the na tional av er age of“struc tur ally de fi cient” bridges which is 12 per cent, an un ac cept ablefig ure.

Amer ica is fac ing ag ing cit ies where the in fra struc ture can be 100years old. An ex plod ing pop u la tion af ter World War II cre ated ade mand for more au to mo biles that have now filled the state andfed eral high way sys tem with traf fic grid lock, putt ing a great strain onroads and bridges. Re pair ing the in fra struc ture is very costly, and tooof ten pol i ti cians have ig nored the prob lems or have ac cepted band-aid so lu tions, keep ing their fin gers crossed that noth ing tragic wouldhap pen.

Traf fic is a ma jor prob lem across the coun try. From the LosAn geles free way to the Brook lyn Bridge, driv ers are stuck in traf ficjams on ag ing roads and bridges that need ma jor over hauls to make it through the 21st cen tury. Many fa mous sky scrap ers were built in the1930s and 40s. When struc tural and other build ing prob lems arise,re place ment parts are of ten im pos si ble to find be cause they are nolon ger made. It is be com ing clear that all en gi neer ing dis ci plines willbe called upon to con trib ute and ad dress these prob lems, butstruc tural en gi neers will lead the way.

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Struc tural en gi neers are ed u cated and trained, and must beli censed to en sure that the in teg rity of ev ery struc ture they work oncan re sist ver ti cal and lat eral forces with out col laps ing or fail ing insome way to func tion. Mod ern struc tures are go ing sky ward and havebe come highly com plex, re quir ing struc tural en gi neers to cre atede signs that sup port and re sist the enor mous loads they are sub jectedto. This takes on great im por tance not only for ter ror ist at tacks, butalso in ar eas that are prone to such nat u ral di sas ters as earth quakes,hur ri canes, and tsu na mis.

Struc tural en gi neer ing is a com plex and dif fi cult ac a demic study. It re quires a high de gree of con cen tra tion, and ex per tise in math e mat icsand the sci ences. The pro gram to be come a struc tural en gi neer is longand hard. This is an im por tant field where pro fes sion als con stantlychal lenge the norm and push the en ve lope to make lives and theworld better. Specialties Within Structural Engineering THERE ISCON SID ER ABLE SPECIALIZA tion within this pro fes sion. Struc tural en gi neerscan be re spon si ble for the struc tural de sign and in teg rity of an en tirepro ject or sys tem, and they can also spe cial ize in one of these ar eas:

Bridge Engineering

Bridges and tun nels are en gi neer ing mar vels and can take years to build. Com mon bridge types in clude sus pen sion, arch, truss,ca ble-stayed and beam, plus the sce nic cov ered bridge. Bridgeen gi neers are re spon si ble for the over all de sign stan dards that in cludethe ideal place to build the bridge, the ba sic de sign, and ma te ri als tobe used, and po ten tial traf fic. They make a load ca pac ity eval u a tionthat in cludes fa tigue and frac ture stud ies, seis mic eval u a tions, andcorrosions and pro tec tion stud ies. They cal cu late the on go ingin spec tion and up keep costs.

Building Engineering

Also known as ar chi tec tural en gi neers, build ing en gi neers planand de sign all types of build ings, and then are in volved with theircon struc tion, op er a tion, ren o va tion and main te nance. There is a sub tle dif fer ence, as build ing en gi neer ing is the ma nip u la tion of ma te ri alsand forms, con sid er ing func tional and safety re quire ments, and theneed to be prac ti cal and eco nom i cal to con struct. The ar chi tect can bethe lead de signer whose goal is a build ing that is aes thetic, func tional, and ar tis tic. This is an in ter dis ci plin ary part of en gi neer ing as civilen gi neers, me chan i cal en gi neers, and elec tri cal en gi neers must

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in te grate their spe cific knowl edge to make the build ing whole.Build ing en gi neers can be in volved in all phases of a struc ture thatin cludes en ergy ef fi ciency, air qual ity, light ing and acous tics, HVAC and con trol sys tems and more.

Pipeline Engineering

Across the United States, there are ap prox i mately 165,000 milesof pe tro leum trans mis sion pipe lines that serve as the pri mary means of mov ing oil prod ucts such as crude oil, gas o line, die sel fuel and moreto con sumer mar kets. Most are bur ied un der ground and op er atesafely and ef fi ciently. Pipe line en gi neer ing deals with the site,ar che ol ogy con cerns, size and length, soil type, en vi ron men tal im pactcon cerns, de sign un der ground and above ground, ma te ri als,con struc tion, workforce, gov ern ment over sight and more.

Pipe line en gi neers de sign and de velop the mas sive lines of gas and oil pipes that de liver these valu able com mod i ties to mar kets andcom mu ni ties. The work is in tri cate and highly spe cial ized. If you wantto get a feel for the enor mity of pipe line en gi neer ing, go to thewebsite of the Alaska pipe line that was de vel oped and con structed inthe 1970s to learn the facts about ev ery thing from the cost to theworkforce to the ac tual con struc tion at:

www.alyeska-pipe.com/Pipelinefacts/PipelineEngineering.html

Industrial and Special Structures

These are the move able or mov ing struc tures that are sub ject todif fer ent forces such as fa tigue and load vari a tion that can varysig nif i cantly de pend ing upon the struc ture. They in clude boats,air craft, con struc tion and med i cal equip ment, ve hi cles, etc.

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IMPORTANCE OF THE PROFESSION

TWO IM POR TANT RE PORTS WERE RE LEASED RE CENTLY THAT EVEN TU ALLY WILLim pact the en gi neer ing pro fes sion in gen eral, and struc turalen gi neer ing in par tic u lar: The fi nal re port of the Na tional Sur faceTrans por ta tion Pol icy and Rev e nue Study Com mis sion, and the re portof the Na tional Trans por ta tion Safety Board on the col lapse of theMin ne ap o lis bridge on Au gust 1, 2007.

The Na tional Sur face Trans por ta tion Pol icy and Rev e nue StudyCom mis sion (website: www.transportationfortomorrow.org), wascre ated by Con gress in 2005 to re view the cur rent con di tion andfu ture needs of our sur face trans por ta tion sys tem and makerec om men da tions for now and the fu ture. The Com mis sion re leasedits fi nal re port on Jan u ary 15, 2008. You can view it on their website.Its mis sion state ment notes, “The US sur face trans por ta tion sys temlinks Amer i cans to each other and to the world. This enor mousnet work of high ways, ports, freight and pas sen ger rail roads andtran sit sys tems is vi tal to Amer ica’s econ omy, se cu rity and way of life.It is cur rently the best sur face trans por ta tion sys tem in the world – the chal lenge now is to en sure that it re mains the best in the fu ture.”

The NTSB cited a de sign flaw in the steel plates con nect ing beamsin the bridge col lapse that killed 13 peo ple and in jured 145 peo ple.“The NTSB can’t dis count the pos si bil ity of sim i lar er rors in sim i larbridges, and cau tions that states and con trac tors should look at theorig i nal de sign cal cu la tions for such bridges.” The bridge inMin ne ap o lis opened in 1967.

These two im por tant re ports go to the very heart of thein fra struc ture prob lems across all 50 states, and the huge task thatawaits en gi neers, ar chi tects, con trac tors and the con struc tion in dus tryin keep ing the trans por ta tion sys tems vi a ble through out the 21stcen tury.

Es ti mates are there will be an in crease of over ten per cent inem ploy ment for the en gi neer ing field over all over the next de cade, but an al most 20 per cent em ploy ment growth for civil en gi neers for thesame pe riod! The pop u la tion is grow ing and the in fra struc ture isag ing. The need to re pair and re place old pub lic struc tures, in clud ingroads and bridges, wa ter sup ply sys tems, pol lu tion con trol sys temsand build ing com plexes and more, will cre ate many new jobs.

The gov ern ment re ports that there are about 250,000 civilen gi neers (this in cludes struc tural en gi neers) work ing, and pro jectsthat num ber to rise to 300,000 by the year 2016. The em ploy mentpic ture for struc tural en gi neers for the fore see able fu ture is very good.7

HISTORY OF THE CAREER

IMHOTEP LIVED IN EGYPT DUR ING THE REIGN OF KING DJOSER (2630-2611 BC) ANDis the first mas ter builder or ar chi tect in re corded his tory known byname. He built the Step Pyr a mid com plex at Saqqara for his king,con sid ered one of the won ders of the an cient world and rec og nized as the first mon u men tal stone struc ture. Imhotep was also a doc tor, highpriest, scribe and vi zier to at least three Egyp tian kings of that pe riod.

Pyr a mids be came com mon ma jor struc tures in an cient civ i li za tions be cause their form was con sid ered sta ble and in fi nitely scaled. Themen who worked on these pro jects were called ar ti sans, and in cludedstone ma sons and car pen ters. The top job went to the mas ter builder.Dur ing an cient times, there were no the o ries or blue prints of howstruc tures should be con structed, or cal cu la tions of the strength of the struc ture and how the ma te ri als would fare. Most struc tures werere pet i tive, and the in creases in scale or changes in de sign werein cre men tal.

In the third cen tury BC, Ar chi me des, con sid ered the great estmath e ma ti cian of his age, was also an in ven tor of a va ri ety ofma chines in clud ing pul leys and the screw pump ing de vice, and wroteOn the Equi lib rium of Planes, where he cal cu lated the ar eas andcen ters of grav ity of var i ous geo met ric fig ures in clud ing tri an gles andhemi spheres. His un der stand ing of the role of math e mat ics instruc tures can be found in mod ern struc tural en gi neer ing.

The phys i cal sci ence of struc tural en gi neer ing be gan de vel op ingdur ing the Re nais sance with such lu mi nar ies as Le o nardo da Vinci(1452-1519) and Ga li leo (1564-1642). Le o nardo, with out know ingany thing of beam the ory and cal cu lus, pro duced many en gi neer ingde signs based on his sci en tific ob ser va tions, in clud ing a bridge de signthat was dis missed with out merit dur ing his life time, but even tu allywas judged to be fea si ble and struc tur ally solid. Ga li leo out lined thesci ence of the strength of ma te ri als and the mo tion of ob jects in hisDi a logues Re lat ing to Two New Sci ences.

In 1660, Eng lish phys i cist, math e ma ti cian and in ven tor Rob ertHooke (1635-1703) first de scribed the law of elas tic ity, and throughhis work de vel oped a bal ance spring, or hair spring, that for the firsttime en abled a watch to keep time with some ac cu racy. In 1676,Hooke’s Law pro vided the first sci en tific un der stand ing of the elas tic ity of ma te ri als and how they re acted un der their loads. Hooke was alsothe first per son to use the word “cell” to de scribe the ba sic unit of life.

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Sir Isaac New ton (1642- 1727), de vel oped an in tense in ter est inmath e mat ics and the laws of na ture at an early age, and is con sid eredby many to be the fa ther of mod ern sci ence. His dis cov er ies werenu mer ous and var ied, and when in 1687 he pub lished his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathema ica, and in 1704 his Opticks, he helpedde fine the laws of grav ity and plan e tary mo tion. New ton was acofounder of the field of cal cu lus that re vealed for the first time anun der stand ing of the fun da men tal laws gov ern ing struc tures. He wasthe first sci en tist to be bur ied in West min ster Ab bey.

Gottfried Leibniz (1646- 1716), Ger man phi los o pher,math e ma ti cian and lo gi cian, dis cov ered cal cu lus in de pend ently ofNew ton, and his no ta tion is the one still in use to day. Leibniz alsodis cov ered the bi nary sys tem that is the foun da tion of all mod erncom puter ar chi tec tures. Swiss math e ma ti cian and phys i cist, LeonhardEu ler (1707-1783), con sid ered to be the great est math e ma ti cian of the 18th cen tury and one of the great est of all time, made im por tantdis cov er ies in the fields of cal cu lus and graph the ory. He pi o neeredmuch of the math e mat ics and meth ods that to day en able struc turalen gi neers to model and an a lyze struc tures. Along with Swissmath e ma ti cian Dan iel Bernoulli (1700-1782), he de vel oped theEu ler-Bernoulli beam equa tion that is the fun da men tal the ory of moststruc tural en gi neer ing de sign.

Two im por tant con struc tion ad vance ments at the end of the 18thcen tury: The con struc tion in 1796 and 1797 of the world’s first ironframed build ing – the Ditherington Flax Mill in Shrewsbury – de signedby Eng lish ar chi tect, Charles Bage (1751-1822); and in 1795, Bage and Eng lish in ven tor Wil liam Strutt (1756-1830) col lab o rated to build theworld’s first “fire-proofed” build ing – the Belper North Mill in Derby.

In 1821, French en gi neer and phys i cist Claude-Louis Navier(1785-1836), de vel oped the gen eral the ory of elas tic ity in amath e mat i cally us able form mak ing it pos si ble to con struct any thingwith suf fi cient ac cu racy. Navier was the first to state that the role of astruc tural en gi neer was not to un der stand the failed state of astruc ture, but to pre vent a fail ure in the first place.

The de vel op ment and pace of ma te ri als sci ence and struc turalanalysis took on new mean ing in the late 19th and early 20thcen tu ries, first with the dis cov ery of Port land ce ment, and then thepro cess to pro duce steel. In 1824, a Brit ish brick layer, Jo seph Aspdin,re ceived a pat ent for a pro cess of mak ing a ce ment mix ture that hecalled Port land ce ment. While ce ment had been in use since an cient

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Greek and Ro man times, Aspdin re fined and sim pli fied the pro cessus ing avail able, cheap ma te ri als that made con crete con struc tioneco nom i cally fea si ble. Dur ing the 1850s, Eng lish en gi neer and in ven tor Henry Bes se mer de vel oped a pro cess to pro duce steel when hesuc cess fully con verted cast iron into cast steel. In time, steel wouldre place wrought iron and cast iron as the metal of choice forcon struc tion.

Even though steel con struc tion was be ing used in many cit ies,French en gi neer Alexandre Gustave Eif fel, and French struc turalen gi neer, Maurice Koechlin, chose to de sign and build their tower in1889 us ing iron. This world fa mous land mark known as the Eif felTower is only one of Eif fel’s en gi neer ing de sign feats that in cludebridges, build ings, pa vil ions, and in 1886, the struc ture that sup portsthe Statue of Lib erty in New York City.

Rus sian struc tural en gi neer, sci en tist and ar chi tect, Vladi mirShukhov (1853-1939), closed out the 19th cen tury with de vel op mentsand new meth ods of anal y sis in struc tural en gi neer ing that en abledbreak throughs in in dus trial de sign for the oil in dus try and thecon struc tion of bridges and build ings. He pi o neered hyperboloidstruc tures, shell struc tures, ten sile struc tures, pipe lines, oil res er voirs,boil ers, ships and barges. Shukhov also in vented a new con cept ofdou bly-curved struc tural forms, known to day as the hy per bol oids ofrev o lu tion, and de vel oped a se ries of light-weight tow ers and roofsys tems, and the math e mat ics for their anal y sis.

The foun da tion for struc tural en gi neer ing had evolved over manycen tu ries, and at the dawn of the 20th cen tury, new gen er a tions ofen gi neers, math e ma ti cians and sci en tists would add to the knowl edge in this dis ci pline and make many im prove ments. Sir John FleetwoodBaker (1901-1985), Brit ish sci en tist and struc tural en gi neer, de vel opedthe plas tic the ory of de sign that was rev o lu tion ary be cause it gavesteel struc tures a lower bound on the col lapse load and made themsafer. Prior to this, the de sign of steel struc tures was based on theelas tic the ory of de sign giv ing an up per bound on the col lapse load.Dur ing World War II, Baker used this de sign to cre ate the Mor ri sonin door shel ter that saved many lives dur ing the war bomb ings.

By the late 20th cen tury and now into the 21st cen tury, thede vel op ment of new and pow er ful com put ers has be come awidely-rec og nized tool for struc tural de sign and anal y sis. Sig nif i cantad vances that led to ac cu rately pre dict ing stresses in com plexstruc tural de sign al lowed com pu ta tional anal y sis to be used on such

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struc tures as the Syd ney Op era House in Aus tra lia. This ad vancedtech nol ogy, along with a better un der stand ing of ma te ri als andstruc tural be hav ior, has led to break throughs in earth quakeen gi neer ing, frac ture me chan ics, dy nam ics and vi bra tion, fa tigue,com pos ite ma te ri als and tem per a ture ef fects on ma te ri als and more.The depth and breadth of this knowl edge are lead ing to in creasedspe cial iza tion within struc tural en gi neer ing.

WHAT STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS DO

STRUC TURAL EN GI NEERS AP PLY THE PRIN CI PLES OF SCI ENCE AND MATH E MAT ICS INthe de sign of and build ing of phys i cal ob jects such as build ings,bridges, tow ers, air ports, tun nels, roofs, walls, roads, dams, pipe lines,air craft, ve hi cles, fur ni ture and med i cal equip ment. Ev ery phys i calob ject must be able to stand up to all safety stan dards, and have ade sign that is prac ti cal and will func tion with out ex ces sive move ments or de flec tions that could cause fa tigue of struc tural el e ments, anycrack ing, fail ure of fit tings or par ti tions. Struc tural en gi neers must relyon their de tailed knowl edge of loads, phys ics and ma te ri als to not only un der stand, but to pre dict how struc tures will sup port and re sistself-weight and im posed loads. Loads are gen er ally clas si fied as live –tran si tory or tem po rary, and un pre dict able, and dead – per ma nent,in clud ing all ma jor per ma nent com po nents. The strength of thestruc ture will de pend upon ma te rial prop er ties and their ca pac ity towith stand dif fer ent types of stress. Struc tural en gi neers ap ply all thisde tailed knowl edge of math e mat ics, and em pir i cal and the o ret i calde sign codes, to de sign a struc ture or phys i cal ob ject that meets allthese cri te ria. They must also make cre ative and ef fi cient use of fundsand ma te ri als to reach these goals. Struc tural en gi neers use com put ers and other tech nol o gies in their anal y sis and de sign of struc turalsystems.

Struc tural en gi neers plan and de sign air craft, ve hi cles, med i caland con struc tion equip ment, amuse ment park rides and much more.They are also at work on the In ter na tional Space Sta tion. The threema jor subspecialties in struc tural en gi neer ing are build ingen gi neer ing, bridge en gi neer ing and pipe line en gi neer ing.Building EngineersAlso some times known as ar chi tec tural en gi neers, they plan, de sign,con struct, op er ate, ren o vate and main tain build ings of all shapes andsizes, as well as as cer tain ing the struc ture’s im pact on the sur round ing

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en vi ron ment. Build ing en gi neer ing is an in ter dis ci plin ary ca reer thatdraws knowl edge from dif fer ent dis ci plines, in clud ing ar chi tec ture(form, func tion, build ing codes and spec i fi ca tions), civil en gi neer ing(the foun da tion and struc ture), me chan i cal en gi neer ing (heat ing,ven ti la tion and air-con di tion ing sys tems), elec tri cal en gi neer ing (power dis tri bu tion, con trol and elec tri cal sys tems), phys ics (build ing sci ence,acous tics and light ing), chem is try and biology (indoor air quality), andeconomics (project planning and scheduling).

The build ing en gi neer must iden tify and ex plore all phases of thelife cy cle of a build ing, and an tic i pate prob lems and have ap pro pri ateso lu tions to al ways im prove the per for mance of the build ing. Build ingen gi neers are also con cerned with en ergy ef fi ciency, air qual ity,build ing ma te ri als, con struc tion man age ment, con trol sys tems, andre sis tance to wind ef fects and nat u ral di sas ters such as earth quakesand hur ri canes. Com puter tech nol ogy is very im por tant to build ingen gi neers, who must un der stand and be com fort able us ing ad vanc ingtech nol o gies. Ad di tional spe cial ties within build ing en gi neer ingin clude façade en gi neer ing, fire en gi neer ing, roof en gi neer ing, toweren gi neer ing and wind en gi neer ing.Bridge EngineersBridge en gi neers plan, sur vey, de sign, build, in spect, re pair, ret ro fit,pre serve and in ves ti gate fail ures on many types of bridges. De pend ingupon the site, size and type of bridge needed, these struc tures canre quire any where from many months to sev eral years to build. First,there is the place ment, or site of the pro posed bridge. If the dis tanceto be spanned is short, it may ac com mo date a beam bridge or a smalltruss bridge. If the span is very large, over an ocean bay for ex am ple, a sus pen sion bridge may be re quired. The pro posed site must besur veyed with elec tronic mea sur ing de vices to map out the whole area and cal cu late the length and placement of the structure.

The bridge is de signed tak ing into ac count po ten tial traf fic loads,best ma te ri als to be used, in spec tion and up keep costs, and otherfac tors. Fi nally, there is the con struc tion – af ter all the lo cal and fed eral ap prov als, and fi nanc ing – that usu ally be gins with an ex ca va tion orland fill on the banks of ei ther side of the bridge. Bridge en gi neers arecon cerned with struc tural eval u a tions and load rat ings; in spec tionsand load test ing; cor ro sion pro tec tion stud ies as well as pres er va tionstud ies and du ra bil ity stud ies; seis mic eval u a tions and up grades inad di tion to fa tigue and frac ture stud ies, and fail ure in ves ti ga tions.

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Pipeline EngineersPipe line en gi neers de velop, sur vey, plan, de sign, and over see thecon struc tion of the mas sive lines of gas and oil pipes that carrype tro leum com mod i ties to com mu ni ties across the coun try andaround the world. From soil samplings to an i mal cross ings, landown er ship to ar che o log i cal sur veys, gov ern ment per mits andover sights to de sign modes and con crete weights, and roads,pump ing sta tions, ter mi nals and ma te ri als, to ac tual workforce andcon struc tion, pipe line en gi neer ing is in ter dis ci plin ary as it in volves civilplan ning, a number of engineering disciplines and construction.

To day, pe tro leum prod ucts such as crude oil, gas o line, and die selfuel move across the 50 states through 165,000 miles of pe tro leumtrans mis sion pipe lines that are safe and ef fi cient. Most are bur iedun der ground or un der the sea and are the pri mary means of mov ingthe crude oil from the fields and off shore in stal la tions to re fin er ieswhere the oil is turned into fuel and other prod ucts, and then toter mi nals where the prod ucts are trucked across coun try to re tailout lets. But it all starts with the pipe line. Com put ers and de signsoft ware pro grams are a sta ple of this spe cialty and pipe line en gi neers must have ex cel lent knowl edge of this ad vanc ing tech nol ogy.

WHERE STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS WORK

STRUC TURAL EN GI NEERS CAN BE FOUND WORK ING IN LARGE CIT IES AND SMALLtowns across the US and around the world. They work in of fices inhigh rise build ings; in trail ers on con struc tion sites; in onsite of fices for build ings, bridges, dams, off shore struc tures, roads, tun nels,wa ter ways, and pipe lines; in gas and oil fields; and at man u fac tur ingsites for air craft, boats, ve hi cles, med i cal equip ment, fur ni ture, andcon struc tion (heavy lift ing and mov ing) equip ment.

Struc tural en gi neers work for cor po ra tions, con struc tioncom pa nies, en gi neer ing com pa nies, ar chi tects, lo cal, state and fed eralgov ern ments and agen cies and oth ers. They can be part of a team orwork in de pend ently, and struc tural en gi neers can work as con sul tantson ma jor pro jects. From a three-piece busi ness suit to jeans and a hard hat, struc tural en gi neers are on the job ev ery where and any where.

These pro fes sion als are al ways will ing to share their workex pe ri ence with stu dents who want to know more about this com plex, but chal leng ing pro fes sion. Here are some of their com ments.

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STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS TELL YOU THEIRSTORIES I Am a Pipe lineEn gi neer “I al ways knew that I wanted to be

an en gi neer, and when I was young an en gi neer was just anen gi neer that took care of de sign ing and build ing roads andbuild ings. It was n’t un til high school that I re al ized en gi neer ingwas di vided into many spe cial ties, and sud denly my op tions werein creased ten fold. I chose civil en gi neer ing be cause I grew up in alarge ur ban me trop o lis and saw the prob lems as so ci ated withag ing build ings, bridges and roads. I wound up in struc turalen gi neer ing when I worked in an oil field dur ing the sum mer of my third year in col lege as a go fer to a group of pipe line en gi neerswho were work ing on mak ing a ma jor ad di tion to an ex ist ingpipe line and hired sev eral dozen stu dents to help.

It was dry and hot and windy, and the work was re ally hard,but it turned out to be so chal leng ing that when I re turned toschool, I did some re search on pipe line en gi neer ing, and thentalked to my ad vi sor about what ad di tional courses I could take tobe come a pipe line en gi neer. That was 21 years ago, and my workhas taken me to many parts of this coun try and in ter est ing placesabroad.

I started out work ing for an oil com pany in the West, andre ally got my cre den tials learn ing the ins and outs of pipe lineen gi neer ing. For the first two years, I was mentored by sev eralen gi neers both struc tural and pipe line, and worked un der theircare ful scru tiny on pipe line de sign, the prep a ra tion ofspec i fi ca tions, judg ing the risks, ma te ri als to be used, con struc tion sched ules and costs, and so much more. We use com putersoft ware that is spe cif i cally de signed for this work. I spent hourson end at con struc tion sites to see the prog ress first hand and tomake sure that we stayed on sched ule and on bud get. When youlook at the end prod uct – a pipe line – you would be sur prised atthe amount of plan ning and work in volved. It takes pro fes sion alsof all dif fer ent lev els and dis ci plines to work to gether to en surethat each step is er ror free, so that when you fi nally con nect pipeA with pipe B they ac tu ally are a fit.

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I spent some time work ing in the Mid dle East and that was agood ex pe ri ence. Eight years ago I went to work for anen gi neer ing firm spe cial iz ing in struc tural en gi neer ing pro jectsacross the coun try and in Asia and Af rica. I am now part of a team of struc tural and pipe line en gi neers that work on pipe line pro jectswher ever we are needed here and abroad. Each pro ject is dif fer ent and each is dif fi cult in its own way. What makes this work sochal leng ing and in ter est ing are the peo ple and the prob lems. New pro jects mean new peo ple to work with in dif fer ent sur round ings,and new prob lems to solve.

Some where down the line I will prob a bly wind up do ingcon sult ing work, and that would be a fit ting close to my ca reer. Imake great money and I re ally like what I do. I have neverre gret ted the years of study and train ing, and the strug gle to learn and to make my mark in this field. I may not be fa mous, but I amproud of the work I have done and con tinue to do and, in cer taincir cles, they may even ask for me by name when they are build inga new pipe line.” I Am a Struc turalEn gi neer “I work for a com pany thatde vel ops, owns and op er ates all types of broad cast in stal la tionsacross the 50 states, and our 35 plus team of en gi neers de signand over see the build ing of the tow ers that are seen from theroof tops in the city to the corn fields in the coun try. Ourin stal la tions in clude weather ra dar tow ers, tele vi sion and ra diotow ers, cel lu lar tow ers, struc tures for traf fic cam eras and otherap pli ca tions.

This com pany re cruited me from grad u ate school al most fiveyears ago af ter I was no ticed for win ning a school-spon soredstruc tural en gi neer ing com pe ti tion with my de sign of a tele vi siontower. The com pany was im pressed with my in no va tive ideas andof fered me a job upon grad u a tion. I had eval u ated the job mar ketwhile I was earn ing my bach e lor’s in civil en gi neer ing, and de cided to go right into a mas ter’s pro gram to in crease my ca reer op tions.It paid off. Math and sci ence were my strong sub jects in highschool, and my teach ers re ally opened my eyes to en gi neer ing and chal lenged me to go for it. I was for tu nate to se cure some

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schol ar ship money and the die was cast as I started down a pathto my struc tural en gi neer ing ca reer. School was long and dif fi cult,and I stud ied very hard to main tain a very good grade pointav er age.

My work to day in volves help ing to de velop tech no log i callyad vanced fa cil i ties that will en able broad cast ers to pro vide thebest sig nal cov er age in their mar kets. From site se lec tion tocon struc tion, I am part of a team that works with cli ents and other pro fes sion als to cre ate and con struct ev ery type of broad casttower, in clud ing pro ject plan ning, de sign and mod i fi ca tions,struc tural anal y sis, sin gle and mul ti ple an ten nae po si tion ing,fa cil ity in te gra tion and pro ject man age ment. In ma jor cit ies, wealso pro vide roof top op tions for an tenna sites, and this in volveseval u at ing the build ing both in side and out side, the sur round ingar eas, other an ten nae sig nals that could pres ent prob lems, andper mits and reg u la tions.

My re spon si bil i ties are in creas ing, and I am now be ing askedto take on a big ger role in some of our pro jects. Ev ery day I gainmore ex pe ri ence and feel more com fort able work ing along side my col leagues. I re al ize that suc cess in this pro fes sion takes time, andthat learn ing to be pa tient and do ing the job right in the firstplace will make me a good struc tural en gi neer. I lis ten and learnfrom my col leagues, as well as read our as so ci a tion news let tersand mag a zines. Re cently, I have been asked to at tend out sidemeet ings, and next year will go as a rep re sen ta tive of my com pany to my first na tional con fer ence.

I want to go for my doc tor ate and have dis cussed this withmy boss who be lieves I have a good fu ture with this com pany. Ifthis all works out, there is a lo cal uni ver sity that has a pro gramthat I feel con fi dent I would qual ify for, and the com pany will payfor most of it if I agree to stay at least five years af ter re ceiv ing myde gree. Be cause this is a large com pany with of fices in other partsof the coun try and many op tions for ad vance ment, I could rise inthe com pany to even tu ally be come part of man age ment. I want to make sure that I want to stay here be fore I make thecom mit ment.”

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I Am a Bridge En gi neer “I spe cial ize inde sign ing and build ing small bridges that span la goons and otherar eas in parks and zoos, foot bridges that span over roadsal low ing peo ple to get from one side to the other, bridges that go across small rivers and other spe ci al ity bridge types. When Istarted more than 35 years ago, I was into the big bridges andmade a good ca reer in de sign ing and build ing and ren o vat ing and main tain ing these struc tures in met ro pol i tan ar eas. Over the years I scaled down my pro jects, and by the time I was ready to start my own en gi neer ing firm, I had good cre den tials in the small bridgearena.

My fa ther was a civil en gi neer and my dream was to fol low inhis foot steps from my ear li est years, but I was also fas ci nated bybridges, and that in ter est so lid i fied by the time I was in col legestudy ing to be a civil en gi neer. My in ter est in bridges ac tu allystarted in our lo cal zoo, where there were a num ber of smallbridges span ning la goons that con nected an i mal exhibits. Early inmy ca reer I had a num ber of jobs with com pa nies that builtbridges, and through the years I helped de sign and build somegood sized bridges in ma jor Amer i can cit ies. My in ter est in smallbridges took shape when I worked on a his toric bridge ren o va tionpro ject in The Neth er lands and saw the charm and the de signin tri ca cies of small bridges that were ev ery where. When I re turnedto the states I was ready to make an other ca reer move and lookedfor an en gi neer ing firm spe cial iz ing in small bridge de sign andcon struc tion. I could n’t find one so I de cided to go into busi nessfor my self.

Up to that point I had made very good money and hadin vested it wisely, so I was ready to start my own en gi neer ing firmspe cial iz ing in new small bridge de sign and con struc tion, as wellas the re de sign and ren o va tion of ex ist ing struc tures. I wantedtwo or three part ners and through net work ing found twostruc tural en gi neers who were small bridge spe cial ists. We areabout to cel e brate our tenth year in busi ness. We have two of ficesstaffed with three bridge en gi neer ing spe cial ists and two over allstruc tural en gi neers, sup port staff and in terns.

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We have been suc cess ful, and work pro jects have taken us toparks, zoos and other ar eas across the coun try and to sev eral cit ies abroad. Cur rently, I am work ing on the de sign and re con struc tionof a bridge over a la goon that was built al most a hun dred yearsago. The span was orig i nally made mainly of wood with somesteel, and about 40 years ago, the span was re placed withcon crete and steel. How ever, the foun da tions fi nally gave way andnow the struc ture must be re con structed. First, we in ves ti gatedthe site to de ter mine the ex ist ing con di tions, and then did afea si bil ity study that in cluded al ter na tives for a new bridge,ma te ri als to be used, cost es ti mates, con struc tion sched ule and, of course, the fi nal con struc tion draw ings and spec i fi ca tions. We gotthe job, and I will stay with the pro ject un til com ple tion and I canwalk across the new bridge.

My ca reer has been chal leng ing and re ward ing. I have worked for and with some won der ful peo ple, and I have been wellcom pen sated for my ex pe ri ence and ex per tise. I have a fam ily andtwo of my three chil dren are in en gi neer ing schools. The third is amu si cian. In many ways I have been for tu nate, but I have alsomade good de ci sions and have worked very hard for the suc cesses I have achieved.”

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS

STRUC TURAL EN GI NEER ING WORK IS AL WAYS ON THE CUT TING EDGE OFtech nol ogy, as these highly-ed u cated and trained en gi neers turn ideasinto re al ity by com bin ing the prin ci ples of sci ence and math e mat ics.This is one of the most se ri ous and chal leng ing ca reers, and the menand women who are li censed and earn the ti tle Pro fes sional En gi neer(PE), are the prob lem-solv ers who com bine knowl edge, judg ment andcom mon sense to make things work quicker, better and moreef fi ciently. To be a struc tural en gi neer you should be:

Very strong in science and mathematics and computers, andcomfortable in using the latest technology and equipment. Structuralengineering is based on precision, and every fraction of measurementand figure of calculation counts.

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Knowledgeable about construction methods, differentmaterials, tools of the trade, transportation systems, engineeringresources, security and public safety issues, local, state and federalrules and regulations, costs versus benefits and more. Much of this will come with education and experience.

Curious, inquisitive and creative. Structural engineers wonderhow things work and why they do not work. They keep ask ingques tions to get to the root causes of prob lems and care fully lis ten tothe an swers. From this on go ing cu ri os ity and di a logue co mes theirin no va tive creations.

Analytical and detail oriented. Every project undertaken by astructural engineer requires an analysis that strips away the surfaceappearances and gets to the core. No detail is too small to leave tochance. This professional can spend days and weeks, even months,going over what others would consider the most insignificant data toensure that the specifications are accurate and will work in reality.

An excellent communicator, both speaking and writing. Structuralengineers communicate with other engineers, scientists, technologists, technicians, clients, and other professionals. They share their findingsin reports, scientific papers given at meetings, and in publications andother venues. A good grasp of the English language is critical, and that includes the meaning of words, good spelling and knowing the rulesof grammar and composition.

A team player. Every structural engineering project involves manyprofessionals and nonprofessionals. Working under pressure in tensesituations can be difficult, but as part of a team, the structuralengineer meets each challenge with a positive attitude and thewillingness to work together to solve any problem. Who gets the credit is never as important as seeing the project completed. Those who aregood team players will get noticed.

Trustworthy with confidential information. Most structuralengineering projects are costly and involve a great deal of money,often from several different sources. The engineer is privy toconfidential information both in and out of the office, and discretion is critical when discussing what is seen and heard.

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POSITIVE ASPECTS

STRUC TURAL EN GI NEERS ARE WELL RESPECTED, SMART, CRE ATIVE AND IN-DE MANDpro fes sion als who work in cit ies and towns across the coun try andaround the world on in ter est ing and chal leng ing pro jects that rangefrom a hand-held ma chine to a mighty sky scraper. The work isnec es sary as it ben e fits man kind in many ways di rectly and in di rectly.

These pro fes sion als tackle some of the most daunt ing prob lemsfac ing the planet es pe cially when it co mes to the in fra struc ture inag ing cit ies, dwin dling re sources such as wa ter and oil, globalwarm ing, the qual ity of air, and plan ning to ac com mo date a globalpop u la tion ex plo sion. Struc tural en gi neers work on the pro jects thatmat ter to our work, home and rec re ation. From the roads we ride onto the build ings where we work and live, struc tural en gi neers touchev ery one’s life in ways most can not even imag ine.

Struc tural en gi neer ing is com plex and re quires cre ative think ing to de sign and de velop struc tures that are made of com pos ite ma te ri als,are re sis tant to earth quakes and wind storms, fa tigue and vi bra tions.Struc tural en gi neers use sci en tific knowl edge and the prin ci ples ofmath e mat ics to achieve func tional and struc tur ally-safe struc tures.

There are many at trac tive op tions in this field. Pro fes sion als canfur ther spe cial ize in ar eas such as build ing en gi neer ing, bridgeen gi neer ing and pipe line en gi neer ing.

Struc tural en gi neers study hard and work hard, and are very wellcom pen sated. In fact, they are among the high est paid pro fes sion alsin any ca reer. The re wards are many, es pe cially when a pro ject hasbeen com pleted and the re sults of your la bor are in ev i dence. Then allthe long hours and prob lems give way to an ap pre ci a tion of your skills and ac com plish ments.

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NEGATIVE ASPECTS

STRUC TURAL EN GI NEER ING IS A VERY HARD COURSE OF STUDY TO MAS TER, ANDyou re ally must be a top stu dent in math and sci ence to com plete theed u ca tion and com pete for work. The field is highly com pet i tive, andwhile the earn ings are ex cel lent, you may not feel they are al waysworth the long hours and frus tra tions.

The dead lines are strict and con stant and can make you crazy asev ery thing has to be done ei ther im me di ately or yes ter day. It can be ahas sle to get your opin ions heard un less you are in the top tier ofman age ment or in a se nior po si tion. Then there is the blame game – if any thing goes wrong they point fin gers and look for a scape goat.

There are al ways more new things to learn, as the tech nol ogykeeps ad vanc ing. It is dif fi cult to keep up with new sys tems andmeth ods and ma te ri als and rules. Take com puter soft ware pro gramsfor ex am ple. By the time you have mas tered the lat est pro gram orsys tem, there is an even newer one on the ho ri zon. And, it takes manyhours on your own time to read all the lit er a ture and ar ti cles thatper tain to your work and try to re mem ber all the de tails.

Cli ents don’t ap pre ci ate all the hard work that goes into a pro ject, but only know how to com plain if a prob lem arises. Ev ery one ex pectsyou to have all the an swers and then be knowl edge able and cre ativeand per form mir a cles.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

ALL CA REERS RE QUIRE SOME EDUCA TION AND TRAIN ING, BUT A CA REER INen gi neer ing re quires rig or ous ac a demic prep a ra tion be cause no onecan be come a pro fes sional en gi neer with out the re quired ac a demicqual i fi ca tions and licensure. And the qual i fi ca tions for civil en gi neer ing and its struc tural en gi neer ing spe cialty are among the most rig or ousand com plex found in any field.

On the plus side, your civil en gi neer ing ed u ca tion and train ing will pre pare you for a va ri ety of jobs from busi ness to com putertech nol ogy, gov ern ment, sta tis tics, math e mat ics, teach ing, pol icy andplan ning. So if you should de cide to change ca reers later in life, youwill be in good shape with your civil en gi neer ing de gree. Many abusi ness ex ec u tive started out as a civil en gi neer. The first step is tocheck out the schools that have ac cred ited en gi neer ing pro grams.

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There are more than 1,800 ac cred ited pro grams in en gi neer ing atin sti tu tions of higher learn ing. A list can be found at the Ac cred i ta tionBoard for En gi neer ing and Tech nol ogy (ABET) website atwww.abet.org. Click on Ac cred ited Pro grams, then En gi neer ingPro grams, and you can do your re search by re gion or spe cialty.Re mem ber, the op er a tive word is ac cred ited, be cause most em ploy erswill only con sider hir ing grad u ates from ac cred ited in sti tu tions.

If civil en gi neer ing is your ca reer goal, and struc tural en gi neer ingyour de sired spe cialty, then you should al ready be tak ing these courses in high school: ad vanced al ge bra, trig o nom e try, ge om e try, cal cu lus,phys ics, chem is try, com puter pro gram ming/com puter ap pli ca tions,bi ol ogy, so cial stud ies, hu man i ties/fine arts, Eng lish and for eignlan guages.

There are also ad vanced level courses in many high schools forthose in ter ested in the ca reer of en gi neer ing, es pe cially hon ors andAd vanced Place ment courses in math e mat ics and phys ics. Check withyour coun selor about these classes. Col leges seek not just stu dentswith good grades, but stu dents who are well rounded, withback grounds that in clude ex tra cur ric u lar ac tiv i ties, sum mer jobs andin tern ships. An other help ful website is the Ju nior En gi neer ingTech ni cal So ci ety (JETS) at www.jets.org.

Typ i cally, bach e lor de gree pro grams in en gi neer ing are de signedto last four years, but many stu dents take five years to com plete theirde gree. Col lege ed u ca tion will start with ba sic sci ence andmath e mat ics courses that will be the foun da tion of your stud ies. Thisis the foun da tion for all en gi neer ing stud ies, what ever spe cialty youpur sue. The fresh man year can be the hard est for en gi neer ingstu dents, be cause in ad di tion to get ting used to the rig ors of col lege,you will also have fre quent ex ams, more lec tures, prob lem sets andlab o ra to ries. Sta tis tics show that a high num ber of stu dents drop outor do not con tinue in the en gi neer ing pro gram af ter the first yearbe cause of these chal lenges.

By the soph o more year, stu dents are usu ally re quired to choosetheir ma jor – civil en gi neer ing, for ex am ple – and be gin to re ally delvedeeper into the spe cialty. Struc tural en gi neer ing is a ma jor part of thecivil en gi neer ing pro gram. The heavy spe cialty study is usu ally done inthe last two years. There are also joint pro grams with two years in anen gi neer ing school, fol lowed by a three year pro gram in lib eral artsstudy. And there are co op er a tive bach e lor’s and mas ter’s de gree fiveor six year pro grams that com bine class room study with prac ti cal

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work, al low ing stu dents to get valu able ex pe ri ence and help fi nancepart of their ed u ca tion.

Courses and con cen tra tions vary from school to school, and youmust care fully check to find the pro gram that fits your in ter ests,re quire ments and bud get. Many em ploy ers now look for can di dateswith a mas ter’s de gree in an en gi neer ing spe cialty, and many stu dentschoose to con tinue their ed u ca tion and get a mas ter’s to en hancetheir job pros pects. If you are in ter ested in pur su ing re search or ateach ing ca reer then you will need a PhD. Getting Your LicenseEn gi neers must be li censed in all 50 states and the Dis trict of Co lum bia if you are of fer ing ser vices di rectly to the pub lic. The can di date mustbe a grad u ate of an ac cred ited pro gram, have at least four years ofrel e vant work ex pe ri ence, and suc cess fully com plete the stateex am i na tion. The exam co mes in two parts. The ini tial Fun da men talsof En gi neer ing (FE) is taken upon grad u a tion. When you pass you willbe called En gi neer in Train ing (EIT). The sec ond ex am i na tion co mesaf ter some suit able work ex pe ri ence and is called the Prin ci ples andPrac tice of En gi neer ing. When you pass both parts, you will be able touse the designation PE (Professional Engineer).

Some states have man da tory con tin u ing ed u ca tion re quire mentsfor main tain ing your li cense, and most states rec og nize li censes fromother states. In ad di tion, there are var i ous cer tif i cate pro grams of fered by pro fes sional or ga ni za tions to show case the com pe tency in spe cialty ar eas of en gi neer ing.

Your work as an en gi neer will be ex act ing, and fail ures can costlives and loss of prop erty, which is why so much em pha sis is placed on ed u ca tion and train ing. Noth ing can ever be left to chance.

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EARNINGS POTENTIAL

A CA REER PATH SHOULD NEVER BE SE LECTED BASED ON IN COME ALONE, BUT YOUdo want to know that your ca reer choice will bring you fi nan cialre wards. En gi neers are paid some of the high est start ing sal a ries ofany group with bach e lor’s de grees. Civil en gi neers are among the bestpaid of all the en gi neer ing spe cialty sal a ries.

Most en gi neer ing sal ary sur veys list civil en gi neers and do notbreak out spe cific sal ary in for ma tion on the spe cialty of struc turalen gi neer ing.

Please keep in mind that sal a ries in all fields, in clud ingen gi neer ing, dif fer from state to state and re gion to re gion. Also inplay are the size of the com pany or or ga ni za tion you work for, thearea of the coun try you work in, your ed u ca tion and train ing, howmuch ex pe ri ence you have, your job ti tle and re spon si bil ity, and otherfac tors.

Ac cord ing to one re cent sur vey, the av er age an nual sal a ries ofstruc tural en gi neers in var i ous re gions of the coun try range be tween$55,000 and $65,000.

An other sal ary sur vey for struc tural en gi neers re ports the me diansal ary by year’s ex pe ri ence: Less than one year $50,000One to four years $55,000Five to 10 years $65,00010 to 19 years $75,000Over 20 years $90,000

This sur vey has the fed eral gov ern ment as an em ployer lead ing inthe me dian sal ary range with $80,000, fol lowed by state and lo calgov ern ment with $70,000, self-em ployed at $70,000, com pa nies at$60,000, and pri vate prac tice firms at $55,000.

US gov ern ment sta tis tics in di cate that the me dian in come for civilen gi neers is about $70,000, with the low est 25 per cent at $55,000,the high est 25 per cent at $90,000, and the high est 10 per cent at over$100,000. The av er age start ing sal ary for civil en gi neers with abach e lor’s de gree is about $50,000.24

OPPORTUNITIES

TAKE A WALK DOWN MANY STREETS IN YOUR CITY OR TOWN AND YOU WILL FINDold build ings ready for ren o va tion or re place ment. Ride on the streetsor high ways and feel the un even ness, pot holes, and buck ling. Re centstud ies have noted the poor con di tions of many of the bridges acrossthe coun try and how they need re pairs, badly. While this is only onepart of the work of struc tural en gi neers, it is a ma jor part and one that is cry ing out for at ten tion.

The be gin ning of the 21st cen tury is pos ing many chal lenges incor rect ing in fra struc ture prob lems, and Amer ica and the world willlook to civil en gi neers, in gen eral, and struc tural en gi neers, inpar tic u lar, to keep cit ies, bridges and roads vi a ble and sta ble. Thereare nu mer ous cor po ra tions, con struc tion com pa nies, en gi neer ing firms and other or ga ni za tions al ready work ing on these prob lems. Theneeds will only in crease over the com ing de cades, and the call to work for more struc tural en gi neers will be loud and will grow sig nif i cantly.

An other chal lenge for struc tural en gi neers is the growth inpop u la tion across the coun try and around the world, and the need for more houses and hous ing units, of fice build ings and cor po ratecom plexes, schools, shop ping cen ters, healthcare fa cil i ties and muchmore. Ur ban and sub ur ban ar eas must ex pand. Build ing en gi neers willbe in high de mand as they an a lyze ar eas, de sign ev ery type ofstruc ture – ed u ca tional, com mer cial and res i den tial – and over see con struc tion to ac com mo date the ex pand ing pop u la tion.

There is the prob lem with dwin dling en ergy re sources. Oil is agood ex am ple, as the search con tin ues for fer tile fields across thiscoun try and off shore. Many more pipe line en gi neers will be re quiredto keep the oil flow ing to more cit ies from coast to coast. This will beno small feat as these struc tural en gi neer ing spe cial ists will have to becre ative in de vis ing new types of pipe lines to be con structed with newma te ri als and po si tioned within ever more crowded cit ies, towns andcoun try sides. There is also the wa ter sup ply and the need for struc tural en gi neers to har ness and pro tect this pre cious re source with newtypes of wa ter ways, dams and ir ri ga tion sys tems.

To keep pace with all the new con struc tion over the next 50 years,there will be a grow ing need for more struc tural en gi neers to de signbig ger and more tech ni cally-ad vanced com put ers, soft ware pro grams,and con struc tion and earth- mov ing equip ment to get the jobs done.

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In healthcare, struc tural en gi neers will be called upon to de signnew di ag nos tic and other med i cal equip ment that will al lowhealthcare pro fes sion als to have greater suc cess in the pre ven tion ofill nesses.

Struc tural en gi neers will also de sign and work on amuse ment park rides, sport ing are nas, air ports and more.

Struc tural en gi neers will con tinue work ing for NASA and theIn ter na tional Space Sta tion, and some will pi o neer a new type ofstruc ture that could be built on an other planet, such as Mars, whenwe ar rive there some time later on in the 21st cen tury.

There is no ques tion that op por tu ni ties for work for struc turalen gi neers will grow and grow.

GETTING STARTED

IF YOU HAVE READ TO THIS POINT, THEN YOU ARE IN TER ESTED IN FIND ING OUTmore about a ca reer in struc tural en gi neer ing. You have all thenec es sary ba sic data, and now you must ad vance to the next level sothat you have all the in for ma tion avail able to go for ward and makeyour ca reer move. You must al ready be an ex cel lent stu dent with good study hab its, be cause this ca reer is very se ri ous when it co mes toed u ca tion and train ing.

Un der stand first that you must earn a bach e lor’s de gree in civilen gi neer ing from an ac cred ited col lege or uni ver sity be fore you canpur sue a con cen tra tion in struc tural en gi neer ing. Given to day’scom pet i tive job mar ket, you may need to earn a mas ter’s de gree incivil en gi neer ing with a con cen tra tion in struc tures or struc turalen gi neer ing.

Struc tural en gi neers must be knowl edge able about math andsci ence and com put ers be fore en ter ing a de gree pro gram. Right off inyour first se mes ter, you will be into an in tro duc tion to civilen gi neer ing, gen eral chem is try, gen eral chem is try lab o ra tory,en gi neer ing graphics and de sign, cal cu lus and an a lytic ge om e try,so cial sci ence and the hu man i ties. It does not get eas ier.

Be cause of the com plex ity of struc tural en gi neer ing and thecom mit ment you will need to make in terms of ed u ca tion andtrain ing, it is very im por tant that you know as much upfront aspos si ble so that your de ci sion to go ahead is an in formed one. Thismeans do ing your own re search on this ca reer, and talk ing with thosewho know struc tural en gi neer ing and work in this field. 26

Be come a sponge and read ev ery thing you can find on civilen gi neer ing and struc tural en gi neer ing. Look over the list ofas so ci a tions and pub li ca tions with their websites. Visit ev ery one andsearch their links. Make notes. Form ques tions. Ask for even morein for ma tion. Many have his tor i cal data and in ter views withpro fes sion als and per ti nent ar ti cles from ma jor pub li ca tions.

Visit the ABET website for ac cred ited schools of en gi neer ing andre search a few just to get their re quire ments, costs and coursework.How do your tal ents, grades and in ter ests match up? Will you be up to the chal lenge? Look in your lo cal tele phone di rec tory for civilen gi neer ing firms and make ap point ments to talk with as manypro fes sion als as pos si ble. Maybe in vite a struc tural en gi neer to talk toyour high school math, com puter or sci ence class. Talk with yourschool coun selor, teach ers, fam ily and friends about struc turalen gi neer ing as a ca reer path and get their in put.

Se lect ing a ca reer is one of the most im por tant de ci sions you willmake in your life, and it should be made with as much in for ma tion asyou can gather from a va ri ety of re sources. Be com ing a struc turalen gi neer will re quire a heavy com mit ment in time, ef fort and money.Whether you wind up in struc tural en gi neer ing or an other ca reer,make this time count. Start your search to day.

Good luck!

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ASSOCIATIONS

ê Amer i can Coun cil of En gi neer ing Com pa nieswww.acec.org ê Amer i can En gi neer ing As so ci a tionwww.aea.org ê Amer i can Pipe line In sti tutewww.api.org ê Amer i can So ci ety of Civil En gi neerswww.asce.org ê As so ci a tion for Bridge Con struc tion and De signhttp://abcdpittsburgh.org ê Bridge En gi neer ing As so ci a tionwww.bridgeengineer.org ê The De sign-Build In sti tute of Americawww.dbia.orgê En gi neer Girlwww.engineergirl.org ê In ter na tional As so ci a tion for Bridge and Struc turalEn gi neer ingwww.iabse.ethz.ch ê Na tional Acad emy of En gi neer ingwww.nae.edu ê Na tional Coun cil of Struc tural En gi neers As so ci a tionwww.ncsea.com ê Na tional So ci ety of Pro fes sional En gi neerswww.nspe.org ê Pro fes sional In sti tute of Pipe line En gi neerswww.pipeinst.org ê So ci ety of Women En gi neerswww.swe.org

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ê Struc tural En gi neers As so ci a tion In ter na tionalwww.seaint.org ê All of the above as so ci a tions have jour nals, mag a zinesand news let ters and when you visit their websites click on Pub li ca tions.

WEBSITES

ê I Civil En gi neerwww.icivilengineer.com/struc tural_en gi neer ingê The Bridge Sitewww.bridgesite.com ê Na tional En gi neers Weekwww.eweek.org ê Global Pipe line Monthlywww.pipemag.com ê The Struc tural En gi neerwww.thestructuralengineer.info

COPYRIGHT In sti tute For Ca reer Re search 2009CAREERS INTERNET DATABASE www.ca reers-internet.org

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