Safety first: The challenge is to create and maintain safe and low-cost structures

Structural engineers design and erect buildings that can resist natural disasters and accidents like fire, etc. Buildings, bridges, stadiums and other such facilities define the traditional focus of structural engineers. The field also extends to include power plants, pipelines, aerospace vehicles, ships, etc.

Structural engineering is a field of engineering that deals with the design of any structural system, the purpose of which is to support and resist various loads. They also play an important role in designing machinery where the structural integrity of the design is a matter of safety and reliability. Large man-made objects ? from furniture to medical equipment and from vehicles like trucks, aircraft, spacecraft and watercraft to cranes ? require the structural engineer?s inputs.

Structural engineering is a sub-field of civil engineering. It is largely the application of Newtonian mechanics to the design of structural elements and systems that support buildings, bridges, walls, dams, tunnels, etc.

What do i have to do?

A structural engineer analyses and designs the gravity support and lateral force resistance of buildings, bridges and other structures. The job of the structural engineer includes physical testing, mathematical modelling and computer simulation. The ultimate end of all this is the creation and maintenance of safe and low-cost structures.

Structural loads on structures are generally classified as live loads such as the weight of occupants and furniture in a building, the force of wind or the volume of water or force exerted due to a seismic activity like an earthquake, etc. The dead load includes the weight of the structure itself.

Structural engineers ensure that their designs satisfy a given design intent predicated on safety (i.e. structures do not collapse without due warning) and on serviceability (i.e. floor vibration and building sway are not uncomfortable for the occupants). In addition, structural engineers are also responsible for making efficient use of funds and building materials to achieve these goals.

Typically, entry-level structural engineers design simple beams, columns, and floors of a new building, including calculating the loads on each as well as the load capacity of various other building material like steel, timber, masonry, concrete, etc). An experienced engineer takes into consideration more difficult structures while keeping in mind the physics of moisture, heat and energy inside the building components.

What should i study?

You should have a BTech in civil engineering. Structural engineering is usually taught as a subject as part of civil engineering. Some universities also accept a valid GATE score.

The core subjects of structural engineering include the strength of materials or solid mechanics, material science, numerical analysis and conceptual structural design, reinforced concrete, composite structure, timber, masonry and structural steel, pre-stressed concrete design, space frame design for building and aircraft, bridge engineering, civil and aerospace structure rehabilitation, etc.

What next?

Structural engineering and in particular research in structural engineering plays a vital role in fulfiling the future needs of the construction industry. Structural engineers are employed in major construction projects carried out by the state or central government, the railways, private construction companies, military, engineering services, consultancy services, etc. Employment opportunities also exist for them in the research and teaching institutions.

Large construction houses, multinationals, builders and promoter firms and real estate developers also employ professional construction managers. Building and construction professionals can eventually set up their own consultancy firms after acquiring considerable experience in the field. You can also opt to work freelance on projects for different organisations on a contractual basis.

WHERE TO STUDY

• Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai
• Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur
• The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
• International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad
• Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay, Mumbai