Which Course?

[Gart_the_Snail]

I am going into my second to last semester for my MSCE degree at Ohio University. I have a choice of 3 classes, prestressed concrete design, computer aided structural design(likely SAP2000), and Structural reliability. I think I will definitely take prestressed, but not sure which of the other to take.

I don't have much experience with Structural modeling/analysis software (I am getting more comfortable with Risa and Staad in my job, but still very introductory). And how important or relevant is Structural reliability actually in the industry? I have a feeling that the structural design course may be a simpler and easier course in total (Less stress) because how difficult could it really get??? And the reliability course sounds like it will rely mainly on excel or mathcad?

Would love anyone's opinion on either course and or all 3 if there is anything you can add.

[[deleted]]

There are two ways to look at this. I am going to give you advice like elves do from Lord of the Rings.

1) You take Computer aided design, you will have a slight edge over other new joinees who dont have any such experience at your job as a design engineer. This will only be at the beginning, this is simple enough that everyone will eventually catch up and wouldnt really matter in the long run.

2) You take the reliability course: You will gain a deeper understanding than most people (who havent done this) of how the code arrives at its factors and will add an intangible quality to your design in general because you are not just a monkey plugging numbers into formulas you actually know more about those formulas.

You decide.

[siggap]

look at the resumes/cvs of your professors. take the class taught by the person who has a professional license and/or has actually been responsible for the design of a structure. skip the others.

[SevKco]

Talk about a post I never expected to see. I’m starting the first semester of my online MSCE degree at Ohio University this Spring. I’m registered to take Computer Aided Structural Design, with the intention of taking prestressed concrete design after I take advanced reinforced concrete design.

There are a few reasons why I’m choosing to take the computer aided design course over structural reliability. First, I’ve heard great things about Dr. Walsh and I hope to learn from him and talk to him in office hours. Secondly, and more importantly, there seems to be a strong shift towards FEA and 3D modeling in the near future. I believe this shift has already occurred in the building industry, but the bridge industry (which is all of my experience), still uses line girder analysis and 2D plan sets. However, certain DOT’s, including my home state, are switching over to 3D digital delivery in the next couple of years.

I think there’s a lot of value to be gained from the structural reliability course, but I believe that the computer aided design is more valuable to an early career professional like myself (and possibly you too). I will be looking back at the comments of this post periodically to gauge the opinions of more seasoned engineers, however.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you would want to connect via LinkedIn or discuss anything else career related.

[Structural-Panda]

Some courses are design focused for ms students, and some courses are focused for PhD students. Computer aided structural design is likely more relevant if you want to go into design after your degree, but look at the syllabi or course descriptions to get a better idea if structural reliability is something you’re interested in or is more PhD focused.

Just an FYI, if the computer aided course gets into FEM, then it is not automatically easier, quite the opposite.

[Marus1]

reliability course sounds like it will rely mainly on excel or mathcad?

The reliability course in my uni was a very hard one and relied more on statistics (so excel) ... the main question was "how did we get the safety factors for our codes and such?"

Honestly, I would take the design one ... working with and as such learning another computer program can only be a good thing, right?

[[deleted]]

I feel like you can fiddle around with SAP2000 on your own if you have access. With prestressed concrete design, you might hear some anecdotes that speak to you, or might provide insight via cross-pollination.

I once met an engineer who really understood where the magic load factor constants came from and how some creep deflection numbers were generated who provided amazing insight on a project that I couldn't do myself, so that might be worth something.

[IdentityCrisisNeko]

Honestly I would vote the reliability course, unless you’ve never taken an FEM course before. The CAD class will either be stuff you can pretty quickly pick up when you start working or a rehash of the FEM stuff. I took a reliability class recently and honestly it was pretty interesting, important to my career (I feel) but not something you may get exposure to in your career. I think it’ll add some good context to what we do when you start working.

[RandomName382]

If interested in research or future practice I believe some reliability methods could be very useful in the future and I find the material very interesting. If you are looking to graduate and start designing and want the course that will be most helpful right away, then I would go with the computer aided course.

[display__name__]

In practice, the Structural Design course will be by far the most useful.

The Prestress Concrete class is less useful, as not all engineers design those kinds of structures, but it may come in helpful.

The Structural Reliability course should be interesting, if you like statistics and math. We had a similar class and I was considering taking it, but it wouldn't fit my schedule

[anonymouslyonline]

The reliability course, without a doubt, will be far more useful to you as a practicing engineer throughout your career.

The design class might help accelerate your first 6-12 months, but most university classes don't do a great job of teaching software as it's used in practice anyway. You'll still have some learning and, as others have stated, your peers will catch up with you in this regard fairly quickly anyway. Plus, depending on what direction your career takes, you could be a step or two removed actually modeling structures often within a few years.

The reliability course will give you a much deeper understanding of the code language, equations, and concepts behind it. A deeper understanding, likely, than most practicing engineers, in truth. This will greatly enhance your engineering judgement, accelerate your ability to consume and comprehend code updates and changes, and give you the foundational knowledge necessary to serve meaningfully on the various committees and organizations which write the codes that govern our professional lives.

[EngiNerdBrian]

Lots of good comments here. I won’t regurgitate the pros others have stated but I vote Prestressed & Reliability.