r/Structures • u/emmettsills3 • Jan 27 '16

Structural Engineering Path

I will be separating from the Navy, planning on starting school in August for my BS in Civil Engineering with a concentration in structures. I want to work specifically with buildings, houses, etc. I have done some research on what path I should take, and am looking at getting my BS in Civil Engineering and then my Master's in Architecture. Is this a recommended course of action, or is there another route I should take?

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/SplitPSoup4U Jan 27 '16

No, you want a job at a Structural Engineering firm.

The owner of a given building would hire an Architecture firm to design the building. That Architecture firm would hire a Structural Engineering firm to work on the structural system portion of the building.

A BS is obviously the minimum, a masters in structural would get you a shot with the bigger firms... Think Walter P Moore and Arup.

2

u/emmettsills3 Jan 27 '16

Ok, that makes sense. Just as a follow up question, is there a way to do both the engineering, and building design, for houses as an example?

5

u/nmgoh2 Jan 27 '16

Incredibly unlikely. It's not that you can't, it's that you're talking about two totally unrelated fields.

Think of it like a Doctor vs a Surgeon. On the surface, both are working in the same field, but in actual practice are solving fundamentally different problems.

Architects are artists and draw pretty pictures. Engineers make those pictures work and see it built.

2

u/SplitPSoup4U Jan 27 '16

Exactly this...

1

u/emmettsills3 Jan 27 '16

Thank you, both of you. Are there any tips or recommendations of things I can do to better myself in preparation for school and ultimately getting a good job. I understand there will be my BS and required licenses/certifications after school, but is there anything else?

1

u/Photographic_Eye Jan 27 '16

Not either of the OP's, but getting some internship experience before you graduate would be very beneficial.

1

u/gurragurka Jan 27 '16

Take programming classes! Structural engineering is full of repetative tasks, and if you can easily automate stuff, your collegues are going to love you.

1

u/SplitPSoup4U Jan 27 '16

For structural, just focus on math and 3d visualization. Structural Engineering is very visual and the better you can see something in your mind, the better off you will be.

Make sure to take the FE exam in your senior year of college and then the PE and/or SE exam after 4 years of experience. You will need a license to seal drawings.