freezingbum

I was wondering if you guys can rank the importance of these classes for a structural engineer? There are more TE's but I've pretty much narrowed it down to these. Now, I don't really need any because of my previous projects but I want to take 2-3. Well, I'm going to be taking courses on steel and concrete but would you consider any of these crucial?

Design of Timber Structures: Properties of wood and lumber grades. Design of axially loaded members. Design of beam-column. Properties of plywood and structural-use panels. Design of horizontal diaphragms. Design of shear walls. Design of nailed and bolted connections.

Nondestructive Evaluation and Design: Damage detection, materials characterization. Introduction to non-destructive evaluation. Impedance-based methods, ultrasonics, acoustic emission, thermography, shearography, liquid penetrant, proof testing, stress coatings, vibrational techniques.

Earthquake Engineering: Elements or seismicity and seismology. Seismic hazards. Dynamic analysis of structures under ground motion. Elastic and inelastic response spectra. Modal analysis, nonlinear time-history analysis. Earthquake resistant design. Seismic detailing.

Geotechnical Engineering: General introduction to physical and engineering properties of soils. Soil classification and identification methods. Total and effective stress. Permeability, seepage, and consolidation phenomena. Shear strength of sand and clay.

Foundation Engineering: Application of soil mechanics to the analysis, design, and construction of foundations for structures. Soil exploration, sampling, and in-situ testing techniques. Stress distribution and settlement of structures, bearing capacities of shallow foundations. Axial and lateral capacity of deep foundations, earth pressures on retaining walls.

Engineering Geology: Influence of geology on design of engineering works. Mineral and rack identification and their engineering behavior. Geologic mapping. Rock mechanics, rock slope stability, and tunnel engineering.

Well, I wouldn't want to take all of these but which would be most important for a structural engineer in southern california.

Corbett

For a structural engineer in California, I would recommend earthquake engineering. As a professional, you will ultimately want to get state Civil PE and SE licenses. California uses the national Civil PE and Structural II exams; however, California also requires difficult supplemental examinations on seismic design for both licenses.

As a structural engineer, you probably won't be doing geotechnical engineering or engineering geology in California -- there are other licensed professionals (GEs and CEGs) that typically handle those issues. For an SE, I would recommend foundation engineering, because the foundation is the interface between the structure (which is the SE's domain) and the soil (which is the GE's/CEG's domain).

CasualObserver

I disagree... Freezingbum, haven't you mentioned in the past that you plan to go to grad school? If you don't, I think you ought to reconsider, and if you do, I think you ought to concentrate on laying a good academic foundation right now.

Once you get to grad school and you take a few structural dynamics courses, then you'll gain a whole new perspective on earthquake engineering and can take a course in it then. If you've taken structural dynamics already, you can consider taking it, but only if you really want to... If you haven't taken structural dynamics courses, then don't take earthquake engineering yet. You need that dynamics foundation in order to understand what's going on.

Yes, there are other folks who handle geotechnical issues and stamp geotech plans, but it would behoove you to understand foundation-soil interactions, if you haven't had soil mechanics or something like it yet. It teaches you the language of geotechnical engineers and helps you work with them better... You've gotta design the grade beams and foundations, they just make recommendations as to which type of foundation you ought to use!

I'd tag geotechnical engineering first. If you enjoy that, take foundation engineering, too. Beyond that, I'd definitely look at taking wood design.

I don't think engineering geology would help you a ton. NDE would be interesting and useful, but only if you're at all interested in going into structural forensics or something, and then, technicians are typically employed to take NDE readings and provide reports.

ken285

Definitely geotechnical engineering and foundation engineering (for the same reasons others have mentioned). I don't think engineering geology will be of much use to you, nor will timber structures, unless you plan on designing small houses. Nondestructive engineering and design sounds interesting, but I don't believe it will be as useful as geotech and foundations (unless you plan on going into that field). Earthquake engineering would be good as well, being that you're in California.

freezingbum

Thanks a lot for your tips guys! Well I think it would be a little easier if I told my interests.

Well I'm currently and undergrad shooting for a masters I haven't taken structural dynamics yet but it's in my schedule. I'm interested in working on industrial projects and the application of seismic isolation devices but I don't want to limit myself because I may end up loving something else more.

Well I'm still not certain on which TE's I'm going to take but I now have a better idea.

Geotechnical Engineering - Definately Going to try it.
Foundation Engineering - Planning on taking it, unless I can't stand geotechnical engineering.
Timber Design - Maybe, not really interested in residential buildings and wood applications.
Earthquake Engineering - Maybe. Might serve as an intro to what I'm going to learn in grad school because there seems to be a lot more to this topic than 1 undergrad class.

NDE and Engineering Geology don't seem that useful.

CasualObserver

Timber design is used in mid-sized commercial developments, too. Don't rule it out completely. It's good to have some familiarity in things ilke wood and masonry design, so keep it as an open option in case one of the other TEs don't work out. Good luck!