I recommend MS degrees if you want to focus on structures, or at least if you want to do larger scale structures. Think about 90% of the engineers at my firm have a master's degree. Clearly not required, but it's typical and I'd take the MS candidate over the BS candidate a majority of the time...
We typically will include an extra 25% stiffness or so for post-tensioned slabs in our service analysis. That's on top of what ACI recommends and based on some language in ACI's SP-240, specifically the portion by Horvilleur et al. So if ACI stiffness is 0.35 for a slab at service level, we'd...
If you're not invested or interested in writing your own standalone programs, it may also be of interest to work with the APIs of existing programs to automate the more mind-numbing (and thus mistake-prone) tasks or checks. We've been using the little downtime we have now while things are a...
I need to pick up a laser measure. Always think it'd be awfully nice when I'm in the field and then forget and find myself stuck with the tape measure again.
Beyond standard PPE I'd add:
- flashlight or headlamp
- crack meter
- something (often a coin) to use as a size reference in photos
-...
Good to hear from you. Will offer both congratulations and condolences.
Really hard decision to make. Follow your passion and struggle to get by or sell out but put your family in a really good spot. Everyone's different. I'd probably make the same decision you did. 30% pay raise plus all...
I'll also add that it can add some weight behind your credentials, both in getting your foot in the door and for getting higher fees. Similar to giving talks, writing articles, etc., a lot of clients are looking for people who provide 'thought leadership'. Maybe your run of the mill owners...
This is mostly correct. 318 tend to be heavy hitters, though not always. ACI (both 318 and overall) is beginning to recognize the need to include people who are not academics or very high end designers in their discussions. So they've started adding contractors and product manufacturers and...
Think the discussions in this thread have reinforced for me the notion that people really need to think defensively and try to find a company that really treats their employees well and sees them as assets to grow rather than cogs in a machine that can be easily discarded or swapped out when...
I don't believe this is correct. I got my SE in another state and got it transferred to IL 3-4 years ago. Did not have to take any examinations. With the SE exam nationwide now, just the NCEES SE exam is all you need from a testing standpoint.
Had education from UIllinois so that was easy. Main...
Per our insurer, condos still about 25x riskier than office or warehouse work. Don't know if that's down from early 00s, but the difference is still significant.
A lot of that is just based on # of potential litigants. Office buildings and warehouses have 1 owner. Condo buildings have many...
Also wonder if this is part of the confusion:
That is not the 'standard of care'. Designing for higher than the code requires does not elevate the standard of care. If it were then every engineer out there not designing everything to a DCR of 1.0 or assuming loads higher than they actually...
In part because performance is dictated by a lot more than design. I didn't build the building. I didn't procure the materials. I didn't independently verify the material strength. I didn't maintain the building. Even with design, I didn't design the architecture, the foundations, the mechanical...
I think it's important to recognize that though PBD is a higher degree of design, it doesn't necessarily change the standard of care. Designing for hire loads than required or doing fancier analysis than most would do is not enough to impact the standard of care. You would have to be...
Like dik, my experience varies greatly. Some are great and I hardly have to do anything. Some suck so bad and are so helpless it's a wonder that they manage to get dressed all by themselves every morning. Most are somewhere between those two extremes. And this isn't to pick on the architects, I...
Those recommendations are for wide flange links.
OP is correct that shear studs are used (and required) for plate reinforced coupling beams. Article on those types of links is here: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%290733-9445%282005%29131%3A8%281294%29.
I have an SE. School should not be significantly more specialized than it is now, at least for the tract I went through.
Very much agree with this. And to be fair, a lot of people coming out are useful on day one but only in the narrow band they learned about in school.
If practitioners are...
Thirded on what jayrod said except I have seen them pour high and chip down occasionally. Usually not nearly as much as your are, but I've seen them over pour a little bit.
May also be prudent to do that on sites were piles want to settle a bit. A lot easier to chip down a pile that's too high...
We always contribute to specs unless the architect goes rogue on us and submits something without our knowledge. Is about 50/50 on starting from our own version of Masterspec (or whatever spec system is being used) vs editing the architect's spec which is often also just plain Masterspec.
For...
I don't have any feedback on the physical aspect. But I would recommend making sure you pay attention to your mental health as well and consider talking to a professional there. Finding the right one can be a challenge but a good professional will help you learn how to function better through...
Left Hawaii mainly because of cost of living. I make the exact same now in Chicago as I did in Hawaii. My wife actually got about a 25% pay increase when we moved.
Also am closer to family now, but cost of living was the main one. If I was making what you make, I probably wouldn't have left.
