Masters

[Shazeb Mirza]

hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well.
I am starting Masters in Structural engineering next week.
Any pro tips or hack I could use or any piece of advise that will help me or your experience .anything

 

[rb1957]

"hack" usually implies (to me at least) something "underhand" (close to illegal) ... probably not the advice we'll share here ...

as for advice ...
work hard,
buy low, sell high,
expect little,
demand a lot, ...

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[ClearCalcs]

One thing I realized doing my Masters is that I was generally happier doing things that interested my supervisor than what I thought was "the best thing". It led to far more interesting conversations, more attentive support, and interesting opportunities like attending big conferences. And in the end I realized, like I think a lot of students do, that it really doesn't matter what's your subject - it really is just about the tools you learn along the way.

More practical things:
- Everyone will tell you this, and like everyone you'll ignore it, but start writing your thesis EARLY
- Don't get so focused on your research / schoolwork that you forget to socialize. The people you meet and the things you do are what you'll remember later on
- If you've got any work in a lab, expect delays. Looooong delays. Your loading frame might get broken by the student before you and BOOM, you're delayed by 6 months. These things happen pretty often.

Good luck!!

http://www.ClearCalcs.com

 

[JoshPlumSE]

What's your ultimate goal with getting your master's degree? That will help to decide your best steps...

If you want to stick with academia (i.e. move onto a PhD program after) then you will want to focus on theory and research. Maybe even some programming.

If you want to get a job in the industry as a structural engineer, then you're going to want to focus on DESIGN. Make sure you learn a lot about detailing, design, and such. You can still focus on some more academic aspects of design (like non-linear analysis, performance based design and such). But, don't forsake the "simple" stuff like CAD and Revit and drawings.

If you want to do something in-between (say get into structural engineering software) then you'd want to focus on somewhere in between the two.

Also, you'll probably find yourself leaning towards some specialty (steel, concrete, post tensioned, bridges). That's not a bad thing. But, if you want to get into regular design, try to make an effort to "fill in the gaps" that you didn't study... like masonry or wood.