structural engineering and architecture? 1

[masamichi]

I have one more question. Please help me with your professional opinions.


Does anybody think If people have structural engineering and architecture degree, they are helpful for job search?

 

[MikeHalloran]

I personally would like to see some level of structural engineering included in the architecture curriculum, so architects might temper their wilder dreams before getting clients all lathered up about stuff that can't be built.

On the other hand, structurally competent architects might not push the edge of both arts hard enough to force advances.

On the other, other hand, I'm not hiring either skill right now.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[KENAT]

On the other hand I have four fingers and a thumb.

I'm guessing it's the kind of dual certification that would be advantageous in some circumstances and problematic in others.

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[drawoh]

masamichi,

How long would it take for a structural engineer/architect to graduate from college?

JHG

 

[csd72]

It would waste more years of your life than it would justify. Though I used to work for a person who had both.

 

[msquared48]

I used to work with someone years ago that had both too. He told me that when he went to school, he had to keep quiet while in Architecture school that he had a BSCE. He said that there was a lot of prejudice at his school, a premier ivy league school to boot, and he would not have passed if anyone had found out.

More proof that Architects do not like Engineers. They don't like cross-breeds either.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[hokie66]

The feeling is mutual.

 

[OHIOMatt]

In the US, we usually must acquire 4 years of experienece upon graduation to sit for the professional engineer's exam. Becoming registered as an architect has similiar requirements.

If you graduate from college, then work as an engineer for 4 years to get registered, would you want to start over in a different field and at a likely lower pay rate?

I think that one would be better off selecting the field that he or she is most pasionate about and striving to be the best that they can be in that field.

 

[msquared48]

Another thought here - kinda hard to mix altruism with realism.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask

 

[csd72]

Yes, good point. The two have very different mindsets.

 

[FeX32]

It's interesting how if we look back in history (particularly far back) we can see that somehow our ancestors managed to combine both aspects in structures in a kind of "harmony".
They went hand in hand so to speak.
I wonder if 'we' are doing something drastically wrong or different?



Fe

 

[rowingengineer]

Fe,
Nice point, I think that this could be due in part to the move from structural expression, to architectural bravo. I can count on a few hands the number of times the architect ruins a building by trying to hide the structural expression behind paint and shiny stuff.


An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field

 

[FeX32]

"structural expression, to architectural bravo"
I like this terminology. Seems to be a nice way to describe it.
It is funny however, because I always thought that architecture was supposed to be structural expression.


Fe

 

[Electic]

I think one will prosper in doing what he is born to do.

If you want to be an architect, be one, or if you want to be a structural engineer be one. Obviously there is a great deal of overlap so having both degrees and licenses could be a great benefit.

But if you are going back to school to get an additional credential so that someone MUST hire you, i think that is a bad investment of time and energy.

 

[gsbaker01]

If you have enough of the right type of experience, then someone will hire you.


Gregory S. Baker
Penn Valley Engineering
Cinnaminson, NJ

 

[oldrunner]

The course that you might consider would be an architectural engineering major. There are a number of good schools who have this major. I graduated from Cal Poly with this degree. In my senior year we had the option of taking either pure architecture or pure structural engineering. Today it's a little different and one doesn't have to take as many courses. I suggest that you review the Cal Poly (SLO) curriculum.

A pure civil engineering degree leaves you at a disadvantage as it doesn't provide many of the tools that are unique to buildings or structures.


By the way, this year is my 50th since graduation and I have never regretted picking this major.

 

[FILGUEIRAS]

An example, from Wikipedia:

"Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is an internationally recognized and award-winning Valencian Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world"

 

[awmstructure]

Does structural engineering title need prefix to make it simple to distinguish between a civil structural engineer , mechanical structural engineer and software structural engineer when you do the search for job, this probably goes for architect job too.

 

[csd72]

awmstructure,

Yes this is something that annoys me too. The guys writing the advertising dont always understand the job or the potential for other jobs to have similar titles. You just have to read the description.