Structural Forum opinions on topics of current importance to structural engineers What is Exactly? • Information Seekers (State of the Art) • Specialists in Systems By Erik Nelson, P.E., S.E. • Experts in Construction his is the first in a series of arti- the environment, in providing facilities for com- • Citizens of a Locality of Construction cles that will lay out my thoughts munity living, industry and transportation, and Practices and Material Availability about my profession. I start with in providing structures for the use of humankind.” • Cost Estimators or Experts on Best some common definitions of How could a definition of engineering omit Practices to Reduce Cost Tstructural engineering and then present my the most important word – design! This one is • Experts on Local Fabrication and own perceptions. lengthy and dull, and fails to describe what we Construction Technologies A popular but limited definition of structural do, instead focusing on the end product, what • Experts on Building Codes, engineering is “the art of molding materials we do we make. Saying that a cook makes cake does Specifications, Standards, Guides, and not wholly understand into shapes we cannot pre- not describe cooking very well. Regulations® cisely analyze, so as to withstand forces we cannot Here is more of the same from the National • Risk Evaluators and Code Interpreters really assess, in such a way that the community Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE): • Experts in Calculations at large has no reason to suspect the extent of our “Engineering is the creative application of scien- • Experts in Three-Dimensional ignorance.” (For its history, see Jon Schmidt’s tific principles used to plan, build, direct, guide, Representation in the Mind “InFocus” column in the January 2009 issue of manage, or work on systems to maintain and • Experts in Synthesizing Complex/ improve our daily lives.” STRUCTURE, “The Definition of Structural Copyright This suggests that Unsolvable Things into Simple/ Engineering.”) This is clever and fun but only our creativity is not employed for artistry, self- Solvable things. addresses uncertainty of forces and materials. expression, costs, or constructibility, but solely • Experts in Analysis Modeling Using What a limited understanding of what we for science. That is just plain weird – and wrong. Software do! Yes, we are experts in the ability to make The applied science portion of what we do is • Skeptics of Engineering Software decisions under great amounts of uncertainty, actually the easiest and most straightforward. • Debaters of Efficiency, Economy, and but that is only one aspect of our work. Stress It is objective and has its own linear, step-wise Elegance and strain are necessary calculations but repre- methodology. That is why young engineers are • Artists, Philosophers, Poets, and sent only a small fraction of all that we do; doing the calculations and the modeling, while Dreamers with Unconstrained otherwise, we could be completely replaced more experienced engineers are doing less. Yes, it Self-Expression by computers. Those of us who do genuine needs to be right, so there is a lot of responsibility • Drafters and/or BIM Specialists engineering are never concerned about this. in thismagazine phase; but that does not necessarily make • Collaborators Working Within Another flawed definitionS comes fromT the Rit difficult. U The experiencedC onesT are doingU the DesignR TeamsE British Institution of Structural Engineers: other 90% of what we do, the more difficult • Listeners of the Vision and Needs of “Structural engineering is the science and art of tasks that require much more than calculations. the Project/Client/Architect designing and making, with economy and ele- Design is the other 90% of engineering that is • Users of Rules of Thumb (Heuristics) gance, buildings, bridges, frameworks and other only achieved after one graduates from being a • Experts in the Ability to Make similar structures so that they can safely resist mere applied scientist (or technician) to being Decisions Under Great Amounts of the forces to which they may be subjected.” This a genuine engineer! Uncertainty sounds pretty good, right? Unfortunately, it It is a widespread misconception that engine- Structural (and civil) engineering is the design fails completely in describing how one goes ers are applied scientists. Scientists are applied of big things. This definition may contribute to about designing. Like most other definitions, it scientists. Most of our engineering educators are a positive “rebranding” of the profession which puts too great an emphasis on force resistance. applied scientists. Scientists make sense of what may improve the career appeal of our profes- Yes, we proportion members based largely on exists in nature. They test and examine nature. sion and hopefully help with the dismal 50% forces, but that is only one of many design Scientists discover. Engineers take nature and retention rate in our engineering schools. We considerations – we also have to take construc- make what exists outside of it. Engineers invent have a marketing problem of clearly describing tion practices, architectural constraints, client and create. Engineers are makers. Engineers what we do. Engineering is so much more than needs, and many other factors into account. are designers. Alan Harris put it succinctly: completing calculation procedures!▪ As Hardy Cross famously put it, “Strength is “Engineering is no more applied science, than essential, but otherwise unimportant.” painting is applied chemistry.” Erik Anders Nelson, P.E., S.E. The American Society of Civil Engineers Here is my own definition:“Structural engi- ([email protected]), is owner unfortunately defines thus: neering is the design of BIG things.” The of Structures Workshop, Inc. in Providence, “The profession in which a knowledge of the know-how required to do this is immense and RI. He teaches one class per semester at mathematical and physical sciences gained by study, is only obtained via lifelong learning. Engineers the Rhode Island School of Design and experience, and practice is applied with judgment are 1% to 10% of each of the following: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. to develop ways to utilize economically, the materi- • Scientists Please visit and comment on his blog at als and forces of nature for the progressive well-being • Mathematicians www.structuresworkshop.com/blog. of humanity in creating, improving and protecting • Computer Scientists Structural Forum is intended to stimulate thoughtful dialogue and debate among structural engineers and other participants in the design and construction process. Any opinions expressed in Structural Forum are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NCSEA, CASE, SEI, C3Ink, or the STRUCTURE® magazine Editorial Board. STRUCTURE magazine50 February 2012