Field trips to construction sites are an important learning experience.
Have you ever been to a basketball game? Isn’t it exciting when the students jump to cheer their team and follow the cheerleading crew? Well, this would not be possible without structural engineers who designed the bleachers so they can safely support a dynamic loading. Have you ever seen how properly designed buildings (even skyscrapers!) can go through an earthquake and survived just fine? Structural engineers can save lives. Have you ever seen the Grand Coulee dam and wondered at how much water it can hold? Structural engineers designed it.
A structural engineer analyzes and designs buildings, bridges, sport facilities, theaters, hospitals, mining equipment, cranes, shelters, industrial facilities, water treatment facilities, aqueducts, churches, hotels, and you name it -- anything that needs to support static, dynamic, environmental loads. The task of a structural engineer is to ensure that the loads are carried safely to the foundations. The possibility of employment, research and application of structural engineering are endless.
Concrete, steel, masonry and timber are the most commonly used construction materials, and all of them are covered in Gonzaga's design classes.
What You'll Study in Structural Engineering
The subdiscipline requires knowledge of statics, dynamics, construction materials, foundations and more. Some of these subjects are in the standard civil engineering coursework. Others are specific technical electives for your senior year. The Civil Engineering major section of the Catalog marks these technical electives with an "S."
Sara Ganzerli is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA. She received her BS and MS in Civil Engineering at the University of Pavia in Italy and earned a PhD. in Structural Engineering at the University...
Dr. Paul S. Nowak, P.E. is a Professor of Civil Engineering, and has also served as the Associate Dean of Engineering and Applied Science. He earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology in 1989. In 1980 he received...
Students interact with real-world and real-scale materials in the two-story lab complete with strong wall and floor for large-scale testing. During their coursework, students test and study concrete, masonry, steel, wood and glass. Material testing systems include:
Two small-scale MTS machines test strength, stability, and compaction in multiple materials, including soils, and rigging systems.
Five Enerpac test frames measure material strength and durability.
