Structural Engineering

What gives an engineer confidence to project and build something as large and graceful as the Golden Gate Bridge (the creation of late Purdue professor Charles A. Ellis) knowing that it has to withstand the demands of gravity, wind, and earthquakes?

Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California

Why did Gaudi think of the Sagrada Familia “upside-down” before he started building it?

Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain (inverted model on the left, actual structure on the right)

Who decides how much reinforcing steel goes into a reinforced concrete column supporting 100 floors in a skyscraper? And how do they make that decision?

How far apart can we place the supports of steel girders in our bridges?

If these questions spark your interest, if you would like to test to failure structural models in one of the largest laboratories in the country, then structural engineering is the right career choice for you. Join Purdue’s School Civil Engineering and enroll in structural engineering courses to leave a mark that will benefit and inspire many, and last the test of time as the Golden Gate has.


Spotlights

August 8, 2024

New NSF center applies artificial intelligence to structural engineering

How will machine learning and AI revolutionize the practice of structural design and evaluation? That’s the question being addressed by a collaboration between Purdue University and the University of Houston, with funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF). They are establishing a new center to empower engineers that are responsible for designing and inspecting structures to use AI and machine learning in their everyday tasks.
April 11, 2024

Robert Connor receives Walter P. Moore, Jr. Award

Robert J. Connor, Jack and Kay Hockema Professor of Civil Engineering, received the Walter P. Moore, Jr. Award, presented by the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
March 6, 2024

Bridge Authority

Robert Connor, the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering and Director of the Center for Aging Infrastructure (CAI) and the Steel Bridge Research Inspection Training Center (S-BRITE), has helped make Purdue University a leader in steel bridge research. In this article, he speaks with Modern Steel Construction about his career, research projects, and more.
February 26, 2024

Dennis & Leslie Drag Distinguished Lecture Series

Thomas Murphy, PhD ,P.E., S.E., Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Modjeski and Masters, will present the next Dennis & Leslie Drag Distinguished Lecture, titled "Becoming a Structural Behaviorist," on Monday, March 4th, 2024 at 4:30pm in FRNY G124.
February 23, 2024

Structures Spring 2024 Seminar Series

Islam Mantawy, Ph.D., P.E., Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering at Rowan University, will be presenting a seminar titled, "Next Generation of Concrete and Steel Structures Enabled by Additive Construction/Manufacturing" on Tuesday 2/27 at 4:30 p.m. in HAMP 1144.
January 23, 2024

Going the extraterrestrial mile

For more than four years, Shirley Dyke, Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, has led a team of researchers who aim at developing moon dwellings that can detect and respond to the worst disasters space can muster.
October 19, 2023

Julio Ramirez appointed to VA structural safety advisory committee

Julio Ramirez, Karl H. Kettelhut Professor in Civil Engineering and Director of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Network Coordination Office (NCO) Center, has accepted a 2-year appointment to serve as a Special Government Employee (SGE) member of the Advisory Committee on Structural Safety of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Facilities.
July 26, 2023

Julio Ramirez appointed to ACECC technical committee

Julio Ramirez, Karl H. Kettelhut Professor in Civil Engineering and Director of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Network Coordination Office (NCO) Center, has been appointed as the ASCE representative on the Technical Committee 29 Network Construction and Joint Utilization of Large Scale Experimental Facilities of the The Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council (ACECC).
June 6, 2023

Robert Connor receives AISC Lifetime Achievement Award

Robert J. Connor, Jack and Kay Hockema Professor of Civil Engineering, received the lifetime achievement award from the American Institute of Steel Construction for his significant contributions to the advancement of steel bridge design.
March 21, 2023

Bowen Lab earns Bechtel's Innovation of the Year award

Bechtel Corp. recently presented its Innovation of the Year award to Bowen Laboratory at Purdue University for its contributions to a large-scale government project. The award recognizes proven innovations that have delivered unprecedented results within the company’s execution model.
March 1, 2023

Irfanoglu joins reconnaissance team assessing the devastating destruction from deadly quakes in Turkey

Ayhan Irfanoglu spent his early childhood in the Turkish town of İskenderun, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and an hour’s drive from Antakya, the biblical city of Antioch. Returning to his home country following the series of massive earthquakes on Feb. 6 that have killed over 50,000 people, Irfanoglu says the devastation is overwhelming. But the Purdue University professor remains steadfast in his mission as a civil and structural engineer.
February 14, 2023

Ayhan Irfanoglu joins reconnaissance team surveying earthquake impact in Turkey

Ayhan Irfanoglu, Professor and Associate Head of the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, will be surveying the impact of the recent earthquake in Turkey this week with an advance reconnaissance team dispatched jointly by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association (GEER).
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