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?
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California
Why did Gaudi think of the Sagrada Familia “upside-down” before he started building it?
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
March 27, 2017
Robert J. Connor, Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the S-BRITE Center, has been selected to receive the 2017 George S. Richardson Medal. The Richardson Medal recognizes a single, recent outstanding achievement in bridge engineering.
February 24, 2017
On January 20th, 2017 a top tension chord of the Delaware River Turnpike Bridge was discovered to be completely fractured. On the morning of the 21st, Dr. Robert J. Connor, Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the S-BRITE Center was called by engineering consultants working for the PA and NJ Turnpikes to assist in the failure investigation and to help develop immediate inspection and long-term retrofit strategies.
February 17, 2017
A new automated system detects cracks in the steel components of nuclear power plants and has been shown to be more accurate than other automated systems.
December 22, 2016
Amit Varma, Professor of Civil Engineering, has been selected to receive the 2017 Special Achievement Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). This award provides special recognition to individuals who demonstrated particular achievements in structural steel education.
December 21, 2016
On 9 December 2016, civil engineering students represented Purdue in the 10th International Bridge Contest. The team consisted of undergraduate students Daixi Yang, Sijia Wang, Ziyu Liu, Cheng Qian, Scott Houldieson (not pictured), and graduate students Aishwarya Puranam and William Pollalis. Support for the team was provided by Prof. Santiago Pujol and his post-doc, Lucas Laughery.
October 4, 2016
According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Ames Construction has donated portions of steel from the old Dresbach Bridge to Purdue's Steel Bridge Research, Inspection, Training, and Engineering (S-BRITE) Center, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
August 20, 2016
Feature article from WBAA with Lyles School of Civil Engineering Professor and S-BRITE Director Robert Connor and LTAP Research Manager Pat Conner about our school's effort to improve bridge inspection.
July 27, 2016
CE grad student Andres Rondon has been awarded first place in the 24th Rudy Scavuzzo Student Paper Symposium and Competition at the 50th Anniversary of the ASME Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference, held in July 2016 in Vancouver, Canada.
July 18, 2016
CE grad students Alana Wilbee and Ghazi Binarandi had the opportunity to travel to the U.K. to participate in the 2016 Asia-Pacific-Euro Summer School on Smart Structures Technology, held at Cambridge University from June 24 - July 13. Professor Shirley Dyke was an invited speaker.
May 11, 2016
Civil Engineering graduate student Aishwarya Puranam has been selected to receive the ACI Presidents' Fellowship for the 2016-2017 academic year.
May 2, 2016
PhD candidate Chul Min Yeum and Professor Shirley Dyke have been awarded the 2015 Hojjat Adeli Award for Innovation in Computing.
March 30, 2016
Chris Williams, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, participated in the 2016 ASCE ExCEEd Teaching Workshop at Florida Gulf Coast University on June 19-24, 2016. He presented three classes during the workshop.
December 15, 2015
Purdue CE students Aishwarya Puranam, Lucas Laughery, and William Pollalis represented Purdue in the 9th International Bridge Contest. They competed against 11 teams from around the globe, and Purdue placed first in the competition for the fifth time in six years.
November 18, 2015
Prof. Julio Ramriez will deliver a keynote lecture at the XX Congress of Earthquake Engineering in Acapulco, Mexico. The conference is presented by the Mexican Society of Earthquake Engineering, and this year's theme is "Resilience of our structures 30 years after the 1985 earthquake."
November 16, 2015
A team of CE researchers working with NIST have been selected to receive the ACI Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research for his co-authored paper, "Experimental Study of Reinforced Concrete Assemblies under Column Removal Scenario."
November 6, 2015
Graduate students from Bowen Laboratory attended the 1st Midwest Smart Structures Technology Colloquium in Grafton, Illinois, held on October 31, 2015.
August 21, 2015
Pedram Hesam, PhD student in structures at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, and his five teammates were awarded the championship prize at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Summer School (APSS) on Smart Structures Technology, held July 26-August 14 at the University of Illinois.
August 5, 2015
Several graduate students from the Lyles School of Civil Engineering made presentations on their research during the 6th International Conference on Advances in Experimental Structural Engineering & 11th International Workshop on Advanced Smart Materials and Smart Structures Technology held jointly at the University of Illinois, August 1-2, 2015.
August 5, 2015
Prof. Shirley J. Dyke was invited to be a Keynote Speaker at both the 7th International Conference SHMII in Torino, Italy, July 1-3, 2015, and the 6th International Conference on Advances in Experimental Structural Engineering & 11th International Workshop on Advanced Smart Materials and Smart Structures Technology held jointly at the University of Illinois, August 1-2, 2015.
August 5, 2015
Dr. Santiago Pujol has accepted the appointment of Academic Director for Research Computing. Dr. Pujol will provide faculty perspective, vision and direction for Purdue’s activities around cyberinfrastructure for research especially the HUBzero platform and the community cluster program.
