Structural engineering education is often approached from the bottom up: study physics and math, then statics, mechanics, structural analysis, structural design in steel, concrete, timber, and maybe masonry, and advanced classes in structural theory, modeling, dynamics, and others. The progression makes some sense, but perhaps there's another way...

What if you learned about structures from the top down?

• by measuring the behavior of real structures first (mostly using your cell phone!)

• by modeling them with a computer the way you're likely to do if you enter structural engineering practice

• by arriving at a mathematical understanding of structures only after you experience how they behave

Structural engineers must work between these three representations of structures seamlessly and have learned sometimes with a focus on the mathematical models and sometimes through experience with real structures. But lately, structural engineering practice has shifted to use more computer models, with mathematical models providing a means to confirm the functioning of more capable computer models. All models are intended to simulate the behavior of real structures, to better predict the behavior of structures yet to be built or to assess the deteriorating performance of structures in service for a long time. 

This website has been developed to engage students of structural engineering with progressively complex physical structural models and measurements to learn about structural mechanics, materials, and traditional methods of analysis and design. It relies on the work of other engineering educators to fill in the gaps in physics, mathematics, statics, and strength of materials. As you work through the activities here, you will realize when you need more information to understand a concept and the right resource will be provided at the right time and cross-referenced within the website to other related material. 

Instead of starting with book learning and getting to the real world later, we will begin with reality and move to abstract theories when we need them, which is how those theories were developed originally! 

This site is being actively developed and currently hosts resources related to measurement, models, and methods:

Measurement

• phone-based methods of structural measurement

Models

• a growing library of physical experiments that employ phone-based measurement methods

Methods

• formulas for stiffness and natural frequency of simple structures

• an introduction to structural modeling using MASTAN

• a framework for studying matrix structural analysis using solutions implemented in a spreadsheet

• a spreadsheet implementation of Newmark's numerical method for determining dynamic response

• resources for studying signal analysis and computing the Fast Fourier Transform. 

In due time, I will be adding an inquiry-based introduction to structural dynamics with phone-based measurements and simple structures you can build yourself at home. 

What comes after that? More Ms of course! I'll add content related to materials, modal analysis, and maybe more!