Structural Engineering is a specialization in civil engineering and the course in structural engineering enables the candidates to update their knowledge in structural behavior and design. The course curriculum entails a full knowledge of structural construction, detailing, design and analysis and it helps the students in developing an in-depth knowledge in the field of structural behavior and design.

Structural Engineering at PG level is offered either under Master of Engineering or under Master of Technology category and many colleges offer this course as a specialization under M.E/M. Tech Civil Engineering. The names of government colleges offering structural engineering course at PG level are given below:

Government Colleges for M.E/M. Tech Structural Engineering:

• Government College of Technology, Coimbatore

• Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore

• Tamil Nadu College of Engineering, Coimbatore

• College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram

• College of Engineering, Pune

• Government College of Engineering, Amravati

• Indian Institute of Technology, Karagpur

• National Institute of Technology, Rourkela

• National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode

• College of Engineering, Andhra University

• National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar

• College of Engineering, Guindy

• National Institute of Technology, Durgapur

• National Institute of Technology, Trichy

• Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

• College of Engineering & Technology, Bhubaneswar

• Visveswaraya University College of Engineering

Eligibility requirements:

For getting into the Master of Engineering/Technology in Structural Engineering course, candidates must have completed their UG course in civil engineering. In addition, they should possess valid GATE score since most of the institution admits some percentage of students based on GATE score even if they follow some other entrance examination for admission to the PG engineering/technology courses. As far as reservation of seats for admission, almost all colleges reserve certain percentage of seats for reserved category candidates.

Course outlook:

Generally, the duration of M.E/M. Tech structural engineering course is two years, divided into four semesters and during these two-semesters, candidates will have to undergo classroom training and in the third semesters, they will have to completed their project work for getting course completion certificate. They will have to do dissertation work in the final semester of the course.

What do structural engineers do?

Structural engineers generally research, plan, design and analyze structural systems and components to achieve design goals and to ensure the comfort and safety of the users or occupants. The work of structural engineers normally takes into account environmental, economic, technical and safety concerns and they also consider social and aesthetic factors.  As mentioned earlier, structural engineering is a branch within the main branch of civil engineering.

Responsibilities of structural engineers:

Structural engineers make sure that bridges and building are built strong enough and stable enough to resist all appropriate structural loads like traffic, temperature, earth pressure, earthquake, rain, snow, wind and gravity with a view to prevent loss of life or valuables. They are also responsible for designing structures to be stiff enough not to vibrate or deflect beyond the acceptable limits. When working on a project, they will have to pay attention to the durability of materials against all possible deterioration that might impair performance over the design lifetime.

Career and remuneration for structural engineers:

As far as India is concerned, there are a number of top companies engaged in the field of civil and construction engineering in India and there are also public sector organizations in this field. Further, companies in this field offer very good pay package to candidates with M.E/M. Tech in structural engineering. Nowadays with the increasing importance of beauty of an office or home building, structural engineering with great efficiency not only strong building, but also beautiful buildings have great demand. They can get a lucrative job prospects after completion M.E/M. Tech in Structural Engineering.