collageFree Structural Design Courses Online: If you’re a Civil Engineer seeking free online courses and other courses that will build your knowledge in structural design, then this article is for you. Recently, it’s usually almost impossible to learn all you need to know about your course of study in the classroom.
So, why don’t you explore other knowledge-based platforms to gain mastery in your profession? Exploring online courses not only enlightens you but also skyrockets your knowledge and gives you hands-on experience on the knowledge you seek.
This piece brings to your fingertips on top 21 free structural design courses. Details on each course are explained. Before we go into details let explain a few for those who are still wondering what a structural design is.
What is Structural Design?
Structural design is a part of structural engineering which involves designing, drawing and planning the structure of a building. Basically, this embodies the design of structures as simple as schoolhouses and as elaborate as the International Space Station.
Courses on structural design combine mathematics and physics to calculate a building’s load and determine whether a design can be structurally sound.
Also, it involves proper calculations and preparations to ensure that a structure can withstand natural and manmade disasters before contractors construct the building itself.
Top 21 Free Structural Design Courses Online
Below is a list of the top free structural design online courses in 2021. Majorly, you can take these free courses on Udemy, edX, and Coursera. Taking online courses gives you the opportunity to learn the foundations of structural engineering.
Also, more specific topics, like 3D modeling, engineering mechanics, and the new frontier of green building are x-rayed. A course in advanced engineering can help you understand the dynamics of 3D motion, and a fundamentals course can help you learn about stress, strain, and axial loading.https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-4408042199033737&output=html&h=170&slotname=7148107211&adk=2001228882&adf=109846643&pi=t.ma~as.7148107211&w=680&fwrn=4&lmt=1634827792&rafmt=11&psa=0&format=680×170&url=https%3A%2F%2Fworldstudyportal.com%2Ffree-structural-design-courses-online%2F&flash=0&wgl=1&uach=WyJXaW5kb3dzIiwiMTAuMC4wIiwieDg2IiwiIiwiOTMuMC40NTc3LjgyIixbXSxudWxsLG51bGwsIjY0Il0.&dt=1634827788752&bpp=91&bdt=2727&idt=3678&shv=r20211019&mjsv=m202110200101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&prev_fmts=1200×280%2C800x280&correlator=1504939525265&frm=20&pv=1&ga_vid=870247111.1634827792&ga_sid=1634827792&ga_hid=827710306&ga_fc=1&rplot=4&u_tz=60&u_his=50&u_h=768&u_w=1366&u_ah=728&u_aw=1366&u_cd=24&adx=215&ady=2939&biw=1349&bih=625&scr_x=0&scr_y=806&eid=44750886%2C31063253%2C31062931&oid=2&pvsid=4060881540526062&pem=267&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&eae=0&fc=896&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1366%2C0%2C1366%2C728%2C1366%2C625&vis=1&rsz=%7Cm%7CpeEbr%7Cp&abl=XS&pfx=0&fu=1152&bc=31&ifi=3&uci=a!3&btvi=2&fsb=1&xpc=T4dubzTahM&p=https%3A//worldstudyportal.com&dtd=3747
The list includes;
#1. The Art of Structural Engineering: Bridges
Study Site: edX
Host University: Princeton University
Duration: 8 Weeks (2-3 hours per week)
These free structural online design courses basically teach students how to analyze bridges from three viewpoints: elegance, economy, and efficiency. Also, students will learn bridge analysis forms such as pre-stressed, arch, cable-stayed, tied-arch, suspension, beams. In addition, the course material includes some of the important bridges created since the industrial revolution.FREE DOWNLOAD
#2. Introduction to Aerospace Structures and Materials
Study Site: edX
Host University: Delft University of Technology
The Delft University of Technology prepares students on aerospace structural design for free online. It is ideal for beginners basically on aerospace structures and materials. To be able to pull through this course successfully, you will require basic knowledge of physics and some aircraft and spacecraft terms. Interestingly you get a lot of design assignments, at-home experiments, and quizzes that make the learning journey fun.FREE DOWNLOAD
#3. Structural Materials: Selection and Economics
Study Site: edX
Host University: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Duration: 3 Weeks (2-3 hours per week)
Basically, students learn about the economics and selection process of structural materials. Also, the instructor explains how social, political, economic, environmental, military, and cultural factors intersect and affect material selection. In addition, this comprehensive course comes with a practical curriculum that will increase your foundational knowledge and skills.FREE DOWNLOAD
#4. Cellular Solids Part 1: Structures, Properties and Engineering Applications
Study Site: edX
Host University: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Duration: 9 Weeks (11–13 hours per week)
This is an advanced free structural design online course. Students must already possess knowledge of the mechanical behavior of materials. Also, students learn how the properties of these materials can be applied in lightweight structural panels, energy absorption devices, and thermal insulation. Upon completion, students are eligible to take other courses on applications in medicine and cellular solids in nature. Also, students get a verified certificate on completion.FREE DOWNLOAD
#5. CEE Online Structural Engineering
Host University: Illinois Civil and Environmental Engineering Grainer College of Engineering
Duration: Variable
Here, students study 6 Core Courses and 8 Electives for 36 credit hours, with at least 12 credit hours at the 500-level. It is completely a free structural design online course.FREE DOWNLOAD
#6. Online Graduate Certificate in Structural Engineering
Host University: University of Louisville
Duration: 1 Year
Here 4 structural design courses are required to complete the certification. It’s open to professionals with a bachelor’s in civil engineering who want to expand their knowledge. Students will gain advanced technical knowledge in structural engineering areas such as masonry design, timber design, etc.FREE DOWNLOAD
#7. Mechanics of Materials I: Fundamentals of Stress & Strain and Axial Loading
Host University: Georgia Institute of Technology
This is one of the free structural design online courses that explores the topic of solid objects subjected to stress and strain. At the end of the course, students learn how to predict the response of engineering structures to various types of loading, and to analyze the vulnerability of these structures to various failure modes.FREE DOWNLOAD
#8.Mechanics of Materials II: Thin-Walled Pressure Vessels and Torsion
Full time – 3 weeks long, 9 hours worth of material
Venue – Coursera
Start date – Always Open
This free structural design course online is delivered by Dr. Wayne Whiteman, PE from the Georgia Institute of Technology through Coursera. This course explores the analysis and design of thin-walled pressure vessels and engineering structures subjected to torsion.FREE DOWNLOAD
#9. Autodesk Certified Professional: Revit for Structural Design Exam Prep
Study Site: Coursera
Host University: Autodesk
Duration: 18 hours worth of material, 2 weeks long
Autodesk Corporation will enlighten students on the advanced features of Revit for Structure. Also, they will be enlightened on how to use this tool to support Building Information Modeling and delivery of 3D digital models and related documentation. The lessons are structured to match the exam’s objective domains and follow the typical workflow and features of the Revit software. It’s totally a free structural design online course.FREE DOWNLOAD
#1O. BIM Fundamentals for Engineers
Study Site: Coursera
Host University: National Taiwan University
Duration: 11 hours
Students learn the essential concepts of BIM and the basic technical skills to create and manipulate a BIM model. Also, this will aid students to develop skills on how to retrieve information from a BIM model and how to use common modeling tools.FREE DOWNLOAD
#11. The Art of Structural Engineering: Vaults
Full time – 6 weeks long. 2-3 hours a week
Venue – edX
Start date – Self paced
This is one of the best free structural design courses online delivered by Maria Garlock from Princeton University through the edX online learning platform. The course explores iconic vaults like the Pantheon, but its main focus is on contemporary vaults built after the industrial revolution.
The vaults that will be examined are made of different materials, such as tile, reinforced concrete, steel, and glass, and were created by masterful engineers/builders like Rafael Guastavino, Anton Tedesko, Pier Luigi Nervi, Eduardo Torroja, Félix Candela, and Heinz Isler.FREE DOWNLOAD
#12. Mastering Statics
Study Site: Coursera
Host University: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Duration: 21 hours
This free structural design online course introduces the basic operations that learners need to know in order to solve statics problems. In addition, static problems on structural design are solved and it needs to be examined.FREE DOWNLOAD
#13. Mechanics of Materials IV: Deflections, Buckling, Combined Loading & Failure Theories
Study Site: Coursera
Host University: Georgia Institute of Technology
This course explores the analysis and design of engineering structures considering factors of deflection, buckling, combined loading, & failure theories.FREE DOWNLOAD
#14. Autodesk Certified Professional: Civil 3D for Infrastructure Design Exam Prep
Study Site: Coursera
Host University: Autodesk
This free online structural design course teaches students how to work with point and point groups, parcels, surveying tools, surfaces, alignments, and profiles. Also, students get to learn how to use workflows for plan production such as creating note label styles, view frames and sheets, and data shortcuts. In addition, how to create corridors, sections, pipes, and pressure networks will be demonstrated using 3D software.FREE DOWNLOAD
#15. Structural Design
Study Site: edX
Host University: Purdue University
This MicroMasters Program will expand the knowledge base of civil engineers with basic training in structural analysis and design.
The courses are taught by Purdue University’s reputed, research faculty who bring application knowledge to the instructional content. Purdue is a renowned public university, consistently ranking in the top 10 for engineering programs.FREE DOWNLOAD
#16. Structure of Materials, Part 1: Fundamentals of Materials Structure
Full time – 5 weeks long. 6-8 hours a week
Venue – edX
Start date – Self paced
Study Site: Udemy
This is one of the most popular free structural design courses online delivered by Silvija Gradecak of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through edX.
This course is the first in a three-part series from MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering that explores the structure of a wide variety of materials with current-day engineering applications.
Taken together, these three courses provide similar content to MIT’s sophomore-level materials structure curriculum.
Part 1 begins with an introduction to amorphous materials. Here, you will join to explore glasses and polymers, learn about the factors that influence their structure, and learn how materials scientists measure and describe the structure of these materials.
Then we begin a discussion of the crystalline state, exploring what it means for a material to be crystalline, how we describe the periodic arrangement of atoms in a crystal, and how we can determine the structure of crystals through x-ray diffraction.FREE DOWNLOAD
#17. Structure of Materials, Part 2: The Crystalline State
Full time – 5 weeks long. 8-10 hours a week
Venue – edX
Start date -Self paced
This is one of many free online structural design courses offered by Silvija Gradecak from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through edX.
Finally, we examine how tensors can be used to represent the properties of three-dimensional materials and show how these change depending on crystal symmetry.FREE DOWNLOAD
#18.Structure of Materials, Part 3: Liquid Crystals, Defects, and Diffusion
Full time – 6 weeks long. 6-8 hours a week
Venue – edX
Start date – Self paced
This free structure design course is taught online by Silvija Gradecak of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology via edX.
The third part begins with an exploration of quasi-plastic and liquid crystals. Then we learn how the properties of materials are influenced and how they can be changed by structural errors. We will show that point defects exist in all crystals at finite temperatures and how their presence controls diffusion in materials.
Next, we will study dislocations in materials. We will present the descriptors used to describe dislocations, learn more about the movement of dislocations, and examine how dislocations significantly affect the strength of materials.
Finally, we will study how defects can be used to reinforce materials and we will learn about the properties of other structural defects such as stacking defects and grain boundaries.FREE DOWNLOAD
#19. Materials Science: 10 Things Every Engineer Should Know
Full time – 5 weeks long. 9 hours worth of material
Venue – Coursera
Start date – Always Open
This is one of the popular free online structural design courses taught through Coursera by James Shackelford of the University of California, Davis.
The course covers “10 things” ranging from the selection of materials available to engineers in their profession to the many mechanical and electrical properties of materials that are important for their use in various areas of engineering. We also discuss the principles behind making these materials.FREE DOWNLOAD
#20. Becoming a bridge engineer
Tutor: Isabella Vasilopoulou
Study Site: Udemy
Isabella teaches students about the world of bridge engineering. Also, this free structural design online course aids students know the construction of bridges through the eyes of a bridge designer. Over 925+ individuals have taken this course and left 27+ reviews.FREE DOWNLOAD
#21. BIM Modeling Structure LOD 300-350 Revit 2018 and Dynamo
Tutor: Enrique Galicia
Study Site: Udemy
In this course, you will learn how to create or update LOD 300-350 structural models with properly defined elements and some Dynamo scripts.
BIM is now in a second digital revolution where communication and programming skills would create a different value for construction and infrastructure BIM projects.
This course first reviews structural modeling skills, then covers some surface methods and other elements, and then uses the dynamo as an alternative creation tool.
We’ll also look at how to extract appropriate sets of models and keep track of additional cues, one for the supports on the models and the other for making rebar, so they really speed up the modeling process and allow continuous changes to the models with suggestions.
Materials and access to the course are lifelong. Highlight topics you already know and review unfamiliar materials so course tracking can follow your preferences and other related courses can be put into production.
Go at your own pace, moving from section to section on specific topics and asking as many questions as you want.
Be the first to find out about future BIM courses, seize all opportunities and use them to improve your job performance and get better positions.FREE DOWNLOAD
#22. A Hands-on Introduction to Engineering Simulations
Study Site: edX
Host University: Cornell University
Cornell University offers this free structural design online course on their Cornellx site: an online platform. Here students get hands-on experience in engineering simulations. How to troubleshoot a device before its actual production using adequate tools and software.FREE DOWNLOAD
#23. Material Behavior
Full time – 6 weeks long. 25 hours’ worth of material.
Venue – Coursera
Start date – Always Open
This is counted along with several free online structural design courses from Thomas H. Sanders Jr. of the Georgia Institute of Technology via Coursera.
This is the first of three Coursera courses that mirror the introductory materials science course taken by most engineering students at Georgia Tech. The aim of the course is to help students better understand the engineering materials that are used in the world around them.
This first section covers the fundamentals of materials science, including atomic structure and bonding, crystal structure, atomic and microscopic defects, and non-crystalline materials such as glasses, rubber, and polymers.FREE DOWNLOAD
#24. Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management
Study Site: Coursera
Host University: University of Virginia
Duration: 8 hours
This is one of the structural design online courses that teach students how to initiate, define and organize a project. Also, learn how to develop a project plan, including scoping, sequencing tasks, and determining a critical path. In addition, the course teaches how to assess, prioritize and manage project risk.FREE DOWNLOAD
#25. An Introduction to Programming the Internet of Things (IOT)
Study Site: Coursera
Host University: University of California, Irvine
This is a free online design course that teaches students how to design, create, and deploy a fun IoT device using Arduino and Raspberry Pi platforms. Also, it covers the use of embedded systems, the Raspberry Pi Platform, and the Arduino environment for building devices that can control the physical world.FREE DOWNLOAD
#26. Machine Design Part I
Full time – 5 weeks long. 31 hours worth of material
Venue – Coursera
Start date – Always Open
Here is one of the best free online structural design courses taught by Dr. Kathryn Wingate of the Georgia Institute of Technology were taught about Coursera.
In this first course, you will learn robust analysis techniques to predict and validate the performance and life of designs.
We start by reviewing the critical properties of materials in the design, such as tension, strength, and coefficient of thermal expansion. We then move on to static failure theories such as von Mises’ theory, which can be used to prevent failure in static loading applications such as bridge girders.
#27. Connections in Steel Structures
Full time – 8 weeks long. 2-3 hours long
Venue – edX
Start date – Always Open
This free structural design course is taught by Amit Varma, Sahaas Bhardwaj, and Morgan Broberg
from Purdue University via the edX e-learning platform.
This course deals with the construction of steel connections with a focus on eccentrically loaded screw and weld connections, moment connections, and connections for the transmission of concentrated forces.
The students leave this course with in-depth knowledge of the relevant limit states and familiarity with the provisions of AISC360 (American Institute of Steel Construction) for single joints and moments.
This course is best suited for students with basic civil engineering training, including a basic steel structure course, and builds on these concepts.FREE DOWNLOAD
#28. Steel Beam and Plate Girder Design
Full time – 8 weeks long. 2-3 hours a week
Venue – edX
Start date – Always Open
This course is taught by Amit Varma, Sahaas Bhardwaj, and Morgan Broberg
from Purdue University via edX.
The students leave this course with a sound knowledge of the relevant limit states and failure modes as well as with the regulations of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC360) for the design of plate girders.
This course is best suited for students with basic civil engineering training, including a basic steel structure course, and builds on these concepts.FREE DOWNLOAD
#29.Design of Steel-Concrete Composite Structures
Full time – 8 weeks long. 2-3 hours a week
Venue – edX
This course is taught by Amit Varma, Sahaas Bhardwaj, and Morgan Broberg
from Purdue University via edX.
This course covers the design of composite structures with an emphasis on composite beams and slab systems, composite columns, and composite walls.
Students leave this course with a sound knowledge of relevant limit states and failure modes as well as with the regulations of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC360) for composites.
This course is best suited for students with basic civil engineering training, including a basic steel structure course, and builds on these concepts.FREE DOWNLOAD
#30. Materials Science and Engineering
Full time – 7 weeks long. 3-5 hours a week
Venue – edX
Start date – Self paced
This course is taught by Alexander S. Mukasyan of the National University of Science and Technology (MISiS) via edX.
The course content is closely related to chemistry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science as well as biological and civil engineering. This course provides essential information about the basic properties of a wide variety of materials, including metals, ceramics, polymers, and electronic materials.FREE DOWNLOAD
CONCLUSION
As the world is still recovering from the Nobel coronavirus, online study is still the way to go. The University of People in its article titled “Benefits of education are societal and personal” is quoted remarking that “There are many benefits to education. Not only will you personally benefit from receiving education when it comes to income, career advancement, skill development, and employment opportunities, but your society and community receive benefits of education as well.”
Therefore, make use of these opportunities to stay informed and upgrade in your field as a structural engineer.
Frequently Asked Questions on Free Structural Design Courses Online
Can I become a structural engineer online?
Online civil engineering courses are available at the Master’s level, sometimes as hybrid courses that take certain courses online and also have requirements on campus. Civil engineering can be taught as part of the civil engineering course
What are the courses for structural engineer?
- CE242A: Civil Engineering Materials, 3-0-2-0 [11]
- CE272A: Structural Analysis, 3-0-0-0 [9]
- CE371A: Design of Steel Structures, 2-0-0-0 [6]
- CE372A: Reinforced Cement Concrete Design, 2-0-0-0 [6]
- CE471A: Special Topics in Structural Design, 3-0-0-2 [1]
How many years does it take to become a structural engineer?
This is usually a four-year course. Study structure and admission requirements vary from institution to institution. Building construction is a specialty of civil engineering, so additional training is often required.
What is the average salary of a structural engineer?
| Job Title | Salary |
|---|---|
| AECOM Structural Engineer salaries – 14 salaries reported | $80,000/yr |
| Aurecon Structural Engineer salaries – 14 salaries reported | $79,000/yr |
| GHD Structural Engineer salaries – 12 salaries reported | $85,500/yr |
| Arup Structural Engineer salaries – 9 salaries reported | $80,000/yr |
Can I become an engineer without a degree?
Although becoming an engineer without a college degree is indeed possible, you still need to graduate high school to be on your way to an engineering career.
What qualifications do I need to be a structural engineer?
You’ll normally need a degree or postgraduate qualification in structural or civil engineering. You may also be able to get started with a degree in a related subject, such as construction, the built environment or maths, but it may take you longer to qualify.
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