Structural Engineering Specialization, M.S. Civil Engineering

Faculty: Joseph Plecnik, Ph.D., P.E., Richard Nguyen, Ph.D., P.E., S.E.

The Structural Engineering area specialization within the MSCE degree program at CSULB requires a minimum of 18 units of approved CE 500 and 600-level courses, and a minimum of 12 units total of approved mathematical analysis and elective courses, as specified below.

Each student's program must satisfy all requirements of the university, college, and department, and must contain the equivalent of ten (10) or more units of design, as determined by the department's graduate coordinator.

During the first two weeks of his/her first semester as a graduate student at CSULB, the student should schedule an advising appointment with the graduate coordinator, who will then assign him/her to one of the structures area faculty.

A student who did not take, as an undergraduate, courses equivalent to CE 458 (Structural Analysis II), CE 459 (Reinforced Concrete Design), and CE 455 (Structural Steel Design), is required to take them as deficiencies (not to be counted towards the MSCE or MSE degrees).

The 18-unit graduate course requirement shall include at least four (4) from the following courses:

• CE 502, Finite Element Methods II
• CE 503, Selected Topics in Civil Engineering
• CE 504, Advanced Topics in Civil Engineering
• CE 546, Theory and Design of Foundation Structures
• CE 551, Prestressed Concrete
• CE 552, Theory of Plates and Shells
• CE 553, Behavior and Design of Steel Structures
• CE 555, Seismic Design II
• CE 557, Advanced Structural Analysis
• CE 558, Dynamics of Structures

All MSCE degree programs must include one unit of CE 696 (Research Methods), and for non-thesis students, three units of CE 697 (Directed Studies). Students who choose the thesis option must enroll in CE 698 (six units).

NOTE:  All structures area students admitted in Spring 1990 and after are required to take at least one of the following courses: CE 502 (Finite Element Methods II), CE 555 (Seismic Design II), or CE 558 (Dynamics of Structures).

The six-unit mathematical analysis requirement is satisfied by taking any two courses from among: CE 500 (Engineering Analysis I), CE 501 (Engineering Analysis II), CE 508 (Probabilistic and Statistical Methods), CE 509 (Computational Methods in Civil Engineering), CE 630/730 (Mathematical Modeling in Hydraulic Engineering), or CE 640/740 (Mathematical Modeling in Geotechnical Engineering). CE 500 and CE 501 cannot be included among the "minimum of 18 units of approved 500- and 600-level courses".