List of Contributions

Good discussion topic. I'll offer some perspective from the employer side: For starters, our firm is pretty flexible regarding PTO. We have a generous maximum: 400 hours (any break more than 10 weeks would be more of a sabbatical than a vacation, with special accommodations for workflow and the ...

I think one of the best analogies for structural engineering to the "layman" is comparing it to the skeletal system of your body. That's my go-to when explaining to kids what I do. Here's how I might explain my job to a kid (or adult with no engineering exposure): "As a structural engineer, I design ...

Christopher, If your goal is to contribute to the Body of Knowledge of your profession, one effective way might be to join a committee within ASCE or another engineering organization that is tasked with developing design standards, such as one of the Loads committees, etc. It is very important for ...

For me (structural), it's plain old Microsoft Excel. We use all kinds of fancy modeling software and design aids, but pound-for-pound, I do most of my calculations in Excel. I have spreadsheets premade for all kinds of repetitive calcs, and I'm at the point now where I trust my own spreadsheets over ...

James, Your advice is certainly the "safest". There is no shortage of reasons to be wary of talking to the press. However, one of the shared goals many of us in this organization have is to help promote engineering and seize opportunities to bring the message of who we are and what we do to the general ...