STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM

INFORMATION FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS

The Structural Engineering graduate program at Clemson University offers Master of Science
and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Civil Engineering. The objective of the program is to
provide a well-balanced education in structural analysis and design, and in theoretical and
practical aspects of Civil Engineering. Through the graduate level courses offered within the
Civil Engineering department, students learn classical structural mechanics and behavior of
engineering materials, explore modern computational techniques, recognize the uncertainties
and errors in calculations and gain hands-on experiences through laboratory/field testing to
prepare for a consulting or research career path. Students are also encouraged to explore
supporting and complimentary courses offered in other Civil Engineering disciplines and other
departments at Clemson University.

Structural Engineering Degree Requirements

The plan of study should include at least 80% of required classes from the following list: CE
6010, CE 6040, CE 6070, CE 608, CE 8010 (or ME 8180), CE 8020, CE 8030, CE 8040, CE
8050 (or ME 6320), CE 8070, CE 8080, and CE 8090,. The plan must also include a mixture
of graduate-level structural design courses such as concrete, steel, masonry, or wood design. It
is required that all masters students have taken at least two undergraduate level structural
design classes (CE 4020 and CE 4060 or equivalents). For those students that are accepted
for admission without having taken these two classes, they should be taken before the end of
the second semester of graduate study. These classes do not count towards the hour
requirements for the MSCE degree. Requirements for the degree programs are as follows:

Master of Science Thesis Option: A minimum of 24 course credits (not including research and
thesis credits) is required. Students may take a maximum of 12 credits of 6000 level
courses, must take a minimum of 12 credits of courses at the 8000 level, and must take at
least 6 credits of CEE 8910 (Research and Thesis). The thesis option is required for
students with research or teaching assistantships. Upon completing the research and
documenting it in a M.S. thesis, students will be required to pass a public oral defense. The
student’s graduate advisory committee is selected by the student after consultation with the
student’s research advisor.

Master of Science Non-thesis Option: Students may take a maximum of 15 credits of 6000
level courses and must take a minimum of 15 credits of courses at the 8000 level, with a
minimum of 30 total credits. All MS non-thesis option students will h a v e committee chairs
and committee members assigned by the Structures coordinator for the MS non-thesis option
degree.

Special Consideration for Graduate Students with Non-Engineering Bachelor’s degrees: For
students with non-engineering Bachelor’s degrees (i.e., degrees in Physics, Math, etc.)
additional coursework beyond what is required for an MSCE degree may be required in order
to qualify for licensure. Our MSCE program is not accredited and very few are. It is incumbent
on individual students to coordinate their course plan with state examining boards to insure
eligibility for licensure at a later date. In order to provide some guidance to graduate students
with this concern the following summary of NCEES (National Council of Examiners for
Engineering and Surveying) regulations is provided. Each state board determines their own
13
 requirements on education, but most use the education standards given below. Please note
that the combination of undergraduate and graduate coursework should be evaluated against
these regulations.

Applicants having engineering degrees from programs that are not accredited by the Engineering
Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET must demonstrate the following:

A. 32 college semester credit hours of higher mathematics and basic sciences

1. Credits in mathematics must be beyond algebra and trigonometry and must emphasize
mathematical concepts and principles rather than computation. Courses in differential and
integral calculus are required. Additional courses may include differential equations, linear
algebra, numerical analysis, probability and statistics, and advanced calculus.
2. Credits in basic sciences must include at least two courses. These courses must be in general
chemistry, general calculus-based physics, or general biological sciences; the two courses may
not be in the same area. Additional basic sciences courses may include earth sciences (geology,
ecology), advanced biology, advanced chemistry, and advanced physics. Computer skills and/or
programming courses may not be used to satisfy mathematics or basic science requirements.
Basic engineering science courses or sequence of courses in this area are acceptable for credit
but may not be counted twice.

B. 16 college semester credit hours in general education that complements the technical content
of the curriculum

1. Examples of traditional humanities/social sciences courses in this area are philosophy, religion,
history, literature, fine arts, sociology, psychology, political science, anthropology, economics
(micro and macro), professional ethics, and social responsibility. Examples of other general
education courses deemed acceptable include management (such as organizational behavior),
accounting, written and oral communications, business, and law.
2. No more than 6 credit hours may come from courses in management, accounting, business, or
law. Courses in engineering economics, engineering management, systems engineering/ analysis,
production, and industrial engineering/management will not be counted. Language courses in the
applicant’s native language are not acceptable for credit; no more than 6 credit hours of foreign
language courses are acceptable for credit. Native language courses in literature and civilization
may be considered in this area. Courses that instill cultural values are acceptable, while routine
exercises of personal craft are not.

C. 48 college semester credit hours of engineering science and/or engineering design courses

1. Courses in engineering science must be taught within the college/faculty of engineering and must
have their roots in mathematics and basic sciences but carry knowledge further toward creative
application of engineering principles. Examples of approved engineering science courses are
mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, electrical and electronic circuits, materials science,
transport phenomena, engineering economics, and computer science (other than computer
programming skills).
2. Courses in engineering design must stress the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis,
analysis, construction, testing, and evaluation. Graduate-level engineering courses may be
included to fulfill curricular requirements in this area.
13
PhD Program: There are two options for entering the PhD program: directly after completing
BS degree and after completing an MS degree. Following are course and reporting
requirements for each:

• Direct from BS Program – 60 credits beyond the BS degree with a minimum of 30

credit hours of coursework. Also, at least 18 research credits are required.
• Post MS Program - 30 credits beyond the MS degree with a minimum of 12 credits of
coursework. Also, at least 18 research credits are required.
• For both programs GS2A (Committee make-up) and GS2B (Plan of Study) forms
should be completed by the end of the first year of study.

Each PhD student is required to pass the following exams during their program of study: a
Preliminary examination, a Comprehensive examination (also referred to as the “proposal
defense”), and a Dissertation Defense examination.

The Qualifying exam is a written exam that must be passed by the end of the third semester
of study and is required for all PhD students. T h e e x c e p t i o n t o t h i s i s d i r e c t P h D
admits, who are required to pass the qualifying exam by the end of
t h e f i f t h s e m e s t e r o f s t u d y . The exam is given as needed. The exam content and
format are as follows:

• The exam is 4 hours long and is closed book and notes and appropriate design codes
will be provided.
• The exam will contain nine questions: three about structural analysis, three about
structural mechanics, and three focused on the student’s area of PhD research.
• The Qualifying exam may be taken at the end of the second or third semesters of
study, and if the first attempt is failed then a second attempt is allowed. However, a
student may elect to wait and take the exam only once, at the end of the third semester
of study. Students who do not pass the preliminary exam by the end of the third
semester (whether having one or two attempts) will not be allowed to continue in the
PhD program.

The Comprehensive Exam consists of an oral defense of the student’s proposed research
plan, and written questions provided by the graduate committee members. Two weeks prior to
the comprehensive exam the student must submit a written research proposal to the
graduate committee. Graduate School rules should be followed for the timing of this exam.
After successfully completing the Comprehensive exam the student is admitted to PhD
candidacy.

The Dissertation Defense exam consists of an oral defense of the PhD Dissertation. Two
weeks prior to the exam the student must submit their dissertation to the graduate committee.
Graduate School rules should be followed for the timing of Defense of Dissertation exam. In
the rare circumstance that a student fails the exam, a second opportunity to pass the exam
will be given no later than two academic semesters after the first attempt. Students that do
not pass on the second attempt will not be allowed to continue in the PhD program.

Other General Information:

If a student fails to make satisfactory progress toward their degree (MS or PhD) then
permission may be denied to continue the program. Students whose cumulative GPA falls
13
below 3.0 are placed on probation and become ineligible for assistantships.

Duties of students receiving assistantships are described in the letter giving the offer of aid
and in the contract signed by the student and by the supervising faculty member.

Master's theses and PhD dissertations are submitted to the university electronically.
Instructions are given on the Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) homepage located at
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses. Workshops on ETD are given by the Graduate School.

During the academic year, students who have a fellowship, scholarship, or graduate
assistantship (GA), including teaching and research assistantships, must take a minimum of
9 credits hours per semester. Unfunded students have no minimum credit hour requirement.
Audited courses are not counted toward the minimum. Graduate students are not required to
enroll during summer sessions unless they are taking courses (e.g., students working on
research during the summer are not required to sign up for CEE 5994 or 7994). Students
working as teaching or grading assistants during the summer must register for a minimum of
3 credit hours; these hours can be coursework or research.

Students registered for 12 or more credits may audit one course; students registered for 9-11
credits may audit two courses. Students wishing to audit courses must receive permission
from the course instructor.

13
 STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING PROGRAM Course Offerings

Tentative Graduate Courses

Fall 2019

CE 4010/6010 Matrix Structural Analysis Redmond

CE 8020 Adv Reinforced Concrete Cousins
CE 8930 Structural Fire Engineering & Safety Naser

Spring 2020

CE 4080/6080 Structural Loads and System Ross

CE 8040 Prestressed Concrete Ross
CE 8050 Advanced Structural Mechanics Redmond

Fall 2020

CE 4010/6010 Matrix Structural Analysis Redmond

CE 4040/6040 Masonry Structural Design Redmond
CE 8030 Adv Steel Design Naser
CE 8930 Structural Dynamics Pang

Spring 2021

CE 4070/6070 Wood Design Pang

CE 4080/6080 Structural Loads and Systems Ross
CE 8020 Adv Reinforced Concrete Cousins
CE 8080 Earthquake Engineering Pang

13
Various courses that may be of interest to graduate students in
structures, but may not be taught by structural engineering faculty
Civil Engineering
CE 6570 Material Testing and Inspection
CE 8010 Finite Element Analysis
CE 8260 Properties of Portland Cement Concrete
CE 8270 Special Cements and Concrete
CE 8280 Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Structures
CE 6210 Geotechnical Engineering Design
CE 6240 Earth Slopes and Retaining Structures
CE 8220 Foundation Engineering
CE 8250 Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
CE 8510 Reliability
Mathematics
MTHS 6000 Theory of Probability
MTHS 6030 Introduction to Statistical Theory
MTHS 6050 Statistical Theory and Methods II
MTHS 6060 Sampling Theory and Methods
MTHS 8000 Probability

Mechanical Engineering
ME 6300 Mechanics of Composite Materials ME 8180
Introduction to Finite Element Analysis
ME 8340 Principles of Structural Stability
ME 8360 Fracture Mechanics
ME 8370 Theory of Elasticity I
ME 8380 Theory of Elasticity II
ME 8450 Structural Vibrations
ME 8510 Advanced Finite Element Analysis
Statistics
EXST 8010 Statistical Methods I
EXST 8020 Statistical Methods II
EXST 8030 Regression and Least Squares Analysis

Related Course Programs

Students in the Master's degree program are encouraged to take courses outside of
the structures program to broaden their background. Many alternatives are available,
especially in the engineering science and mechanics, construction, geotechnical, materials,
mathematics, statistics, and computer science areas. At the PhD level it is desirable for the
student to develop additional depth in structural mechanics, mathematics, and continuum
mechanics.

13
Structural Engineering Faculty

Tommy Cousins, Professor; P.E., Ph.D., North Carolina State University. Bridge engineering
behavior; prestressed and reinforced concrete.
Steve Csernak, Senior Lecturer; P.E., M.S., Clemson University. Structural engineering, wind
and seismic design.
Mohannad Naser, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State University. Structural
Engineering, structural fire.
Weichiang P a n g , P r o f e s s o r , P h . D . Michigan T e c h . Structural r e l i a b i l i t y ,
earthquake engineering, wind engineering
Laura Redmond, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Georgia Tech, Behavior of reinforced concrete
and masonry structures, non-linear modeling of structures.
Brandon Ross, Associate Professor, P.E., Ph.D. University of Florida. Building
adaptation, experimental evaluation of prestressed and reinforced
concrete, and low-cost systems for housing.

Emeritus Faculty

Subhash A n a n d , Ph.D., Northwestern University, Computational Mechanics,

Masonry Structures.
Russell Brown, Ph.D., Rice University, Concrete and Masonry Structures, Experimental
Testing.
Jack McCormac, M.S., MIT, Structural Analysis and Design.
Robert Nowac, M.S., University of Pittsburgh, Engineering Mechanics.
Peter Sparks, Ph.D., University of London, Wind Engineering and Structural Performance

13